“Our beloved angel Ronnie passed away peacefully today (Wednesday) following a short battle with cancer,” the family said in a statement.
The statement added, “Rooney lived her life with a sparkle in her eyes, with her enthusiastic personality, overwhelming sense of humor and a smile on her face.”
Ronnie Specter, whose real name is Veronica Greenfield, was born on August 10, 1943 in New York to a Native American black mother and Irish father, in Spanish Harlem. She formed the band “The Runes” with her sister, Estelle Bennett, and her cousin, Nidra Tally.
The band became famous in the New York area with their emotional soul songs, before in 1963 he signed a contract with famous producer Phil Specter, who later became Rooney’s husband.
With its members’ short clothes and hairstyles prominent for their size, the band released a series of hit songs in the early sixties of the twentieth century, including especially “Baby I Love You”, “(The Best Part of) Breaking Up” and “Be My Baby” that was used in films such as ” Main Streets” by Martin Scorsese (1973) and “Dirty Dancing” (1987).
With “The Supremes”, “The Runes” were one of the most popular bands of the period, and the only women’s group to tour with the Beatles in 1966.
The Runes divorced in 1967, and Ronnie married the following year to Phil Specter, one of the most prominent producers in rock and roll history who was imprisoned for murder in 2009.
After turning the page on the band, Ronnie Specter continued her solo career and collaborated with the likes of Eddie Money and Bruce Springsteen.
She also collaborated on her 2006 album “The Last of the Rock Stars”, with Keith Richards and Patti Smith.
