{"id":3259,"date":"2026-09-26T13:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/?p=3259"},"modified":"2026-09-26T13:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:04:08","slug":"with-a-very-heavy-heart-we-announce-the-passing-of-a-beloved-motown-legend-who-gave-us-so-much-rest-in-peace-full-post-below","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/?p=3259","title":{"rendered":"With a very heavy heart, we announce the passing of a beloved Motown legend who gave us so much Rest in peace Full post below&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>She is a , original Martha and the Vandellas singer, dies at 83**<\/p>\n<div id=\"HTML01\" class=\"widget HTML\" data-version=\"2\">\n<div class=\"widget-content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A true Motown legend has died. Rosalind Ashford, an original singer with Martha and the Vandellas, has passed away at age 83.<\/p>\n<p>Ashford, one of the three original members of the group behind Motown classics such as \u201cDancing in the Street\u201d and \u201c(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave,\u201d died Tuesday, September 15, 2026, of natural causes in Redford Township, a suburb of Detroit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Rosalind Ashford,\u201d Martha Reeves told the *Detroit Free Press*. \u201cRosalind played an important part in the early days of Martha and the Vandellas. Her voice will forever be with us through our great recordings together, and she will be missed but never forgotten. Our Motown family has just gotten a little smaller. My heart is heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"HTML02\" class=\"widget HTML\" data-version=\"2\">\n<div class=\"widget-content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Born on September 2, 1943, in Detroit, Ashford wasstill a student at Wilbur Wright High School when she joined Annette Beard and Gloria Williams to form a girl group called the Del-Phis. Reeves later joined the group, which also recorded as the Vels.<\/p>\n<p>In 1962, they sang backup for stars including Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells. Those sessions caught the attention of Motown founder Berry Gordy, who offered them a record deal. After Gloria Williams left, the group became Martha and the Vandellas.<\/p>\n<div id=\"HTML03\" class=\"widget HTML\" data-version=\"2\">\n<div class=\"widget-content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Their 1963 breakthrough, \u201cCome and Get These Memories,\u201d climbed to No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 on the R&amp;B chart. The same year, \u201c(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave\u201d became an even bigger hit, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a Grammy nomination. \u201cQuicksand\u201d followed as another early hit.<\/p>\n<div class=\"justread-ad justread-ad--ad-after-image\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>In the summer of 1964, \u201cDancing in the Street\u201d became a landmark record, reaching No. 2on the Billboard Hot 100. Later covers included versions by the Mamas &amp; the Papas and Van Halen. Other hits included \u201cNowhere to Run,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m Ready for Love,\u201d and \u201cJimmy Mack.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"HTML04\" class=\"widget HTML\" data-version=\"2\">\n<div class=\"widget-content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ashford left the group in 1969. She continued to perform with former Vandellas singers over the years while also working for Michigan Bell Telephone Co.<\/p>\n<p>She appeared on nearly two dozen Top 40 hits on Billboard\u2019s R&amp;B chart and was inducted into the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 with the Vandellas, only the second all-female group to receive the honor.<\/p>\n<p>Ashford is survived by her son, Damon, and four grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were pending, with services expected at James H. Cole Funeral Home on Schaefer Highway in Detroit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>She is a , original Martha and the Vandellas singer, dies at 83** A true Motown legend has died. Rosalind&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3261,"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3259\/revisions\/3261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tastykitchen.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}