Betty Jane Willis (March 10, 1941 – January 1, 2018) was an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

singer in the 1960s.

Biography

Born on a farm in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, Willis moved with her family to

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, when she was two. In the early 1960s, she moved to Santa Ana and sang in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

-area nightclubs. Singer

Bill Medley William Thomas Medley (born September 19, 1940) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as one half of The Righteous Brothers. He is noted for his bass-baritone voice, exemplified in songs such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Med ...

, whose career with

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...

was just beginning, was told about Willis. Medley and Willis recorded a song together at Gold Star Studios, but it was never released. However, her voice and association with the studio drew notice from producers

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

and Leon Russell, who retooled the country song "

Act Naturally "Act Naturally" is a song written by Johnny Russell, with a writing credit given to Voni Morrison and publishing rights transferred to Buck Owens. It was originally recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, whose version reached number one on ...

" into a

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

version for Willis in 1965. As part of the duo Betty and Ray, with Ray Lockhart, she also made several other recordings. Her last known recording was in 1968. According to her daughter, Willis enjoyed a singing career but did not want to be part of the music industry. She also grew frustrated when paperwork was mishandled that scuttled an Africa music tour. She briefly worked in a factory before becoming a postal worker in the 1980s and retired after 37 years.

Personal life

Despite having family in Santa Ana, Willis chose to mostly live on the street in retirement. She slept outside a fabric shop, arriving after the shop closed and leaving before it opened.

Death

Early on January 1, 2018, Willis was assaulted by a homeless man who attempted to rape her. She was hit repeatedly on the head and strangled to death, before police arrived to apprehend her attacker. Willis was 76. On August 31, 2022, 56 months after the murder of Betty Willis, '' Los Angeles Magazine'' published a lengthy feature on the apparent lack of justice in the Willis case. The main focus of the article was the fact that more than four and a half years have passed since the man charged with her rape and murder was taken into custody. The piece points out that, as of summer 2022, the suspect in the January 2018 murder has yet to be prosecuted for the alleged killing of Willis.

References

External links

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Killing Betty Willis
feature at LAMag {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Betty 1941 births 2018 deaths 2018 murders in the United States 20th-century American singers 21st-century American women 20th-century African-American women singers American soul singers Deaths by strangulation in the United States Homeless people Murdered African-American people American murder victims Musicians from Fresno, California Musicians from Orange County, California People from Mississippi People from Santa Ana, California People murdered in California Singers from California Female murder victims 20th-century American women singers Phi-Dan Records artists 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people