Willie Frances Nero (née Peak; March 13, 1943 – November 28, 2014) was an American soul and jazz singer. She recorded for

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

after winning their 1965 talent contest and had a UK

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

in 1991 with "Footsteps Following Me".

Life and career

Peak was born in 1943 in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

, and attended Stephens-Lee High School. She performed on local radio, and sang lead vocals with two local groups, the Tams (not The Tams) featuring William "PO Bill" Mills, and the Untils, a group of classmates who included Stanley Baird, Bynum Griffin and Clifford Cotton, some of whom went on to play with such stars as Chuck Jackson and

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. In 1960, she married Detroit, Michigan native Johnny Nero and moved to the city. She almost joined The Marvelettes, but returned to Asheville for a time before going back to Detroit and settling into married life. She had two children, and sang jazz in nightclubs, before entering a talent contest on WCHB, the soul radio station in Detroit, sponsored by Motown. She became the first

live performance ''Live Performance'' is a live album by Jake Thackray. Recorded at the Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks ...

winner in

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

's history, emerging the winner out of 5,000 contestants in June 1965. She was awarded $500, a dozen long stemmed red roses, a recording contract for one year and the honor of being the first female artist signed to Motown's subsidiary Soul label. Her first record release was "Keep On Lovin' Me", written by

William Weatherspoon William Henry Weatherspoon (February 11, 1936 – July 17, 2005) was an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work for Motown Records in the 1960s. He co-wrote "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted", an international hit for ...

and

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

, and originally intended for The Marvelettes. It was

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

by William "Mickey" Stevenson, and released by Soul in early 1966. However, it was not a major hit. She made no further recordings with Motown, and left the company after three years. After leaving Motown, Nero made more recordings with Raynoma Gordy and Gino Parks at

Shrine Records Shrine Records was an American soul and R&B record label based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1964 by its primary songwriter Eddie Singleton and his wife, Raynoma Gordy Singleton (who had also founded Motown with her then-husband, Berry G ...

, which went unreleased. In the 1970s she cared for her mother until her death, and she went on to cosmetology school. She then began teaching the beauty trade, and worked on fashion shows, script writing and other businesses. Later, Frances got married again to Evelton Hines on March 3, 1976 and their daughter Evealyn Hines was born on March 28, 1978. In 1989, she was contacted by Ian Levine, a British record producer and promoter of Northern soul music, and they recorded "Footsteps Following Me", written by Levine with

Ivy Jo Hunter George Ivy Hunter (August 28, 1940 – October 6, 2022), known as Ivy Jo Hunter, was an American R&B songwriter, record producer and singer, most associated with his work for Motown in the 1960s. Life and career Raised in Detroit, Michigan ...

and Steven Wagner. Her first recording for 23 years, the single reached No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart in 1991, and was dubbed by British disc jockeys "the soul anthem of the nineties". She made further recordings with Gino Parks, and released an album, ''Out on the Floor'', on Levine's Motorcity label. She appeared on Canada's television program, ''Swinging Time'' with host Robin Seymour, and on UK shows such as '' Top of the Pops'', ''

The Terry Wogan Show ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC One, BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then b ...

'' and '' The Hitman and Her''. She formed her own record label, AJA Records, and released a single in 1996, "Love Ride". A CD compilation of her recordings with Levine, ''The Very Best of Frances Nero'', was issued in the US. In 2006, she issued a DVD autobiography, ''Mountains, Motown & Motion Pictures'', and in 2007 AJA released a CD, ''Frances Nero Salutes Dinah Washington''. Nero's death was announced by various agencies on November 29, 2014, at the age of 71.

Discography

1965 –

*"Keep On Loving Me" *"Fight Fire With Fire" 1968 –

*"Lady in Waiting" (duo with Gino Parks) 1991 – Motorcity Records *"Footsteps Following Me" (licensed to Debut Records) - #17 UK Singles Chart *''Footsteps Following Me'' *''The Best Of Frances Nero'' *''MotorCity Various Artists Albums'' 1996 – AJA Records *"Love Ride" *"It Ain't The Same Without You" *''For My Very Special Fans'' – A compilation of Christmas carols 2007/8 *''Frances Nero Salutes Dinah Washington''

References

External links

Official website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nero, Francis 1943 births 2014 deaths Motown artists American soul musicians American women jazz singers American jazz singers American dance musicians Northern soul musicians Musicians from Asheville, North Carolina 21st-century American women