Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew (born July 9, 1945) is an American singer, best known for her work with the trio

The Crystals The Crystals are an American vocal group that originated in New York City. Considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era in the first half of the 1960s, their 1961–1964 chart hits – including " There's No Other (Like My Baby)", ...

. She was born as Dolores Kenniebrew and grew up in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In 1960, at age 15, she was invited to sing in the

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

the Crystals. The group was formed by a band musician named Benny Wells who would soon become the group's manager. Wells was the uncle of Kenniebrew's bandmate Barbara Alston. Although she rarely sang lead on their songs (her voice was, according to her bandmate, Barbara Alston, "too high and soft"), she was the only member who stayed in the group from their formation to their disbanding. With the Crystals, she enjoyed a successful (but not very long) career in music. Their hits began to dry up after 1964 and they disbanded two years later. In 1971, Kenniebrew and her former bandmates (

Dolores "LaLa" Brooks Dolores Brooks (born June 20, 1947), also known as Sakinah Muhammad or La La Brooks, is an American singer and actress. She is best known as the second lead singer of the girl group The Crystals and the lead vocalist on the Crystals' hits "Then ...

, Mary Thomas, and Barbara Alston) reunited to tour and perform on the

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circuit. However, in 1973, they disbanded again to devote their times to their families. According to Kenniebrew's

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page, in 2005 she and original Crystals Alston and Brooks performed together at the

Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame & Museum Company Inc. was an American-based hall of fame that honored vocal groups throughout the United States. James E. Winner Jr. was the financial and managing partner of the For-profit corporation. Winner and ...

, where girl-group

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were unveiled. Since the 1980s, she has kept the Crystals active in performing, but as a trio with two non-original members.The Crystals
History-of-rock.com, date unknown, (accessed January 24, 2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenniebrew, Dolores 1945 births Living people American women singers American sopranos 21st-century American women The Crystals members