‘Rescue Me’ Singer Fontella Bass Dead at 72

Bass had suffered several years of strokes before life-claiming heart attack

Fontella Bass, the St. Louis-born soul singer who popularized the genre standard “Rescue Me” in 1965, has died. She was 72. Bass succumbed to complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago on Wednesday night, her daughter, Neuka Mitchell, said. Bass also suffered a series of strokes over the past seven years. Bass began performing at age 6 in her church’s choir and was surrounded by music – her mother, Martha Bass, was a gospel singer and her younger brother, the late David Peaston, has a strong of R&B hits in the 1980s and 1990s. Peaston died in February at age 54. Fontella Bass co-wrote and recorded “Rescue Me,” reaching No. 1 on the R7B charts and No. 4 on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1965. The song has been covered by many artists, including singer Cher and Aretha Franklin, who sang a form of it for a Pizza Hut TV ad in 1991. Bass’s powerfully soulful voice was often mistaken for Franklin’s. (Associated Press)

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