The book was out of print for years. But in the months before her death Ronnie went back through it, fixed it up, and added a postscript about her life post-Phil Spector.
Tributes have begun to pour in since news broke of Spector’s death. The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson wrote: “I just heard the news about Ronnie Spector and I don’t know what to say. I loved her voice so much and she was a very special person and a dear friend. This just breaks my heart. Ronnie’s music and spirit will live forever.”
Ronnie Spector, whose hard-edged yet tremulous voice soared on the Ronettes’ girl-group hits of the early ‘60s, died in January 2022 of cancer. She was 78, Variety reported.
Ronnie also added a new foreword by Keith Richards. They were friends since they first met in 1964 in what Keith recalls as a “dank” UK nightclub, where the Ronettes and Stones were on tour together. “It was love at first sight,” Keith recalls.
Keith says the last time he saw — and heard — Ronnie was in March 2020 right before the pandemic. "I was in the dentists’ chair in New York and suddenly I heard her singing “Be my little baby…” She was having her teeth done the same day and decided to surprise me with a serenade,” he says. (Showbiz411)
Keith Richards: I never got into a serious relationship until I was 20. Then, before I knew it, I was on the road with the Stones and there’s chicks all over the place wanting to get in my pants. Well, I’m no bloody angel, know what I mean? So before I know it I’m in bed with Ronnie Spector. That’s when I found rock’n’roll. That’s also when I learned about jealousy, ‘cos I had Phil Spector chasing me around with a shotgun. That’s when I started ducking and diving. It was a question of survival.
I was honored to be invited to Ronnie’s memorial service. Keith says, but cannot attend because one of my nieces is graduating from college. I wish I could be there. Ronnie was unique, a sweetheart who survived the pioneering days of pop, to say the least. That voice, her voice! It never fails to cut through the noise, it’s so distinctive — not just the Ronettes hits, but all the records she made in the late 70s and early 80s like “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” with the E Street Band, and “Take Me Home Tonight” with Eddie Money. For me, I hear it, I’m gone. So raise a glass to Ronnie tomorrow. She will always be missed, but live on and on in our ears."
“So that’s what I did,” she told Vice in 2016. “I went right back singing, because I had people like Keith Richards and John Lennon and Billy Joel and David Bowie – even Springsteen –telling me ‘Ronnie, you have the voice of all voices.’” (Independent)
Nedra Talley – towering teased beehive hairdos, canopies of mascara and eyeliner and tight-fitting slit skirts – that rubbed against the aching romanticism of the Ronettes’ Philles Records hits of 1963-66.
