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NEW YORK Phoebe Snow, a bluesy singer, guitarist and songwriter whose "Poetry Man" was a defining hit of the 1970s but who then largely dropped out of the spotlight to care for her disabled daughter, has died.
Snow, who was nominated for best new artist at the 1975 Grammys, died Tuesday morning in Edison, N.J., from complications of a brain hemorrhage she suffered in January 2010, said Rick Miramontez, her longtime friend and public relations representative. She was 58.
Snow's manager, Sue Cameron, said the singer endured bouts of blood clots, pneumonia and congestive heart failure since her stroke. "The loss of this unique and untouchable voice is incalculable," Cameron said. "Phoebe was one of the brightest, funniest and most talented singer-songwriters of all time and, more importantly, a magnificent mother to her late brain-damaged daughter, Valerie, for 31 years. Phoebe felt that was her greatest accomplishment."
Known as a folk guitarist who made forays into jazz and blues, Snow put her stamp on soul classics such as "Shakey Ground," "Love Makes a Woman" and "Mercy, Mercy Mercy" on over a half dozen albums. Not long after Snow's "Poetry Man" reached the Top 5 on the pop singles chart in 1975, her daughter, Valerie Rose, was born with severe brain damage, and Snow decided to care for her at home rather than place her in an institution.
"She was the only thing that was holding me together," she told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2008. "My life was her, completely about her, from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed at night."
Valerie, who had been born with hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain cavity that inhibits brain development, was not expected to live more than a few years. She died in 2007 at age 31.
She was born Phoebe Ann Laub to white Jewish parents in New York City in 1952, and raised in Teaneck, N.J. Though many assumed she was black, Snow never claimed African-American ancestry. She changed her name after seeing Phoebe Snow, an advertising character for a railroad, emblazoned on trains that passed through her hometown. Snow quit college after two years to perform in amateur nights at Greenwich Village folk clubs.
Her first record, "Phoebe Snow," came out in 1974, and showed off her songwriting chops on a selection of tunes that spanned blues, jazz and folk. Hit-bound "Poetry Man" took the record to No. 4 on the album charts, but her success was uneasy.
Read full article at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42763432
Snow, who was nominated for best new artist at the 1975 Grammys, died Tuesday morning in Edison, N.J., from complications of a brain hemorrhage she suffered in January 2010, said Rick Miramontez, her longtime friend and public relations representative. She was 58.
Snow's manager, Sue Cameron, said the singer endured bouts of blood clots, pneumonia and congestive heart failure since her stroke. "The loss of this unique and untouchable voice is incalculable," Cameron said. "Phoebe was one of the brightest, funniest and most talented singer-songwriters of all time and, more importantly, a magnificent mother to her late brain-damaged daughter, Valerie, for 31 years. Phoebe felt that was her greatest accomplishment."
Known as a folk guitarist who made forays into jazz and blues, Snow put her stamp on soul classics such as "Shakey Ground," "Love Makes a Woman" and "Mercy, Mercy Mercy" on over a half dozen albums. Not long after Snow's "Poetry Man" reached the Top 5 on the pop singles chart in 1975, her daughter, Valerie Rose, was born with severe brain damage, and Snow decided to care for her at home rather than place her in an institution.
"She was the only thing that was holding me together," she told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2008. "My life was her, completely about her, from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed at night."
Valerie, who had been born with hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain cavity that inhibits brain development, was not expected to live more than a few years. She died in 2007 at age 31.
She was born Phoebe Ann Laub to white Jewish parents in New York City in 1952, and raised in Teaneck, N.J. Though many assumed she was black, Snow never claimed African-American ancestry. She changed her name after seeing Phoebe Snow, an advertising character for a railroad, emblazoned on trains that passed through her hometown. Snow quit college after two years to perform in amateur nights at Greenwich Village folk clubs.
Her first record, "Phoebe Snow," came out in 1974, and showed off her songwriting chops on a selection of tunes that spanned blues, jazz and folk. Hit-bound "Poetry Man" took the record to No. 4 on the album charts, but her success was uneasy.
Read full article at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42763432
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