The Ronettes were an American group from New York City that consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley. The girls had sung together since they were teenagers, then known as "The Darling Sisters". Signed first by Colpix Records in 1961, they moved to Phil Spector's Pilles Records in March 1963 and changed their name to "The Ronettes".
The first song the Ronettes rehearsed and recorded with Phil Spector was "Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love". They went to California to make the record, but, once it was completed, Spector declined to release it. They recorded more songs for Spector, including covers of "The Twist", "The Wah Watusi" and "Hot Pastrami". These four songs were released, but were credited to The Crystals.
The Ronettes recorded "Be My Baby" in July 1963, and it was released by August. It was a smash record. Radio stations played the song throughout fall of 1963, and the Ronettes were invited to tour the country. "Be My Baby" inspired a legion of Ronettes fans, including The Ramones and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. By autumn that year, it was a Top 10 hit and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Top 100. Is also notable for being the first recording by Cher , who performed back-up vocals with Estelle, Nedra, and Sonny Bono.
After the overnight success of their first Phil Spector single, Spector was eager to do a follow-up with the Ronettes. He wrote "Baby, I Love You" and urged the Ronettes to leave New York for California to record the song. A problem arose when the Ronettes were scheduled to leave for Dick Clark's "Caravan of Stars" tour across the United States. In lieu of having the Ronettes skip the Dick Clark tour, Spector decided Estelle and Nedra would do the tour with cousin Elaine, a former member of the group. Ronnie left for California to record "Baby, I Love You" with Darlene Love, Cher, and Sonny Bono subbing for Estelle and Nedra on back-up vocals. The song was recorded in the early fall of 1963 and released in November that year.
All three Ronettes, along with every other artist who was signed with Phil Spector in 1963, were featured on the Christmas LP A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. For this album, the Ronettes recorded three songs: "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "Frosty the Snowman", and "Sleigh Ride". All artists sang on the album's finale, "Silent Night",
which opened with a spoken message from Phil Spector, wishing a Merry
Christmas and thanking everyone for supporting the cooperative artists.
The album was released on the day JFK was assassinated.
In January 1964, the Ronettes left for their first tour of the United Kingdom, where they made a strong impact from the very beginning. They met The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. When the women returned home from their British tour, they went right
back into the studio to record "Keep on Dancing" and "Girls Can Tell". "(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up" was released in April 1964, the song did not do as well as the group's
previous two singles, though it did manage to briefly break into the Billboard Top 40. In June 1964, the group's following single, "Do I Love You?",
was released, also breaking into the Top 40, beating their previous
single by five positions. The song is most notable for its powerful
instrumental opening, accompanied by finger snapping and hand clapping.
In the summer of 1964, Ronnie went into the studio to record her lead
on the group's next single, "Walking in the Rain", which she did in a single take. It became the group's most
successful single since "Be My Baby" and
peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. Following the successful release of "Walking in the Rain", Philles Records released the group's first studio album, Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica, in late 1964. The album proved to be slightly successful, peaking at number 96 on the Billboard
charts, but it is notable for being the first evidence of Phil Spector
publicly promoting lead singer Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett over Estelle
Bennett and Nedra Talley. Every Ronettes single after this referred to
the group as "The Ronettes featuring Veronica" on the record labels.
In February 1965, Philles Records released the group's next single, "Born to Be Together" and over the course of the next year, the Ronettes recorded a song catalog which, once completed, Phil Spector refused to release. He was afraid of the band to become too popular, in fear they would one day outshine him. In June 1965, the Ronettes' next single, "Is This What I Get For Loving You?", was released, becoming a minor hit and appeared TV on Hullabaloo, Hollywood A Go-Go, and Shivaree. The band was headliners at several Murray the K Holiday Shows in NYC and did package tours in the US and England. By
late 1965, even without a recent hit, the group continued to make
appearances at popular night clubs and on television shows, grace the
covers of music magazines, and be featured on The Big TNT Show, produced by Phil Spector as a concert, and filmed and released as a TV movie.
In August 1966, the Ronettes teamed up with the Beatles for a 14-city tour across America. In early 1967, after a touring Germany, they agreed to break up and go their separate ways.
In 1988, the original Ronettes filed a lawsuit in New York against Phil Spector
over unpaid royalties and for unpaid income he made from licensing of
Ronettes’ music. It took the case a decade to make its way to trial. In
2000, Spector was ordered to pay them more than $2.6 million. The final outcome had Spector paying a judgment in excess of 1.5 million dollars to the Ronettes.
In 2009, Estelle died of cancer at the age of 67 in New Jersey. Ronnie Spector is still musically active.
