R&B singer Vesta Williams, who hit the R&B top 10 with Sweet, Sweet Love and Congratulations, was found dead Thursday in a Southern California hotel room. She was 53.
Vesta Williams
The singer was found at 6:15 PM in a room in El Sagundo, according to police, and it is suspected that she had overdosed on drugs. TMZ has recently reported that “several bottles” for prescription drugs, some empty, were found in the room. Toxicology reports could take up to six weeks.
Williams became interested in singing while a teen in Ohio and, after moving to Los Angeles, was put into the band Wild Honey by former Fifth Dimension member Ron Townson. She followed with session work until being signed to A&M who released her debut album, Vesta, in 1986. The album included her first hit Once Bitten, Twice Shy which peaked at 9 on the R&B chart and at 14 in the U.K.
Two years later, Williams released Vesta 4 U which contained a trio of hits, Sweet, Sweet Love (1988/#4 R&B), 4 U (1989/#9 R&B) and Congratulations (1989/#5 R&B/#55 Pop). She followed with the album Special in 1991 which peaked at 15 on the Albums chart along with the title song hitting number 2 on R&B. Both were chart highs for the singer.
Williams recorded for A&M and its purchaser, Polydor, until 1998 when she left the label, returning to session work. Her last album was 2007’s Distant Lover, released on Shanachie.
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