Wanda Young
Encyclopedia
Wanda Young is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer, famous for being the member and later lead singer of the popular Motown
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

 all-female singing group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...

 The Marvelettes
The Marvelettes
The Marvelettes were an American singing girl group on the Tamla label. Motown's first successful female vocal group, the Marvelettes are most notable for recording the company's first #1 Pop hit, "Please Mr...

.

Biography

Wanda was born in 1943 and raised in the western Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 suburb of Inkster, Michigan
Inkster, Michigan
Inkster is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2010 census, the city population was 25,369. It is one of several suburbs in Metro Detroit whose population is majority or plurality African American.- History :...

. Originally aspiring to be a nurse, Young's professional music career started after fellow Inkster High School classmate Gladys Horton
Gladys Horton
Gladys Catherine Horton was an American R&B and pop singer, famous for being the founder and lead singer of the popular Motown all-female vocal group The Marvelettes.-Biography:...

 asked her to audition for a spot left by original Marvels member Georgia Dobbins. After a successful audition, Young joined the group and the quintet, which had auditioned for a deal with Motown
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

 earlier, returned with a song written by Dobbins titled "Please Mr. Postman
Please Mr. Postman
"Please Mr. Postman" is the debut single by The Marvelettes for the Tamla label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The single achieved this position in late 1961; it hit number one on the R&B chart as well. "Please Mr...

". Impressed with the group's sound, they were immediately signed and had their name changed to The Marvelettes and after the song was remastered, the song was released and became Motown's first #1 Pop single in late 1961 - it also held the top slot for seven weeks on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

s R&B chart. Young sung lead on the b-side of the single on a ballad titled "So Long, Baby".

While Young did occasionally do leads on Marvelettes records, Horton was the main vocalist of the group. In 1964, Young sung lead on the Marvelettes single, "You're My Remedy", which didn't translate successfully to sales or charts figures. The first hit single to feature Young on lead was the dance hit, "I'll Keep Holding On
I'll Keep Holding On
"I'll Keep Holding On" is a song composed by Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter and recorded by Motown singing group The Marvelettes, who released the single on the Tamla imprint in 1965. Peaking at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100, the single returned the group to the top forty after a year recording...

". From then on until the Marvelettes' departure, Young would be the main lead vocalist of the group. Young went on to sing lead on the group's classics such as "Don't Mess with Bill
Don't Mess with Bill
"Don't Mess with Bill" is a million-selling Gold certified 1966 single recorded by The Marvelettes for Motown Records' Tamla label. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson, "Don't Mess with Bill" features a lead vocal by Wanda Young. The single peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in...

" - a million-selling Gold 45 - "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game
The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game
"The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" is a 1966 song recorded by The Marvelettes for the Motown label, from their self-titled album released that year....

", "When You're Young and in Love
When You're Young and in Love
"When You're Young and in Love" is a song composed by Van McCoy. The first recording of the song was by Ruby & the Romantics; like all the group's singles on Kapp Records the track was produced by label a&r head Allen Stanton...

" and "My Baby Must Be a Magician
My Baby Must Be a Magician
"My Baby Must Be a Magician" is the title of a 1967 single release by the Marvelettes which was written and produced by Smokey Robinson.Original Marvelette Wanda Rogers was the lead vocalist on the track; the background vocals were provided by the Andantes rather than official Marvelettes Ann Bogan...

". On December 18, 1963, Young married her longtime boyfriend Bobby Rogers
Bobby Rogers
Bobby Rogers is an American soul singer and songwriter, notable as a member of Motown Records' first signed act and first million selling group The Miracles from 1956 to present. He is also the grandfather of R&B singer Brandi Williams from R&B girl group Blaque-Life:Rogers is the son of the late...

, a member of The Miracles
The Miracles
The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...

, in Detroit and became known professionally as Wanda Rogers. The Marvelettes' hit making days had waned by the end of the 1960s and in 1971 the group disbanded. In 1970, Young produced a solo album with Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...

 as her producer. Sensing marketing value as a Marvelettes release, Motown released the album as The Return of the Marvelettes
The Return of The Marvelettes
The Return of The Marvelettes was marketed as the last album by the group, although in reality their last had been 1969's In Full Bloom...

. The album flopped and Young left the label in 1972 after the Motown label moved from Detroit to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

.

In 1975, the Carpenters remake of "Please Mr. Postman
Please Mr. Postman
"Please Mr. Postman" is the debut single by The Marvelettes for the Tamla label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The single achieved this position in late 1961; it hit number one on the R&B chart as well. "Please Mr...

" hit #1 around the world and was one of a dozen million-selling Gold-certified singles for the duo in the United States. It was also the first song to ever hit #1 by two different artists.

Young dealt with years of substance abuse and alcoholism following the Marvelettes' departure. Young re-emerged in the late 1980s after accepting an offer from Motorcity Records
Motorcity Records
Motorcity Records is a British record label formed by producer Ian Levine in 1989. The label aimed to record new material with former Motown artists.-History:...

' Ian Levine to record new songs and revised versions of her classics with the Marvelettes. She made a brief return to performing in the early 1990s solely without Marvelettes members Gladys Horton and Katherine Anderson. Katherine retired from show business after the Marvelettes' breakup though both Horton and Young collaborated together on a Marvelettes recording for Motorcity though Young wasn't featured on the cover and Horton was.

As of 2010 Young lives in the western Detroit suburb of Westland, Michigan
Westland, Michigan
Westland is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located about west of downtown Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 84,094.-Politics:...

. She has long since been divorced from Bobby Rogers. In 2002, Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...

 sampled Young's version of The Miracles' "After All
After All (The Miracles song)
"After All" is a 1960 song written by Smokey Robinson and originally recorded and released by The Miracles on the Tamla label. It was later covered as an unreleased single by The Supremes for Tamla; it was canceled in favor of the single "Buttered Popcorn", and their cover wasn't released until it...

" for Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

's rap duet, "Poppin' Tags" from The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse album, which featured Killer Mike
Killer Mike
Michael Render , better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, signed to Grind Time Official through the SMC/Fontana Distribution...

, Big Boi
Big Boi
Antwan André Patton , better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André...

 and Twista
Twista
Carl Terrell Mitchell , better known by his stage name Twista, is an American rapper. He is known for once holding the title of fastest rapper in the world according to Guinness World Records in 1992, being able to pronounce 598 syllables in 55 seconds...

.

External links

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