Syreeta Wright

Syreeta Wright (February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), who recorded professionally under the mononym Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s.

Wright's career heights were songs in collaboration with her ex-husband Stevie Wonder and musical artist Billy Preston.

Wright was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1946, and started singing at the age of four.

Her father, Lordian Wright, served in the Korean War and Syreeta and her sister Kim were raised by their mother Essie and their grandmother.

The Wrights moved back and forth from Detroit to South Carolina, before finally settling in Detroit just as Wright entered high school.

Money problems kept Wright from pursuing a career in ballet, so she focused her attention on a music career joining several singing groups, before landing a job as a receptionist for Motown in 1965.

Within a year, she became a secretary for Mickey Stevenson, just as Martha Reeves had done before her.

A year later, Edward Holland of the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team noticed Wright's singing and decided to try her out for demos of Supremes' songs.

However, in those days, the team of composers Ashford and Simpson had joined Motown and their songs were initially supervised by established producers.

Edward's brother, composer and producer Brian Holland, co-wrote "I Can't Give Back the Song I Feel for You" with the couple, and produced it with Lamont Dozier for Syreeta.

Brian felt Syreeta was a hard name to pronounce, and that Rita Wright would make a good stage name, so Wright's first solo single was released in January 1968 under that name, with "Something On My Mind" on the flip side.

It is often said that the song was initially written for the Supremes (by then billed as "Diana Ross & the Supremes"), but Motown session logs indicate that the backing track was not recorded for anyone else previously.

Wright met labelmate Stevie Wonder in 1968, and the two began dating the following year.

On the advice of Wonder, Wright became a songwriter.

Their first collaboration, "It's a Shame", was recorded by The Spinners, in 1969.

When Diana Ross left the Supremes in early 1970, Motown boss Berry Gordy considered replacing her with Wright, but offered the place in the group to Jean Terrell.

According to several sources, Gordy then changed his mind and tried to replace Terrell with Wright, but this was vetoed by member Mary Wilson since Terrell had already been formally announced as the new lead singer in the media and at the final performance of the Ross-led incarnation of the group.

Wright also sang background on records by the Supremes and by Martha and the Vandellas, notably singing the chorus to the group's modest hit single, "I Can't Dance to That Music You're Playing".

Motown withheld its release until July 1970.

The song reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Wright also began singing backing for Wonder, most notably on the hit "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)", which Wright co-wrote with Wonder.

On 14 September 1970, after a year-long courtship, Wright, 24, and Wonder, 20, married in Detroit.

Later, Diana Ross re-recorded the song for her solo album, Surrender, released in 1971.

Wright also performed demo vocals for the Supremes hit "Love Child" and for Ross' version of "Something On My Mind", released on her self-titled debut album.

The couple then wrote and arranged songs for Wonder's Where I'm Coming From, which was released much to Berry Gordy's chagrin in the spring of 1971.

The Wonder–Wright composition "If You Really Love Me" (which also featured Wright prominently singing background vocals) reached number 8 in the US that year.

In 1971 the couple relocated to New York City.

In between working with Wonder on his albums, Wright decided to return to her own singing career.

Motown reassigned the singer from Motown's Gordy imprint, where "I Can't Give Back the Love I Feel for You" was released, to Motown's L.A.-based MoWest subsidiary.

Wonder and Wright had marriage troubles and divorced in the summer of 1972, ending their 18-month marriage.

Following their divorce, Wonder oversaw the production of Wright's first solo album, Syreeta (released on June 20, 1972), which included her take of Wonder's "I Love Every Little Thing About You" from Music of My Mind, the Smokey Robinson classic "What Love Has Joined Together", and The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home", which featured both Wonder and Wright applying background vocals via the talk box.

MoWest issued "I Love Every Little Thing About You" in the late winter of 1972, but it failed to chart.

Remaining best friends, Wright would continue to provide background vocals and compositions with Wonder for the next two decades.

In 1974, Wright was again reassigned, this time to the Motown label proper (in the U.S.), and issued her second release, the aptly titled Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta that June.

Following the success of Minnie Riperton's Perfect Angel, which Wonder also produced, Wonder wanted to present Wright in the same light as Riperton as a sensual vocalist.

The covers also were very similar to each other.

Riperton added background vocals to the album, primarily at the end of the album track "Heavy Day".

The album yielded the UK singles "I'm Goin' Left" (covered by Eric Clapton and Jerry Butler), "Spinnin' and Spinnin'" and the reggae-flavored "Your Kiss Is Sweet", which became a UK top 40, reaching number 12 in 1975.

The album also featured one duet with G. C. Cameron, formerly of the Spinners.

Production on Wright's third album, One to One mainly produced by Leon Ware, who also produced Marvin Gaye and Riperton, went on for two years.