Nedra Talley Ross, Founding Member of Pioneering Group the Ronettes, Dead at 80

Obituary blogherads.adq.push(function () ); Nedra Talley Ross, Founding Member of Pioneering Group the Ronettes, Dead at 80 The singer, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, was known for Sixties hits like “Be My Baby” By Emily Zemler Emily Zemler ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Singer Says Leonardo DiCaprio Made Her ‘Nervous’ During BAFTA Performance Watch Katseye Reveal Their Inner ‘Animal’ on ‘Fallon’ Queen’s Roger Taylor Debuts Romantic Single ‘I See You Now’ View all posts by Emily Zemler April 27, 2026 Nedra Talley Ross Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic Nedra Talley Ross, the last surviving member of ’60s girl group the Ronettes and a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, died at 80. The group shared the news on its Facebook page on Sunday night. No cause of death was announced.

As a founding member of the Ronettes, along with her beloved cousins Ronnie and Estelle, Nedra’s voice, style and spirit helped define a sound that would change music. Her contribution to the group’s story and their defining influence will live forever. Rest peacefully dear Nedra.

Thanks for the magic.” Born Nedra Yvonne Talley on Jan. 27, 1946, Talley Ross was raised in New York City. She grew up alongside her cousins Veronica “Ronnie” Bennett and Estelle Bennett, who performed at local events as the Darling Sisters. In 1963, the trio connected with producer Phil Spector and renamed themselves the Ronettes.

They released their debut LP, Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica, the following year, which included several hit songs like “Be My Baby” and “Walking in the Rain. The Rolling Stones opened for the Ronettes on tour in the U.K., and later the group opened for the Beatles on their 1966 U.S. tour. Along with Spector, the trio was known for pioneering the “Wall of Sound” technique, which has come to define modern pop music. blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-dsk-tab-article-inbody-uid0' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["mid-article","mid","in-article1","mid-article1","inbody","inbody1"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("music\/article\/inbody1") .addSize([[300,250],[620,350],[2,2],[3,3],[2,4],[4,2],[640,250],[6,6],[620,366]]) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; }); “By the time I was 17, and I was the youngest in the group, we had our first mega-hit with Phillies Record, for Phil Spector,” Talley Ross recalled.

So at 17 I was going to Europe — I turned 18 in England as we were performing. So there was a side where you had a life that most teenagers would never have. I would perform on the weekends and then go to school on Mondays.

There I was having all of this handed to me.” blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-dsk-tab-article-inbody2-uid1' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["mid-article2","mid","in-article2","mid-article","inbody","inbody2"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("music\/article\/inbody2") .addSize([[300,250],[300,251],[620,350],[2,4],[4,2],[3,3],[2,2],[6,6],[620,366]]) .setLazyLoadMultiplier(2) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; }); Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century She added, “We were just being who we were. It was multi-cultural — you weren’t white, you weren’t black. The Ronettes were different.