Syreeta

Some performers, including Florence Ballard, were consumed by the relentless Motown assembly line, whereas others such as Syreeta located their true vocations and achievements in different corners of the industry. Rita Wright entered the world in Pittsburgh and nurtured ambitions of a stage career; when her family relocated to Detroit during her teenage years she possessed the ability to pursue that objective. She joined the organization initially as a secretary, yet Brian Holland—one member of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting trio—noticed her and began featuring her voice on background parts across assorted releases before bringing her to Berry Gordy’s notice. Gordy responded so favorably to Wright’s vocal qualities that he offered her a contract and later assigned her the song “I Can’t Give Back the Love I Feel for You,” written by Holland together with Ashford and Simpson and originally slated for Diana Ross. Released under the name Rita Wright, the single achieved respectable results, particularly abroad, where she eventually learned of a devoted audience.

Wright later encountered Stevie Wonder, they fell in love, and they wed in September 1970, by which time she had adopted the professional name Syreeta that would become her public identity. Although the marriage endured only two years, it opened a fresh creative path for her as a lyricist. Wonder began adapting her poems into melodies, and she discovered her own songwriting aptitude; their partnership as composers and performers continued three years beyond the marriage and produced distinguished results in both capacities. Joint successes that followed encompassed “If You Really Love Me,” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” and “It’s a Shame,” while her most prominent chart entries—“Spinnin’ and Spinnin’” and “Your Kiss Is Sweet”—likewise emerged from Wonder/Wright collaborations.

In 1972 Syreeta issued her debut album bearing that name on Motown’s MoWest subsidiary; the Stevie Wonder–produced Syreeta stood among the label’s most elegantly crafted releases of the decade and supplied her voice with its first comprehensive showcase. Two additional joint albums appeared, after which she remained on the roster for nine more years among the select circle of “inside” artists, alongside her former spouse, whose relationships extended past mere commerce. She reached number five on the charts in 1980 with the ballad “With You I’m Born Again,” a duet alongside Billy Preston, and she also recorded paired performances with Jermaine Jackson and other labelmates during the early eighties. Syreeta stepped away from full-time musical activity in the mid-eighties to concentrate on her private life and family, yet she continued to be cherished as one of Motown’s silver-era figures. Following an extended struggle with cancer, Syreeta died on July 6, 2004.