Mary Ester Wells
(May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992)
“The Queen of Motown” until her departure from the company in 1964, at the height of her success.
She was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the Four Tops, Wells was said to have been part of the charge in black music onto radio stations and record shelves of mainstream America, “bridging the color lines in music at the time.”
With a string of hit singles composed mainly by Smokey Robinson, including “The One Who Really Loves You”, “Two Lovers”, and the Grammy-nominated “You Beat Me to the Punch”, all in 1962, plus her signature hit, “My Guy” (1964), she became recognized as “The Queen of Motown” until her departure from the company in 1964, at the height of her success.
In 1990, Wells recorded an album for Ian Levine’s Motorcity Records, but her voice began to fail, causing the singer to visit a local hospital. Doctors diagnosed Wells with laryngeal cancer. Treatments for the disease ravaged her voice, forcing her to quit her music career. Since she had no health insurance, her illness wiped out her finances, forcing her to sell her home. As she struggled to continue treatment, old Motown friends, including Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, members of the Temptations, and Martha Reeves, made donations to support her, along with the help of admirers such as Dionne Warwick, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and Bonnie Raitt. That same year, a benefit concert was held by fellow fan and Detroit R&B singer Anita Baker. Wells was also given a tribute by friends such as Stevie Wonder and Little Richard on The Joan Rivers Show.
In 1991, Wells brought a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Motown for royalties she felt she had not received upon leaving Motown Records in 1964 and for loss of royalties for not promoting her songs as the company should have. Motown eventually settled the lawsuit by giving her a six-figure sum. That same year, she testified before the United States Congress to encourage government funding for cancer research:
I’m here today to urge you to keep the faith. I can’t cheer you on with all my voice, but I can encourage you, and I pray to motivate you with all my heart and soul and whispers.
— Mary Wells
Wells married twice: first, in 1960, to Detroit singer Herman Griffin; they divorced in 1963. Despite rumors, she never dated fellow Motown singer Marvin Gaye, who would go on to have successful duet partnerships with Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross after Wells had left Motown.
In 1966, Wells married singer-songwriter Cecil Womack, formerly of the Valentinos, and the younger brother of musician Bobby Womack. The marriage lasted until 1977 and they produced three children. Wells had four children from two marriages: Cecil, Jr., Harry, Stacy, and Sugar.
In the summer of 1992, Wells’s cancer returned and she was rushed to the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital in Los Angeles with pneumonia. With the effects of her unsuccessful treatments and a weakened immune system, Wells died on July 26, 1992, at the age of 49. After her funeral, which included a eulogy given by her old friend and former collaborator, Smokey Robinson, Wells was cremated, and her ashes were laid to rest in Glendale’s Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in a Womack family crypt. Family friend Sam Cooke is buried in The Garden of Honor, about 850 feet (260 m) to the west.
Though Wells has been eligible for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, being nominated twice in 1986 and 1987, she has yet to achieve it.
Wells earned one Grammy Award nomination during her career. Her song “My Guy” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Wells was given one of the first Pioneer Awards by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1989. A year later, the foundation raised more than $50,000 to help with her treatment after her illness had wiped out all of her finances.
Wells was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2006. She was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2017.