Arlene Smith, the lead singer and a founder of the pioneering 1950s girl group the Chantels, has died at 84, according to ABC News. Her manager and close friend, Paul Errante, told The Associated Press that she died Wednesday of a heart attack at a New York City hospital.
Smith was still a teenager when the Chantels broke through with “Maybe,” a doo-wop ballad recorded in a Manhattan church and released in 1958. The song became a Top 20 hit, sold more than 1 million copies and was later covered by artists including Janis Joplin and the Three Degrees.
At a time when male harmony groups dominated early rock and roll, the Chantels were among the Black female acts that helped open the door for the girl groups of the next decade. Smith once said she wanted to show that “the guys are not the only ones that can do this.”
Smith and the Chantels were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002. The group also had other songs, including “Every Night (I Pray)” and “Look In My Eyes,” though none matched the success of “Maybe.”
After leaving the group in 1959, Smith later earned a master’s degree in education and taught music to elementary school students in New York City before retiring in the 2000s, according to the report. She never married or had children, Errante said.
