MARY Weiss, the pioneering lead singer of the hit 1960s group The Shangri-Las, has died at 75.
Details on Weiss’s death have not been released yet.
Weiss is recognized as the voice of The Shangri-Las.
She also released a solo album called Dangerous Game in 2007.
Her death was confirmed to Rolling Stone by Norton Records label, which released Weiss’s solo album.
“Mary was an icon, a hero, a heroine, to both young men and women of my generation and of all generations,” Miriam Linna of Norton Records told Rolling Stone.
The Shangri-Las consisted of Weiss, Mary Ann Ganser, and Marge Ganser.
They formed the band in the New York City borough of Queens.
Both the Gansers, who were sisters, have also died on past dates.
Marge died in 1996 at age 48 due to breast cancer and Mary died in 1970 at age 22 due to a drug overdose.
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There was also a fourth member who joined down the line, Weiss’s sister, Elizabeth “Betty” Weiss, who is still alive.
Their band quickly rose to fame in the ’60s and had multiple top hits.
Some of their best songs include Leader of the Pack, Remember (Walking in the Sand), and Great Big Kiss.
Leader of the Pack was their biggest hit and is a three-minute track about death, lost love, and motorcycles.
However, it was banned from BBC due to violent content and teenage death references, BBC said.
Weiss also had her first big hit when she was 15 and Leader of the Pack was also recorded when she was 15, The Telegraph reported.
The group broke apart in 1968 due to legal issues, according to a 2007 New York Magazine interview.
Weiss was remembered as a “fearless bad girl of the 60s” by an Instagram account for Ronnie Spector, who founded the Ronettes.
