Mary Weiss, the lead singer of The Shangri-Las, has died as confirmed by Miriam Linna of Norton Records, the record label that released the artist’s solo album, ‘Dangerous Game’ (2007). She did it at the age of 75, although the causes of her death are still unknown.
“Mary was an icon, an idol, a heroine for young people of my generation and all generations,” Linna told Rolling Stone. The artist, born and raised in the Queens borough of New York City, formed a singing group with her sister Betty Weiss and twins Mary Ann Ganser and Margie Ganser when they went to high school together in 1963. That same year they would break up. nicknamed the Shangri-Las when they caught the attention of a record label.
The Shangri-Las’ most famous single, ‘Leader of the Pack’, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, and decades later they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “It was one of the essential Girl Groups of the 60s that empowered young women to dream big at a time when society limited women to being secretaries,” she wrote. Stevie Van Zandt on social networks after the news of the death.
