One of the original and only American pop stars to display a vocal range of more than five octaves, Minnie Riperton is undoubtedly best known for her smash hit Lovin’ You. Although Minnie passed away in 1979 at only 31 years of age, she left behind a strong musical legacy, and also a daughter, Maya, who is a successful comedian and actress.

Minnie Julia Riperton was born November 8, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up in Chicago’s notoriously run down South Side, Minnie was the youngest of 8 children in a musically inclined family. She began at a young age with dancing, but after noticing her vocal talent, Riperton’s parents urged her to pursue a musical career.

Because of her unique octave range, Minnie’s opera music trainers taught her something unconventional and advised her to use her entire vocal range. However, Minnie didn’t last long in the opera world. She was drawn to rhythm and blues and other music with soul. By the time she was 15, Minnie was singing with a group named The Gems.

In the mid 1960s, after The Gems all but disbanded, Minnie set out to fulfill a solo career. She hooked up with Studio Three and met Billy Davis, a man who quickly became her mentor. She changed her name to Andrea Davis in honor of Billy and released two singles, You Gave me Soul and Lonely Girl.

After her two singles met only mild success, Riperton then became a member of the R&B group Rotary Connection. All told, the group released five albums but never managed to break into the big time. However, in 1970, while still with Rotary Connection, Minnie was also working on her solo career and released her first album, Come to My Garden.

Although not very popular at the time, the GRT Records release Come to My Garden is now a classic album and considered one of the best of the era. Minnie’s biggest day wouldn’t come until three years later, however, after she had all but retired from music.

Minnie had married a songwriter, Richard Rudolph, whom she met while with Rotary Connection and she was living a quiet life as a housewife. Raising two children, Minnie had no aspirations of trying to regain stardom, but an intern for Epic Records played one of Minnie’s demos for Epic’s VP Don Ellis and he immediately set out to sign her.

After being signed, Riperton and her family moved out to LA and she recorded her first album with Epic, Perfect Angel. After three singles were released from the album, record execs had determined that it was best to make another album instead of pushing for sales on the current one. But Minnie convinced them to release one more single from the album.

Lovin’ You, the fourth single from Perfect Angel, hit the airwaves in 1975 and rose to the top of the US charts. Perfect Angel subsequently went gold in a hurry and Minnie was on the charts in 24 different countries.

Her time at the top would be short lived, however. In 1976, Minnie revealed to the world that she had breast cancer. After a career spanning five critically acclaimed albums, Minnie lost a three-year battle to cancer and passed away on July 12, 1979.