Betty Davis, hard funk pioneer, dead at 77

Betty Davis, a bold and pioneering funk singer, model and songwriter of the 1960s and '70s who was credited with inspiring then-husband Miles Davis’ landmark fusion of jazz and more contemporary sounds, has died

NEW YORK -- Betty Davis, a bold and pioneering funk singer, model and songwriter of the 1960s and ‘70s who was credited with inspiring then-husband Miles Davis’ landmark fusion of jazz and more contemporary sounds, has died at age 77.

Davis died early Wednesday after a brief illness, according to Danielle Maggio, a singer, adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh and associate producer of the 2017 documentary “Betty: They Say I’m Different." Davis spent part of her childhood in Pittsburgh and settled there during the second half of her life.

Sometimes referred to as “Madonna before Madonna,” Davis was the rare woman to make funk albums in the 1970s, and her three albums from that time were showcases for her fearless personality and sexuality and insistence on control of her material and her image. Davis producer Greg Errico, former drummer for Sly and the Family Stone, would call her style “down and dirty funk." Her records sold modestly at the time, but their impact has been cited often in the decades following.

“The reach of her influence & sonic lineage is immense,” the author and critic Hanif Abdurraqib tweeted Wednesday. “You’ve heard her, even if you think you’ve never heard her. I’m glad we got her at all.”