Ronnie Spector, girl group icon who sang Be My Baby, dies at 78

Spector, born Ronnie Bennett, grew up in the Spanish Harlem neighborhood of New York City. She and her sister, Estelle, and their cousin, Nedra Talley, began performing at a young age, first singing at New York "sock hops," or informal sponsored teenage dance events, and Jewish bar mitzvah parties.

Ronnie Spector, the pioneering lead singer of the 1960s American "girl group" the Ronettes, whose vocals graced such hits as "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You," has died at the age of 78, relatives said on Wednesday.

Spector, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 as a member of the Spanish Harlem-based female trio, died surrounded by loved ones and in the arms of her husband, Jonathan Greenfield, after a brief battle with cancer, the family said in a statement.