Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

This group started as a quartet known as the Del-Phis. The original members were Gloria Williamson, Martha Reeves, Annette Beard, and Rosalind Ashford.

Gloria was the original lead singer. As the Del-Phis the group was signed with Check-mate, a subsidiary of Chess Records. The group was short-lived but re-formed a few years later at Motown Records as the Vells. Under that name they released one single.

Gloria then left the group, which carried on as a trio, becoming Martha and the Vandellas. Martha was the lead singer from that point on and in 1964, Annette left the group and was replaced by Betty Kelley.

In 1967, Martha's last name was added to the group's name. Betty was fired in 1968 and replaced by Lois Reeves, Martha's sister, and later that year Rosalind was also fired and replaced by Sandy Tilley. In 1972 the group broke up entirely, and Martha started a solo career. Sandy died of a brain aneurysm in 1981.

Since the early 1990s, Martha has toured periodically with either of two sets of Vandellas: Annette and Rosalind, or her sisters Lois and Delphine.

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