Estelle Bennett, 67, one of the beehived queens of 1960s girl-group pop as a member of the Ronettes, has died at her home in Englewood, N.J. She was found on Wednesday in her apartment by a friend, after family members had been unable to reach her for several days, said her daughter, Toyin Hunter. The cause was colon cancer, Hunter said. With their short skirts, heavy makeup and enormous towers of Aquanet-steadied hair, the Ronettes were New York's sassy, street-smart variation on the virginal girl-group. Their biggest hits, "Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You," embodied the forceful "wall of sound" aesthetic of their producer, Phil Spector. Also in the group were Bennett's younger sister, Veronica, better known as Ronnie, and their cousin Nedra Talley. Their unpolished but flirty voices, and Ronnie's breaking "whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh" in "Be My Baby," have echoed through generations of female rock singers.

NEW YORK TIMES