Shangri-Las singer Mary Weiss dies at the age of 75

Mary Weiss, the lead singer of the 1960s pop group The Shangri-Las, has died at the age of 75.

The US girl group rose to fame with a series of hits about teenage love and tragedy, including “Remember (Walking In The Sand)” and “Leader Of The Pack”, which was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s singles category.

Weiss was at the center of the sound and look of The Shangri-Las and, along with The Ronettes, was a pioneer of the girl group era.

On Friday, Miriam Linna of Norton Records confirmed Weiss’ death to the PA news agency.

“Mary was an icon, a heroine, a heroine, both to young men and women of my generation and of all generations,” Linna said in a statement to US media.

Meanwhile, Ronnie Spector, co-founder of The Ronettes who passed away in January 2022, posted a tribute on his official Instagram account following the news.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Mary Weiss. She and Ronnie were soul mates; two fearless bad girls of the ’60s. Join us as we play the Shangri-Las in her honor,” the statement said.

The group, known as the tough girls of the sixties pop scene, consisted of two pairs of sisters, Mary and Elizabeth Weiss, and twins Marguerite and Mary Ann Ganser, who formed in the New York borough of Queens.

Weiss was born in New York in 1948 and grew up in Queens, where she sang in school plays and choirs. She and her sister Betty became friends with the Gasner twins while at school, and the four of them began singing together.

They later met a local producer named Artie Ripp and signed with Kama Sutra Productions.

After a series of hits, including “Give Him A Great Big Kiss” and “Out In The Streets”, and opening for the Rolling Stones on their second US tour in 1964, Shangri-Las disbanded.

This year, the band’s hit “Leader of the Pack” became a number one hit.

When the band broke up in 1968, Weiss largely stayed out of the music industry for many decades and moved to San Francisco to try out a new lifestyle.

She occasionally performed with the Shangri-Las when the group reunited several times in the 1970s and 1980s.

She made a comeback in 2007 when she released her first solo album on Norton Records. Dangerous gamewith great acclaim from critics.

“I wanted to do a mix of new and old,” said Weiss New York Magazine in 2007. “Why go into the studio to do old stuff? What’s the point?”

With additional reporting from PA news agency