Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - Zola Taylor, the first female member of rhythm and blues group the Platters died Monday. She was 69.
Taylor died at Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside County, California.
She had suffered several strokes and died from complications of pneumonia.
The Platters recruited Taylor in 1955 after founding member Herb Reed saw the singer rehearsing with another group.
Taylor performed on the band's hit song, "The Great Pretender," which topped U.
S. and European R and B and pop charts.
After leaving the Platters, according to the AP, Taylor performed with other groups, though none were as successfull.
The singer was portrayed by Halle Berry in "Why Do Fools Fall In Love," a film about the drama surrounding the claims of three women - one of them Taylor - who each claimed to be the widow of singer Frankie Lymon.
She married two other times and her last husband died in 1982. Taylor had no children.
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