Disco Legend Loleatta Holloway Dies At 64

Disco legend and gay favorite Loleatta Holloway has died at the age of 64. One of the most powerful and instantly recognizable voices of the genre, Holloway got her start in the 60s as an R&B singer, but in mid-70s she become better known as "the" voice of Salsoul Records, where she fronted the famed Salsoul Orchestra on smash disco hits that continue to be heavily played to this day.

Holloway achieved her greatest international fame in 1989 when her vocals for Love Sensation were sampled without credit on the Black Box hit Ride On Time, forcing her to sue. Two years later Love Sensation was again on the world's radios when Marky Mark sampled it heavily in his debut hit single, Good Vibrations. Most recently Holloway's We're Getting Stronger formed the basis for Whitney Houston's 2009 chart-topping Million Dollar Bill.

My favorite Loleatta Holloway tracks are her 1979 classic collaboration with Dan Hartman, Relight My Fire, and her two biggest hits with the Salsoul Orchestra, Hit And Run and Runaway, both from 1977. I last saw Loleatta perform during IML 1999, when she charmed the audience at the Chicago Eagle by threatening to put her foot up the ass of the audio man when the sound malfunctioned. You totally had to be there.