Coley, Doris

▪ 2001

Doris Kenner-Jackson 

      American singer (b. Aug. 2, 1941, Goldsboro, N.C.—d. Feb. 4, 2000, Sacramento, Calif.), was one of the Shirelles, the all-girl pop group that created a sensation in the late 1950s and early '60s with a string of hits that included “Tonight's the Night” (1960), “Mama Said” (1961), and “Baby It's You” (1962). As a teenager, she and three of her classmates at Passaic (N.J.) High School won a talent show with the song “I Met Him on a Sunday,” which led to a recording contract. In 1958 the song became the group's first record to enter the charts. Coley was the lead vocalist on the Shirelles' 1959 hit “Dedicated to the One I Love.” Another hit, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” became the first number one record by an African American female group. After breaking up in 1968, the group reunited for several performances in the 1970s, and in 1996 the Shirelles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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