Three Detroit sisters who sang behind the stars first

Before they were singing their own songs, Brenda, Shirley and Valorie Jones were the voices behind other people’s. The Detroit sisters signed with GM Records in 1970 and worked as backup singers for Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass, Aretha Franklin and Le Pamplemousse. From 1975 to 1978 they worked with Diana Ross, and they also appeared on Linda Clifford’s 1978 album and on Tower of Power’s 1979 album Back on the Streets.

After two years with GM they recorded for various labels and then found success at Philadelphia International Records with Gamble and Huff. Their biggest hit was “You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else”, which reached number 38 on the Billboard chart in May 1979, became a top-five R&B hit and went gold. “I Just Love the Man” charted at number 9 in January 1981, and “Nights Over Egypt”, written by Dexter Wansel, reached number 23 on the R&B chart in 1982.

Their fourth American album, On Target, failed, and Shirley Jones went solo. She reached number 1 on the R&B chart with “Do You Get Enough Love” from her top-ten debut Always in the Mood in 1986. Bunny Sigler wrote the song and produced it with Kenny Gamble. In 2007 she released Ladies Night Out together with Jean Carn and Cherrelle. Valorie died on December 2, 2001, at the age of 45.

Brenda moved to Atlanta, where she sang jazz and R&B with a four-piece band, and later to New York. She died on April 3, 2017, while visiting her daughter in Wilmington, Delaware. Shirley continues to perform as the Jones Girls with two nieces and a nephew on backing vocals. Their songs live on in covers: Xscape took “Who Can I Run To” to number 1 on the R&B chart in 1995, and Incognito and Dexter Wansel himself have recorded “Nights Over Egypt”.