Powerhouse R&B singer Vesta Williams died at the age of 53. Williams was found dead in a hotel room in El Segundo, California. Vesta's biggest hit was "Congratulations". She was a phenomenal vocalist.
I looooved this WOMAN!! She was wild funny and had a beautiful voice! And did a GREAT immpression of Chaka Khan which she use to sing back-up for among many!! Rest in paradise Vesta!🙏😢
Vesta Williams in my opinon will be greatly missed. She had an awesome voice and a very beautiful woman also. Now, 2 of my favorite female singers have left us. Phyllis Hyman and Vesta Williams were in the same category as far as I am concerned. Both beautiful divas left here too soon. I hope they both get the well deserved rest that they need now. You both singing in God's choir now with the angels. Love you Vesta.
Vesta graduated from Coshocton High School, then going by Mary Vesta. She was a senior when I was a freshman, and I saw her perform in our auditorium several times. So much talent!
Sometimes i feel like the world is shutting down slowly but surely. We are losing too many greats.....like Vesta,Nick Ashford,Barry White,Luther Vandross and many more i could name. These people made real music and will never be forgotten. I can still remember the day i first heard Vesta sing Congratulations. I said to myself, what a powerful voice she has. RIP in peace Soul Sister you are greatly missed and loved. I was waiting for UNSUNG to do a cover story on her.
This woman was struggling financially and emotionally at the time of her death. We as a community should do better to support our treasured artists when the industry chews them up and spits them out.
Everytime I watch the movie women on Brewster I think of Vesta Williams such a beautiful blessed voice 2020 rest in peace Missed you and your voice because you you're one of a kind diva
I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting VESTA in Cincinnati on a promotional tour for her 4U album. She was at a radio station in my neighborhood. The DJ said if anyone wants a signed picture of VESTA stop by. I had her first cassette with me in my car and I was already near the station. I was the first there. Receptionist asked can I help you (she was not aware of the DJ's request). I said I wanted to see if VESTA would sign my cassette. Her manager, who was setting in the lobby, asked if I had her new cassette, 4U. I said no. He gives me a 20 and says go get her new one and let her sign that. I rushed to a nearby record store and purchased their first one, they were still in shipment box. Got back to radio station, VESTA was in the limousine signing pictures. She had me hold a stack so they were easier to sign. About 12 people were ahead of me. I got mine last, she signed both my cassettes, and a picture! Then they drove away. I will never forget that experience! She was absolutely wonderful with all her fans! Just as sweet as can be!!!! I LOVE YOU VESTA!!!!!!!
2021 going on 2022 and it took for me to be on TikTok to even find out that she had passed!So sad!She was super talented and just as equally beautiful...I've always felt like any song she dropped Chaka could do it and or any song that Chaka dropped Vesta could've done it just as well...This death had to have been lowkey broadcasted because I still can't believe I missed this!Rest easy Vesta...
This video tribute is soooo beautiful. Vesta Williams was a phenomenal singer and a beautiful woman. The best tribute I have seen for Vesta. Thank you for appreciating Vesta Williams. It's so sad...she will be missed. Pouring out love. Love the song from "Brewster's Place"...very fitting:) Thank you.
Never knew she had some of the difficulties she did,personally and professionally. Because I didnt, I was stunned at the time to hear about her transition. She could really sing and was absolutely a beautiful woman. Never like to hear of someone dying young because of the pain and sorrow it leaves on a family, but we all know someone who dies early and we all have to somehow try to keep living. Each of her family has my condolence and I wish each one of them well.
@scheckdj: You are so right. Vesta Williams was beautiful, sexy, powerhouse vocalist, who was overweight when her career took off. Realizing her weight affected her career. She lost over 100 pounds. Unfortunately, time was lost....Janet Jackson's career was blasting off.....and of course...the incomparable Whitney Houston diminished the light of so many talented singers. Vesta Williams never received the recognition she so rightly deserved. Greatly appreciate your comment.
What I witnessed in Portsmouth VA., her last concert. We had no idea she was performing in town. We saw the review in the paper the next day. It said 50 people came out to see Vesta in a thunderstorm. She dressed in a dark, leaking and dingy dressing room. The concert was not promoted on any media. I think it sent her into a deep depression. She could have easily sold out the 2,000 seat Willet Hall which wás one of the worst venues in the 757 and was recently torn down. Somebody dropped the ball.
@CharlesBarry: You are very welcome. It was a pleasure making the video - Vesta was worthy. Vesta Williams was a powerhouse vocalist who probably didn't get the recognition her massive talent demanded - wanted to show my appreciation for her contributions to the music world. Thank you very much for commenting:)
Thank you for the tribute, Vesta was a powerhouse singer and I am a fan. Congratulations is my favorite song......so powerful. She was a chameleon in her looks. Always looking different. I'm very glad I taped the Monique Show with Vesta on the show, which aired in August. She sang Congratulations. She was phenomenal and beautiful. Wonder how many times she has sang that song in her lifetime. It was such a signature song and now it makes me cry just looking at her sing it. RIP "v"
wildwoman17 oh! i really loved vesta williams i use to have that album,but i still got the tape,i just loved her music congratulatons was my favorite song rest in peace vesta wiliams
Your so right Scheck! Vest a was a power house as well. She reminds me of Chaka! Both phenomonal voaclist! I will keep her alive via music! She will never be forgotten by a true fan! :) Lord bless her family! I do not know if she had any children, a hubby, or what?
@paerki: Yes, it is very sad. Especially, when you saw how beautiful and lively and enthusiastic she was. She was celebrating her new release 'Dedication' and continued career. Very sad. But we are appreciative of her contributions to the music industry and giving us the wonderful song "Congratulations". Thank you for commenting.
I can't believe she's dead too!! What a great singer- she was!- better than Whitney!! And just like Chaka!!! She died young! And from a preventable condition!- high blood pressure!! I got that!! But with treatment u can live on! A long life!! U don't have to die from it!! It's a Shame!
Vesta reporting cause of death: Following three months of intensive coroner's autopsy and toxicology research, it has been definitively determined that the cause of death for our beloved Vesta was 'natural death' from 'hypertensive heart disease,'" adding: "An enlarged heart can remain undetected for many years.
I read that Tony Terry and Sheryl Lee were her close friends but when featured on unsung they didn't have one thing to say. She will be greatly missed very gifted woman.
@DaOrigTruthSeeker: Thanks for your comment. Yes, we are losing real, genuine, talent.....singers who can really sannnng. Their music is their career legacy. Vesta's daughter and grandchildren are her true legacy. Hopefully, the UNSUNG cover story will air in the future with any coverage obtained before Vesta's passing. I appreciate your comment. Thanks again!
@mariewilder I completely agree. To name a few, Shirley Murdock, Angela Bofill, Stacy Lattisaw, Anita Baker, Regina Belle and the late great Phoebe Snow and Phyllis Hyman. Yes Whitney did outshine them all because not only was she a great singer but she was marketable to all audiences and Clive Davis knew that her beauty would benefit sales greatly. Today Rihanna, Katy Perry, Gaga, Beyonce rule the world. Some know how to ride the wave of fame better than others..Love me some Chaka still!
I am going to say something that i know some of you won't like,but i need to say it anyway. It is strange to me that people who have been given these bigger than life gifts/talents, never really use them to glorify THE MOST HIGH,but they use their gifts to glorify themselves. They give the world the best of themselves but never give THE MOST HIGH their best. When singers have used all these drugs and their vanity (fame) is over really dried up,then people want to talk about GOD. What happens to so many celebs is that the life style their fame and wealth affords them catches up with them. On UNSUNG Vesta said "i have seen many people who were singers that are now homeless on the streets,missing teeth". Where is the love for THE MOST HIGH when these people are at their best? People want to do what they want and then burn themselves out and then they want to give GOD whatever is left over. Whitney is another prime example of this. When i heard her sing "Eye On the Sparrow" her voice was a mere fraction of what it used to be. How many times did she go to her church in Newark,NJ and give GOD some praise when her voice was at it's best? We want the best from THE MOST HIGH but we want to give me the scraps. This ought not to be the case. Vesta and Whitney damaged their hearts from years of Cocaine abuse. Don't get me wrong,i am not trying to judge these two powerhouse singers,but i am trying to give those of us who are still here something to think about. Remember GOD,at all times and live your life accordingly. People will prop you up,but when you fall those same people will be the first to talk about you like a dog,some will deny they ever knew you. Don't yall find it strange that in the very moment of their death both Vesta and Whitney were alone? None of those who pushed them and admired them were there to comfort or help them? Give GOD his glory at all times people,don't just know him when you are doing bad and need his help....give him his due while you are at your best. Nobody could ever convince me,not for any amount of money or fame, to not use my gifts for THE MOST HIGH.....that is my deepest desire. After all,we would have no gifts/talents to speak of were it not for GOD.
I appreciate your powerful and insightful words. I know both of these women had a deep love for God. You are correct when you state we should give our best to God. It's not just celebrities - everday people should give their very best and use their gifts for God. So many who are pursuing materialistic lives without giving God a thought. I don't find it strange that they died alone. Because, really, we all will die alone. We can't take anyone with us. I don't believe Whitney was alone when she died (that's a different story). Overall, I agree completely with your comment - it should apply to all people - we all were created in God's image. Right? Thank you for commenting.
It's much bigger then you think. Very deep. Sacrifices and more sacrifices. Whether or not you give praise to "a Jesus", Muhammed or who ever you praise some of these people were deliberately sacrificed by evil people. And where the hell was your god to bail them out of this? Just because they forgot to say praise their no longer connected to this entity that you think everyone should " serve"?! What kind of bullsh-t is that to"say"? To lose your life because this sick and twisted god likes to justify the destruction of "his" children when they don't cater to "his" petty rules. No one deserves to die the way Whitney or Vesta did simply because they didn't go to church every Sunday and praise this maniacal pompous psychopath. Its obvious that these 2 women and other entertainers like M.J., Prince, Left Eye and Luther were in pain... So now I ask with all due respect where was and is your pompous "GOD" today to make the world a better place filled with joy and love?
+The Duchess Healing is what we ALL need. A judgemental god is what we DON'T need. We're all in hell. So who are you to judge some of these lost soul. Ain't we all lost if we're living in hell( not in our natural abode) today?
