Betty Wright was born in 1953, grew up in Miami and started singing as a child in the gospel group "Echoes of joy" with her siblings. She got a record deal at age twelve and had her first big hit with "Clean up woman" at age 17. The song reached sixth place on the Billboard list and sold more than one million copies.

During the 1980s she started her own record label and recorded "No pain (no gain)" which sold gold in the USA. She wrote the song "Where is the love" with members of the KC & the Sunshine Band and was awarded a Grammy in the best r'n'b category.

She was voice coach in the talent program "Making the band" during the 2000s and was nominated for best pop album for a Grammy when she was co-producer on singer Joss Stone's album "Mind body & soul" in 2005. In 2011 she released the song "Surrender" which was also nominated for a Grammy in the best traditional r'n'b performance category.

As late as January, P3's Mats Nileskär made two programs about Betty Wright and the Miami soul, where he visited the star in her home.

Her cause of death is unknown, but her friend Chaka Kahn tweeted earlier this week asking people to pray for Betty Wright. She turned 66.