Wells, Mary Esther (1943-1992)

US pop and rhythm-and-blues singer, one of Motown Records' first stars. She had a number-one hit with ‘My Guy’ (1964), written and produced, like most of her material, by Smokey Robinson.

Wells began singing in school and in church in her native Detroit, Michigan, and auditioned for Berry Gordy, Motown's founder, in 1961 with her own song ‘Bye Bye Baby’, which became an R&B hit. Before Motown, she once said, young black women in Detroit had to choose between ‘babies, the factories, or day [domestic] work’. She made a significant contribution to the early success of the company, backed by the production and songwriting skills of Robinson on clever midtempo numbers like ‘The One Who Really Loves You’, ‘You Beat Me to the Punch’, ‘Two Lovers’ (all hits 1962), and ‘Laughing Boy’ 1963. But after ‘My Guy’, as she turned 21, she left Motown, and a legal battle ensued over her contract. Her hopes of becoming a film star were crushed, she never again found the same chart success or even a label where she could settle, and she died in poverty.

Wells was also the first Motown artist to tour the UK, on a bill with the Beatles in 1964; later she was to record an album called Love Songs to the Beatles.