Singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow — who released 16 albums, composed more than 100 songs and was nominated for a best new artist Grammy Award in 1975 — passed away today from complications related to a brain hemorrhage she suffered in 2010. She was 60 years old.
Snow was best known for her 1975 hit "Poetry Man," which was released on a self-titled album and became enough of a hit to land her on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
But at the height of her success, Snow put her career on hold to care for her daughter, Valerie, who was born with a brain injury. Valerie died at age 31 in 2007. Snow considered caring for her daughter to be her greatest accomplishment, her manager told the Associated Press.
Snow was difficult to place in a musical category. One reviewer called her style "a helter skelter amalgam of pop, jazz, blues, gospel and folk." In 2003 she told the New York Times, "No creative person should ever produce the same thing over and over."
Some also found her hard to categorize ethnically. The AP reports that while many assumed she was black, Snow was born Phoebe Ann Laub to white Jewish parents. Regardless of her race, a generation of African Americans are sure to remember one of the musical contributions she made later in her career: She was the voice of the theme for the first season of the NBC series "A Different World."
A private funeral is planned for Snow, who is survived by her sister and other relatives.
Read more from the Associated Press.
In other news: VIDEO: Missouri Levee on Flooded River Fails.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.