Ronnie Spector
Ronnie Spector (born Veronica Yvette Bennett; August 10, 1943) is an American rock and roll singer known as "The Bad Girl of Rock & Roll". Spector was the lead singer of the rock/pop vocal girl group the Ronettes, who had a string of hits during the early to mid–1960s such as "Be My Baby", "Baby, I Love You", and "The Best Part of Breakin' Up". Subsequently, Spector launched her solo career and has since released five studio albums ("Siren" in 1980, "Unfinished Business" in 1987, "Something's Gonna Happen" in 2003, "Last of the Rock Stars" in 2006, and "English Heart" in 2016) and one extended play ("She Talks to Rainbows" in 1999).
The Ronettes
After the overnight success of their first Phil Spector single, Spector was eager to do a follow-up with the Ronettes. He wrote "Baby, I Love You", again with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, and urged the Ronettes to leave New York for California to record the song at Spector's Gold Star Studios. A problem arose when the Ronettes were scheduled to leave for Dick Clark's "Caravan of Stars" tour across the United States. In lieu of having the Ronettes skip the Dick Clark tour, Spector decided Estelle and Nedra would do the tour with cousin Elaine, a former member of the group. Ronnie left for California to record "Baby, I Love You" with Darlene Love, Cher, and Sonny Bono subbing for Estelle and Nedra on back-up vocals. "Baby, I Love You" had an even denser arrangement, featuring Leon Russell on piano. The song was recorded in the early fall of 1963 and released in November that year. It was slightly less successful than "Be My Baby" on the charts, reaching number 24 Pop, number 6 R&B in the United States and number 11 in the United Kingdom.