R.I.P.: Barbara Ann Alston, Leader Singer For The Crystals

The Crystals 1963

Barbara Ann Alston, one of the most influential singers in rock and roll music in the ‘60s, has died

Barbara Ann Alston

The Charlotte Observer reports Alston – who died Feb. 16 in Charlotte at age 74 – was the lead singer for Phil Spector’s girl group The Crystals, which had a string of hits including “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Then He Kissed Me.”

Cause of death was the flu.

The Crystals were among the hottest of the ‘60s pop acts, a category that included the Supremes, the Shirelles, the Ronettes and Martha and the Vandellas. Rolling Stone magazine called such groups “a cornerstone of the Sixties,” and music historians credit The Crystals with having some of the genre's most-beloved songs.

Between 1961 and 1963, Billboard magazine reports their hits included: “There’s No Other (Like My Baby)” (1962, No. 20); “Uptown” (1962, No. 13); “He’s A Rebel” (1962, No.1); “Da Doo Ron Ron” (1963, No. 3); “Then He Kissed Me” (1963, No. 6); and “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” (1963, No.11). At that time, the group’s members consisted of Alston, Kennibrew, Mary Thomas, Merna Girard and Patsy Wright.



Donielle Prophete, 47, is one of Alston’s three surviving children and she said her mother was not above singing her hits around the house as she cleaned or cooked. Her mother enjoyed continuing to get royalty checks for her hits, Prophete said, but there was never a hint of regret that she gave up performing.

Alston died a happy woman, knitting, cross stitching and tending five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, Prophete says.