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American singer (1945–2021)

Sarah Dash (August 18, 1945 – September 20, 2021) was an American singer. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles. Dash was later a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, session musician, and sidewoman for The Rolling Stones, and Keith Richards.

The seventh of 13 children, Dash was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father was a pastor at the Trenton Church of Christ, while her mother was a nurse. Although she initially sang gospel music, Dash turned to secular music as a pre teen when she formed a vocal duo, the Capris. When she moved to Philadelphia in the mid 1960s she got reacquainted with fellow adopted Philadelphian Nona Hendryx and Philadelphia natives Patricia "Patsy" Holte (AKA Patti LaBelle) and Sundray Tucker. In 1961, following the break up of a rival girl group, Hendryx and Dash joined Holte and Tucker in "The Ordettes". In 1961, Tucker was replaced by Philadelphia born Cindy Birdsong and the quartet became The Bluebelles in 1962. The group changed their name again to Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles after Holte was advised to adopt the stage name of Patti LaBelle. Among the Bluebelles hits were the doo wop classic, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" and doo wop esque R&B ballads "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Danny Boy", the top forty classic, "Down the Aisle", the soul standard "All or Nothing" and their now legendary rendition of "Over the Rainbow", which LaBelle later transformed into a tour de force in her 1981 solo cover. Dash sang with a sharp soprano.

In 1967, Birdsong left the group to join The Supremes and four years later, The Bluebelles changed their name to Labelle and began recording material that set them apart from other girl groups including songs of political, social and sexual matters, transforming them into a "hard rocking, sexually and politically outspoken group". Much like The Supremes' Mary Wilson, Dash was often the "middle" of two of the group's extremes, Nona Hendryx and Patti LaBelle, who often had differed in the group's change of direction before LaBelle eventually agreed to "go along with it". After a tour of England where they changed managers, hiring Vicki Wickham, in 1971, the group ditched their bouffant wigs and dresses for Afros and jeans, releasing transitional records such as Labelle (which included the Hendryx penned sexual "Morning Much Better") and Moon Shadow (which featured the group's gospel fueled renditions of the Pete Townshend penned "Won't Get Fooled Again", and Cat Stevens' "Moon Shadow"). During this period, the group gained notice from the mainstream after opening for singer songwriter Laura Nyro and recording an album, Gonna Take a Miracle, together. They also toured with British rock group The Who, leading up to the 1973 release of Pressure Cookin' This featured more songwriting from Hendryx and a more unified group effort in which Dash sang co lead, including the ballad, "Can I Speak to You Before You Go to Hollywood? ", where Dash sings most of the song. Dash's strong vocals in the group provided for balance and stability when LaBelle and Hendryx occasionally went off on vocal tangents or were pulling audience members up onto the stage to dance. Dash also wrote several songs. Despite the group's cult raves for their early material, their critical success did not translate to commercial acclaim until the releases of 1974's Nightbirds (which featured the group's biggest smash single of their careers, "Lady Marmalade") and 1975's Phoenix. Following the release of 1976's Chameleon and a 1977 tour, the group agreed to split after the trio failed to come to terms with material (the group were working on an album titled Shaman when they split) and had finally "rocked and rolled themselves out".