“Now our beautiful sister will sing amongst the angels in heaven in perfect peace,” Pamela’s siblings from The Emotions wrote.
The Emotions‘ Pamela Hutchinson passed away on Friday, September 18. She joined the group alongside her sisters just before the release of their 1977 No. 1 hit, Best of my Love.
The official announcement of her death was revealed on The Emotions’ Facebook page yesterday (Sept 21). Pamela Hutchinson was 61 years old.
Pamela Hutchinson was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1958. She grew up in a family surrounded by music, performing at a young age with her father and sisters, Wanda, Sheila, and Jeanette, in a group called the Hutchinson Sunbeams. In the late ’60s, the act blossomed into The Emotions and signed with Stax Records. However, Pamela was still too young to be a part of the group.
Rest well Pamela Hutchinson of The Emotions 🙏🏾❤️🙏🏾https://t.co/7bBixIOHzs pic.twitter.com/pTu1nYoito
— Grown Folks Music ® (@GrownFolksMusic) September 20, 2020
They released two albums on Stax before signing to Columbia Records, collaborating with Maurice White of the hip-hop group, Earth Wind & Fire. The Emotions released their third record, Flowers, which was met with two commercially successful singles including I Don’t Want to Lose Your Love, which peaked at No.4 on the Dance/Club charts.
During this collaborative stint with the Earth Wind & Fire group, The Emotions received their first Grammy in 1979 for their feature on Boogie Wonderland, which became an instant hit.
Pamela joined The Emotions at a critical point for the group, appearing just in time for the release of their follow-up record, Rejoice, which included their biggest hit. Best Of My Love crept to No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won The Emotions a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.
The Emotions would go on to release five more albums (Sunbeam, Come Into Our World, New Affair, Sincerely, and If Only I Knew), immersing themselves in funk and solidifying them as a staple on the 1980s R&B hip-hop scene.
The group’s legacy has persisted into modern times and they have been sampled by the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Primal Scream, Kanye West, and more.
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