MARY WEISS,
1948-2024

The Shangri-Las’ lead singer Mary Weiss, one of the most dominant and distinctive voices of the girl group era, died Friday. She was 75.

Weiss, who formed the group with her sister Elizabeth Weiss and twins Marguerite and Mary Ann Ganser in Queens, N.Y., had a parade of hits with songs about teenage love, tough living and tragedy, “Leader of the Pack,” “I Can Never Go Home Anymore,” “Remember (Walking in the Sand)” and “Out in the Streets” among them.

The group’s music and their street-tough image had a wide range of influence over future acts from Blondie and The Go-Go’s to Jesus and Mary Chain, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Amy Winehouse.

The group started performing together in high school in 1963; Artie Ripp heard them and got them signed to Kama Sutra. A year later, they moved to Red Bird Records where Shadow Morton produced their first hit, “Remember (Walking in the Sand).” They hit #1 with the follow-up, “Leader of the Pack.”

By late 1964, when Weiss was just 16, they had already opened for The Beatles, toured with The Rolling Stones and appeared on bills with R&B groups such as The Drifters. They also appeared in package shows such as the ones Murray the K promoted and, in 1965, Dick Clark’s Cavalcade of Stars. After scoring six Top 40 singles in two years, the hits stopped coming and the group broke up in 1968.

Weiss, who eventually worked in the furniture industry, led a few reunion gigs, chiefly a show at CBGB in 1977 and a final concert in New Jersey in 1989.

Weiss released a solo album in 2007, Dangerous Game, on Norton Records. Her rare live performances included a set performed to an overflow crowd at SXSW that year.