‘The Shangri-Las’ Singer Mary Weiss Passes Away at 75 – Details

Mary Weiss, famously known as the lead vocalist of the iconic band Shangri-Las, passed away at 75. She is survived by her husband, Ed Ryan.

Miriam Linna from Norton Records, who had the privilege of working with Weiss on her, had nothing but kind words to describe the late singer. “It was a joy and an honor to work with Mary on her last records. She was as charming and charismatic as an adult as she was as a teenage idol. A true star,” Linna said.

Weiss has dedicated much of her life to her career in music. Weiss was still in her teen years when she and two other talented women formed the girl group Shangri-Las, a band that dominated the early 1960s with chart-topping hits like “Leader of the Pack,” “Great Big Kiss,” and “Heaven Only Knows.”

Eventually, after years of exhausting tours, on-screen guest appearances, recording, and rehearsing, they lost their shine. The Shangri-Las made their curtain call in a 1989 performance in New Jersey. When they disbanded, Weiss relocated to San Francisco, then New York, where she worked at an architectural firm.

From hitting high notes, she suddenly worked on installations for furniture dealerships at the company’s clerical department. In the years after fame, Weiss didn’t miss the industry. “I had a creative outlet,” she said of her work that she liked.

However, when she heard American singer Iggy Pop’s interview, she had an itch. Her mother and brother’s demise made her realize she wanted to spend her later years with her first love: music.

In 2007, after 40 years away from the music scene, Weiss returned to music, stepping into the studio for the first in four decades. “I did know that someday I would [return] to this,” she revealed. “But it had to be with the right people.”

Like the music industry, the past week was also sad for the sports community as they mourned the passing of Olympian Shawn Barber due to medical complications.