Vicki Wickham

Vicki Heather Wickham (23 March 1939 – 31 July 2026) was an English talent manager, entertainment producer and songwriter. She was the producer of Ready Steady Go! and later the manager of Labelle. She co-wrote the song "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me".

Early life Wickham was born on 23 March 1939 in the rural community of Newbury about 60 miles west of London, and was raised on a farm nearby in Inkpen. Her father was a farmer and her mother had been a nurse.

In 1970 she moved to New York, where she helped establish and run the American office of Track Records. She became the manager of Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles, who at Wickham's urging rebranded their trio in 1971 as Labelle. After Labelle broke up in 1976, Wickham managed the solo career of former trio member Nona Hendryx. She also managed the Canadian new wave band Rough Trade, and helped engineer a comeback for singer Dusty Springfield, who had spent years in and out of drug rehab.

Personal life and death Wickham was gay, but said that her sexuality was never a problem, stating that she "wasn't out in the 60s. I didn't know what I was, really. Everyone knew I was gay, but we were so unpolitically conscious." Her partner of almost 60 years was the musician Nona Hendryx. They married in 2011.

Awards Wickham was given a Music Industry "Woman of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award" in 1999, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours List, for services to music.