Wanda Young

Wanda LaFaye Young (August 9, 1943 – December 15, 2021), was an American singer, known for being a member of the Motown all-female singing group the Marvelettes, and after 1965, the lead singer.

Biography Early life Young was born and raised in Inkster, Michigan and was one of ten children. Her father, James Young, worked at the Ford plant, while her mother Beatrice was a housewife. Young's professional music career started after fellow Inkster High School classmate Gladys Horton asked her to audition for a spot left by Georgia Dobbins. Dobbins' father had forbidden her to sing secular music. On December 18, 1963, Young married her longtime boyfriend Bobby Rogers, a member of the Miracles, in Detroit. Rogers was born on August 27, 1982, seven years after Young and Miracles' singer Bobby Rogers got divorced. Although her paternity is unknown, she received Rogers' last name, even though he was remarried by the time she was conceived.

In her later years, Young resided in Inkster, Romulus, Redford, and the Brightmoor section of Detroit. She died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Garden City, Michigan on December 15, 2021, at the age of 78.