Gladys Horton, co-founder of Motown’s Marvelettes, dies at 65

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Gladys Horton, who co-founded the 1960s Motown group the Marvelettes and sang on hits including ‘Please Mr. Postman,’ died Wednesday night at a Sherman Oaks nursing home. She was 65.

[For the record, 8:40 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said Horton was 66. She was born May 30, 1945, and age 65 when she died.]

Her son, Vaughn Thornton, said she had been recovering from a stroke.

Horton was a teenager in the Detroit suburb of Inkster when she and some friends formed a group they called ‘The Casinyets,’ which was short for ‘can’t sing yet.’

When Georgia Dobbins had to leave, Horton became lead singer. The group changed its name to The Marvelettes, and Horton was 15 when Motown released ‘Please Mr. Postman’ in 1961. It was a hit and the group had many others, including ‘Too Many Fish in the Sea.’ Horton was replaced as lead singer in 1965 and left the group two years later.

The complete Times obituary is here.

-- Associated Press