Ronnie Spector, Who Brought Edge to Girl Group Sound, Dies at 78

Ronnie Spector, the lead singer of the Ronettes, the 1960s vocal trio that gave a passionate, bad-girl edge to pop’s girl-group sound with hits like “Be My Baby” and “Baby, I Love You,” died on Wednesday. She was 78.

She died after “a brief battle with cancer,” according to a statement from her family, which gave no further details.

With high-piled hair, tight outfits and seductive looks, the three young women of the Ronettes — Ronnie, born Veronica Bennett; her sister, Estelle; and their cousin Nedra Talley — transformed the virginal model that had defined female pop groups since the 1940s.

“We weren’t afraid to be hot. That was our gimmick,” Ms. Spector wrote in her 1990 memoir, “Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, or, My Life as a Fabulous Ronette.”

“When we saw the Shirelles walk onstage with their wide party dresses,” she wrote, “we went in the opposite direction and squeezed our bodies into the tightest skirts we could find. Then we’d get out onstage and hike them up to show our legs even more.”

In songs like “Be My Baby,” a No. 2 hit in 1963, they sang with powerful voices of street-smart romance (“We’ll make ’em turn their heads everyplace we go”), over the swelling “wall of sound” production of Phil Spector.

“Be My Baby” was a classic of 1960s pop that seemed to reveal both innocence and grit, and it earned lasting admiration from fellow musicians. It appeared in Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets,” the hit 1987 television “Moonlighting” and the title sequence of “Dirty Dancing.” The group’s look and sound made them a touchstone for women in rock music, from Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders to Amy Winehouse.

Later, Ms. Spector detailed the abuse she endured while married to Mr. Spector. When the group was inducted into the Rock Hall, they pointedly did not mention their former producer. Phil Spector, who was sentenced to prison for the 2003 murder of a woman at his home, died at 81 last January.

The Ronettes racked up a string of hits through 1965, including “The Best Part of Breakin’ Up” and “Walking in the Rain,” and for a time they were ubiquitous stars. They were part of the Beatles’ 1966 American tour, and Estelle Bennett, Ms. Spector’s older sister, dated both George Harrison and Mick Jagger.

The Ronettes disbanded in 1967, and Ms. Spector married Mr. Spector the next year. In her memoir, she wrote that he had essentially held her prisoner during their relationship, surrounding her with guard dogs and taking away her shoes, among other erratic and psychologically abusive behavior.

“I’d get drunk so I could go to rehab, just to get out of the house,” Ms. Spector told The New York Times in a 2000 interview.

In the late 1980s, the Ronettes sued Mr. Spector for royalties, arguing that they had been paid less than $15,000 when they signed with Mr. Spector’s Philles Records in 1963 and that they never saw another payment. The court battle would last 15…