Esther Ridgeway(1959-2003)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sister of Gracie Ridgeway and Gloria Ridgeway. The youngest of four children. Sang with
her elementary school's music band. Her oldest brother, Tommie
Ridgeway, Jr., was killed in drug dealing. She and sisters Gloria Ridgeway and
Gracie Ridgeway formed a singing group called The Ridgeway Sisters at the age
of four, six and eight and sang all types of music from Gospel to Jazz,
Blues to Hip Hop, Classical to Country Western. Her musical career took
her all over the United States and to such countries as Italy, Japan,
Holland, Germany, and France. She and her sisters' resume` includes
singing background for Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, their all-time favorite
Stevie Wonder, Nancy Wilson, Chanté Moore, Mary J. Blige, Oleta Adams, Keith Washington, Barbra Streisand, Fontella Bass,
Wendy Moten, Doris Day, the late Ella Fitzgerald, the late Donny Hathaway, Gene Dunlap,
Ali Woodson, Dionne Warwick, Jerry Butler, The Burning Fire, and many others. She and
her sisters were featured on Gospel Recordings with the late Rev.
James Cleveland, the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Rev. Edgar L. Vann Jr.
and the Second Ebenezer Baptist Church Choir in Detroit, Herbert
Pickard and the Pickard Singers, and Vanessa Bell Armstrong. She and her sisters made
their acting debut in the Universal Pictures film 'Blues Brothers 2000' along with
the legendary Aretha Franklin. Died of a heart attack at the Henry Ford
Hospital in Detroit.