Dorothy Berry

When Dorothy (born, November 1, 1940, died, December 20, 2019) was 13 years old, her mother moved she and her siblings to Los Angeles California. She graduated in 1958 from Jefferson High School in Los Angeles and continued her education at Compton Community College. In that same year Dorothy formed her first female singing group, The Idols (11). Dorothy met Richard Berry her time at Jefferson High School in the mid-1950’s. She was part of the high school a cappella choir, and Richard was a recording artist that was often invited by his old music teacher Larry Larson to visit his alma mater. With encouragement from her husband Richard, Dorothy also became a professional musician, releasing a variety of different records as a solo artist, as well as doing a lot of backup vocals for productions. In 1968, she started working with Ray Charles, providing harmony vocals for even more productions, as well as recordings as being a solo artist for Brother Ray’s Tangerine Records label. In 1971, she joined up as a member of Ray’s Raelets, singing all over the globe for over 10 years. After 10 years of marriage, Richard & Dorothy amicably divorced, and remained close friends until his passing in 1997. After a tour in the Middle East, where she had witnessed the consequences of war in Lebanon, Dorothy came home to America, shaken by what she had seen. Horrified by the ravages of war, Dorothy wrote a song she entitled “The World Needs Peace.” She turned to her dear friend, ex-husband Richard Berry to help with recording this song. Richard loved the song and agreed to sing it with her as a duet. The song was released as a 45 single.