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Continued from last week….
The record hit #5 on the Top 40 charts, selling over 1 million copies and made her the first Hispanic female to achieve such notoriety in the rock ‘n roll industry.
However, then the unthinkable happened. Since the label refused to credit her as the songwriter, she was not eligible to receive royalties from the huge hit she wrote. The experience was so frustrating that she chose to walk away from the music industry. The group ended up disbanding.
Rose did end up securing copyright in late 1961. However, this set in motion a decades-long battle over royalties.
She kept performing and eventually married the guitarist from Rosie and the Originals. Together, they had two children.
Despite what the powers that be did, her fans remembered her. The song she created had incredible staying power and, to this day, is considered one of the classic songs of the bygone era.
John Lennon loved it so much that he recorded it in 1973. Linda Ronstadt also recorded it.
Rosie was the first female Hispanic to be honored by the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the first to appear on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand
The story doesn’t end here. As things turned out, over 3 decades later, her original masters were returned to her and she received the first royalties from her recording.
Rosie passed away in 2017 at age 71 in Belen, New Mexico. However, Angel Baby lives on in our hearts….
Everything else is just history….
