Fontella Bass: R&B singer dies of complications from a heart attack

Fontella Bass, an R&B singer best known for her 1965 hit "Rescue Me," died Dec. 26 of complications from a heart attack she suffered earlier in December. She was 72.

Her daughter, Neuka Mitchell, revealed the news to fans, along with the information that her mother had been suffering from strokes over the past seven years. Funeral arrangements have not been completed yet.

"She was an outgoing person," Mitchell says. "She had a very big personality. Any room she entered she just lit the room up, whether she was on stage or just going out to eat."

Bass was born in St. Louis and was a staple of the R&B scene in the '60s. She was inducted into the St. Louis Hall of Fame in 2000. Bass is survived by her four children.