Tammi Terrell.

Thomasina Winifred Montgomery; April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably for a series of duets with singer Marvin Gaye. Terrell’s career began as a teenager, first recording for Scepter/Wand Records, before spending nearly 9 months as a member of James Brown’s Revue, recording for Brown’s Try Me label. After a period attending college, Terrell recorded briefly for Checker Records, before signing with Motown in 1965.

With Marvin Gaye, Terrell scored seven Top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” & “You’re All I Need to Get By”. Terrell’s career was interrupted when she collapsed into Gaye’s arms as the two performed at a concert at Hampden–Sydney College on October 14, 1967, with Terrell later being diagnosed with a brain tumor. She had eight unsuccessful surgeries before dying of the illness on March 16, 1970, at the age of 24.

Terrell was the older of two siblings. According to the Unsung documentary, her sister Ludie said her parents thought Terrell would be a boy &, therefore, she would be named after her father. When Terrell was born, the parents settled on the name Thomasina,

nicknaming her Tommie, Terrell later changed it to Tammy, after seeing the film Tammy & the Bachelor & hearing its theme song, Tammy, at the age of 12. According to Ludie’s book My Sister Tommie, The Real Tammi Terrell, Terrell was raped by three boys at the age of 11. Around this time, she started to have migraine headaches. While it was not thought to be of significance at the time, family members later stated that these headaches might have been related to her later diagnosis of brain cancer. Terrell attended Germantown High School in Philadelphia.

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