Contribute to Angela Bofill's Farewell Fund

International Recording Artist, Angela Bofill passed on June 13, 2024. The family is requesting your assistance with burial cost and memorial expenses.

THE ANGEL OF THE NIGHT SONGBIRD HAS ASCENDED

It has been confirmed: Singer/Songwriter Angela Bofill has died.

The sultry voice that gave the world such melodious hits as “THIS TIME I’LL BE SWEETER,” “I TRY,” “I’M ON YOUR SIDE” and “TONIGHT I GIVE IN” has died. Although reports of the Cuban/Puerto Rican songstress, who was hugely popular with R&B/soul/jazz audiences, have swirled before, her manager and members of her family have in fact confirmed her death. Angela Bofill was 70 years old. She suffered 2 strokes previously that had left her debilitated, but able to take the stage, where friends and supporters gathered around her and kept her in good spirits while she told the amazing story of her life.

“With heavy hearts, we can confirm the loss of Angela Bofill, our mother, grandmother and sweet songbird to the music industry and dear friend to many.” According to her family, ongoing complications from her strokes continued to plague the singer–who was inducted into the Women Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2023–and, finally, she succumbed to illness. Her daughter Shauna wanted to note that “she loved every one of her fans and was always reading letters and kind notes from those who adorned her and continued to support her wonderful legacy in music.”

Born on May 2, 1954, Angela always knew she wanted to be a singer. Influenced by the rich Latin culture of her Bronx upbringing and her early schooling in Harlem, Angela sang and sought after opportunities to shine on stage. She was introduced to GRP Records executives Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen (both noted musicians as well) by Dave Valentin, her friend and an exemplary jazz flutist. Soon, Bofill would record and her first album produced the Quiet Storm classic “This Time I’ll Be Sweeter” and a stunning jazz composition called “Under the Moon and Over the Sky.” Both songs and the project were well received and she went back into the studio in less than a year. Her second recording was titled “Angel of The Night” and it featured the title track and the stunning ballad and hit single “I Try” (late covered by Will Downing) along with “What I Wouldn’t Do (For The Love of You). Bofill’s success was so solid with African-American audiences that many believed she was simply a fair-skinned Black woman. She loved that she was so adorned by those audiences, while making her Afro-Latin community proud.

For her 3rd project, Bofill found herself under the wing of music luminary Clive Davis, the head of Arista Records, who would later discover Whitney Houston and revitalized the careers of Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick. Something About You (1981), produced by the great Narada Michael Walden, who would produce "Holdin' Out for Love" and the dance hit Too Tough, which was a Top 5 R&B success and spent 4 weeks at the #2 position on the Dance chart. A follow-up single, "Tonight I Give In", reached the Top 20 and “I’m On Your Side,” from her fourth album, produced the Top 20 R&B hit, "I'm On Your Side", which has been covered by several artists, most notably Jennifer Holliday, who had a Top 10 hit with it in 1991.

Bofill was married to Rick Vincent from 1984 until 1994 and together they have a daughter, Shauna. Bofill recorded two more albums for Arista with the help of The System and George Duke before leaving the label in the mid-1980s. Following the birth of her daughter, she moved to Capitol Records and the producer Norman Connors for Intuition (1988), which produced her last significant chart success, a cover of Gino Vannelli's "I Just Wanna Stop", which reached No. 11 on the R&B chart. She recorded three more albums over the next eight years and would later work with the legendary Diana Ross and jazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum, and for Connors's Eternity (2000) on which she sang the lead vocals on “You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore.” She continue to perform live around the globe and appeared in the stage plays God Don't Like Ugly and What a Man Wants, What a Man Needs.

Bofill returned to the stage, at the suggestion of Rich Engel, her long-time manager after losing her ability to sing after her second stroke. As with many entertainers, Bofill lacked health insurance, and the benefit concert–The Angela Bofill Experience– was organized to pay her hospital bills. The first show was planned by Engel, and the New York radio stations Kiss FM and WFAN-FM, took place on March 11, 2006, at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey and similar events followed as the music industry rallied around the beloved vocalist, and other aid was sought from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

In the show, a witty and good spirited Bofill recounted her life and career in words, while vocally, she was joined by Maysa Leak, Phil Perry, and Melba Moore, who performed her biggest hits and signature songs. In 2012, Bofill was profiled and interviewed for the hugely popular TVOne documentary series, Unsung. In 2023, Bofill was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Shauna was Angela's primary caregiver during the last 12 years of her life. She sacrificed in order to give her mom the best life possible while spending quality time with her four grandchildren. Angela never wanted to plan a funeral in advance and unfortunately the cost is more expensive at the time it is needed. She would never want her family burdened with the cost. Any financial help would be a blessing. Shauna is asking financial assistance for out-of-pocket funeral expenses and to hold a memorial in honor of her mother in New York, in July or August of 2024, for her loyal fans.