There are technically great singers, and then there is Linda Jones — a vocalist so fearless, so drenched in gospel fire, that soul devotees speak of her the way jazz fans speak of lost geniuses. Robert Poindexter, whose brother co-wrote her signature hit, put it simply: he never heard a greater singer. She died at 27, mid-tour, with her biggest years likely still ahead of her.
From the Jones Singers to "Linda Lane"
Linda Jones was born December 14, 1944, in Newark, New Jersey, into a gospel family. By age six she was performing with her siblings in the family group, the Jones Singers, absorbing the melisma, the call-and-response, the testimony — everything that would later make her secular records sound like church catching fire.
As a teenager she crossed over to R&B, working day jobs while singing Newark clubs at night. Her first record came in 1963 under the name Linda Lane — a cover of "Lonely Teardrops" that went nowhere. Singles for Atco and Blue Cat followed and also stalled. But producer George Kerr, formerly of Little Anthony & the Imperials' circle, believed in her completely and kept pushing.
"Hypnotized"
The breakthrough came in 1967 when Kerr brought her to Loma Records, Warner Bros.' R&B imprint. Her first Loma single, the aching ballad "Hypnotized," shot to #4 on the Billboard R&B chart and #21 pop — reportedly cut in a single take, with Jones reading the lyrics off paper in her own handwriting. It became Loma's best-selling record ever and was followed by another Top 10 R&B hit, "What've I Done (To Make You Mad)."
Jones's style — soaring shrieks, trembling runs, notes bent until they wept — was almost too much voice for Top 40 radio, and she never landed another major pop hit. But that same extravagance made her a legend among soul purists, and in the UK's Northern soul scene her records became sacred objects. After Loma folded in 1968, she recorded for Warner Bros. proper, for Gamble & Huff's Neptune label, and finally for Turbo, where her volcanic 1972 reading of "For Your Precious Love" returned her to the R&B Top 20.
March 14, 1972
Jones had battled diabetes her whole life, often performing through serious illness. In March 1972, during a run of shows at Harlem's Apollo Theater, she collapsed between performances and died the same day of complications from the disease. She was 27 years old, in the middle of a career resurgence.
Legacy
Linda Jones has become one of soul music's great cult figures. Peers including some of the genre's biggest names hailed her as a singer's singer, and her full-throttle emotionalism prefigured the melisma-rich style that later dominated R&B. In 2008, an album built on her vocals, produced by her daughter Terry Jones, earned a posthumous Grammy nomination. Her hometown made it official in 2021, when Newark renamed her street Linda Jones Way and the Grammy Museum's New Jersey exhibit added her artifacts alongside Sinatra and Dionne Warwick. For anyone discovering her now: start with "Hypnotized," then brace yourself for "For Your Precious Love."
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Linda Jones's biggest hit? "Hypnotized" (1967), which reached #4 on the Billboard R&B chart and #21 on the Hot 100 — the best-selling record ever released on Warner Bros.' Loma label.
How did Linda Jones die? Jones died on March 14, 1972, at age 27, from complications of the diabetes she had lived with all her life, after collapsing between shows at Harlem's Apollo Theater.
Why is Linda Jones considered a legend among soul fans? Her extraordinarily intense, gospel-rooted vocal style made her a cult favorite among soul purists and the UK Northern soul scene, and singers have studied her records for decades.
What honors has Linda Jones received? A posthumous Grammy nomination in 2008 for a project built on her vocals, a street renamed Linda Jones Way in Newark in 2021, and inclusion in the Grammy Museum's New Jersey Legends exhibit.