Delores Holmes (July 18, 1946 – April 16, 2010) was an American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer. She was best known for her years as backup singer for the

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

Band during 1969 to 1972, the last grouping before the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...

. The Bruce Springsteen Band included

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on '' Human Touch'' (1992), '' Tr ...

Vini Lopez Vincent Lopez (born January 22, 1949), nicknamed Mad Dog, is an American drummer. Between 1968 and 1974, he backed Bruce Springsteen in several bands, including Steel Mill and the E Street Band. He also played on Springsteen's first two albums, ...

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being the bass player and a founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing ...

and

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...

, among others.

Biography

From

Matawan, New Jersey Matawan () is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A historic community located near the Raritan Bay in the much larger Raritan River, Raritan Valley region, Raritan ...

, Holmes grew up singing in a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

family. Later the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

singer performed with choirs and girl groups. In the 1960s and the 1970s, she performed with a number of rock bands, including Hot Ice, with fellow Springsteen back-up singer Barbara Dinkins. She sang with a number of Shore bands and was also a member of

Gabrielle Roth Gabrielle Roth (February 4, 1941 – October 22, 2012) was an American dancer and musician in the world music and trance dance genres, with a special interest in shamanism. She overcame depression and injury to create the 5Rhythms approach t ...

's group, The Mirrors, for several years. Holmes also recorded or performed backgrounds for many artists and producers, including

Danny Federici Daniel Paul Federici (January 23, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American musician, best known as a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, where he was its organist, accordionist and glockenspiel player. Federici appeared on ten ...

Bill Chinnock William Chinnock (November 12, 1947 – March 7, 2007), also referred to as Bill Chinnock or Billy Chinnock, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Chinnock grew up in the nearby Essex County communities of ...

, Neal Coty, Steve Delopoulos of

Burlap to Cashmere Burlap to Cashmere is a contemporary Christian world music band formed in the 1990s by John Philippidis and Steven Delopoulos. Their music draws heavily on folk and world music influences, especially Greek folk music. Background Burlap to Cash ...

and Fernando Saunders of

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

's Band. Holmes auditioned for the Bruce Springsteen Band through a newspaper advertisement asking for singers with a "gospel sound". She spent several years performing and touring the Eastern Seaboard with the band, including a concert at the University of Virginia, and the Jersey Shore's own Brookdale College, The Student Prince, Sunshine Inn, among others. In 2001, she appeared on the internationally televised ''Tribute to Heroes''

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

telethon as a backup singer for Springsteen with

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American saxophonist. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Clemons rel ...

,Clarence Clemons. ''Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales''. Grand Central Publishing, 2009, p. 100.

Little Steven Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...

Patti Scialfa Vivienne Patricia Scialfa ( ; born July 29, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Scialfa has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984 and has been married to Bruce Springsteen since 1991. In 2014, Scialfa was inducted into t ...

Soozie Tyrell Soozie Tyrell (born May 4, 1957), formerly known as Soozie Kirschner, is an American violinist, guitarist, and vocalist, most known for her work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band and formerly the Sessions Band. Early life and educatio ...

and Lisa Lowell. She would later perform at New York's Beacon Theatre with

Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues", and her credited guest vocals on Paul Simo ...

Beth Nielsen Chapman Beth Nielsen Chapman (born September 14, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter who has written hits for country and pop music performers. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016. She is a two-time Grammy Award ...

, and Bar Scott in a concert to honor rescue workers. Holmes formed a

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

trio with her daughter, Layonne Holmes, and Debbie Vaughn called Rain, while continuing to perform and record with local bands. She was also a member of Holiday Express, a charity group of local New Jersey shore musicians and volunteers.

References

* Kirkpatrick, R. (2007). ''The words and music of Bruce Springsteen'' Greenwood Publishing Group. , . * Cross, C. (1989). ''Backstreets: Springsteen, the man and his music'' Harmony Books. , . * Kirkpatrick, R. (2009). ''Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen'' Macmillan. , . * Mårtensson, A. and Johansson, J. (2008). ''Local Heroes: The Asbury Park Music Scene'' Rutgers University Press. . * Clarence Clemons, Don Reo, Bruce Springsteen (2009). ''Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales'' Grand Central Publishing. , .

Biography

References

External links