Rosie and The Originals

Rosie and The Originals were an American doo-wop and R&B band fronted by lead singer Rosalie "Rosie" Méndez Hamlin. She began singing with a band at 13, and penned the lyrics for "Angel Baby" as a poem for her first boyfriend when she was 14. The following year, she recorded "Angel Baby" with some friends in a makeshift studio owned by an aeroplane mechanic. The song went down well with teenage music fans, leading to a recording contract with Highland Records under the condition that oldest member David Ponce be named as the author of the song. "Angel Baby" made its radio debut in November 1960. Rosie Hamlin's inability to collect royalties due to not being listed as the songwriter led to the group's break-up. In 1961, she secured the copyright to her music and continued recording for Brunswick Records. She retired from singing in 1963 but returned to record singles in 1969 and 1977. She went on to perform occasionally throughout the 1970s and 1980s and more regularly in the 1990s and 2000s, including at Madison Square Garden in 2002. Rosie Hamlin died on 30 March 2017 in Belén, New Mexico.

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