Arlene Smith, co-founder and lead singer of the pioneering 1950s girl group The Chantels, has died aged 84 after a heart attack in a New York City hospital. Her death marks the loss of a key figure in early Black female pop music, as The Chantels became one of the first Black girl groups to achieve national chart success and helped shape later girl-group, soul and R&B sounds.

Smith formed The Chantels with school friends in the Bronx and, as a classically trained vocalist, brought distinctive harmonies and emotional delivery to hits including “He’s Gone” and “Maybe”. She wrote and sang lead on “Maybe” at 16; it reached No. 15 on Billboard’s Top 100 and No. 2 on the R&B chart, sold more than one million copies, and was later covered by artists including Janis Joplin and The Three Degrees.