Future-funk, fashion, and outspoken singer-songwriter-producer Betty Davis has passed away at age 77.

Confirmed by Allegheny County communication director Amie Downs to Rolling Stone, she was at her longtime home of Homestead, Pennsylvania where the cause of her death was natural causes.

At one time, the imaginative artist helped inspire — and was married to — jazz legend Miles Davis, and was credited with having paved a way for R&B and hip hop to cultivate and flourish. In her heyday, Davis’ highly sexualized lyrics and concepts gave birth to three albums — 1973’s Betty Davis, 1974’s They Say I’m Different, and 1975’s penultimate Nasty Gal — and were as dynamic in self-creation as it was in being uninhibited. 

Sadly, she dropped out of the recording scene early, all but disappearing after the mid-1970s, but the woman born Betty Mabry in North Carolina was an influential artist and a generational talent. As part of the pop-art ’60s scene in New York City, Davis was a model for designers such as Betsey Johnson and Norma Kamali. Her first single under that name was “Get Ready for Betty” in 1964 for Don Costa’s DCP label.

In 1968, she transitioned into songwriter, working with trumpeter/arranger Hugh Masekela on songs such as “Live, Love, Learn” and “It’s My Life,” eventually beginning a relationship with Miles Davis. Together, alongside producer Teo Macero, they worked on a handful of self-penned songs, and included in the compilation The Columbia Years, 1968-1969. 

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Complications between her and Miles didn’t dilute the influence she had on her husband’s music and wardrobe — especially when it came to all things psychedelic. She introduced Miles to guitarist Jimi Hendrix, which backfired according to the trumpeter’s 1989 autobiography, and hired a cavalcade of creatives (Greg Errico, Larry Graham from Sly and the Family Stone) and put out her self-titled debut album on the Just Sunshine label.

The record didn’t sell, but it set a standard of what would become the foundational grooves for rock-funk.

1975’s Nasty Gal was a definitive effort, full of deep-fried funk and scintillating soul featuring self-penned songs such as “Shut Off the Light” and “Gettin Kicked Off, Havin’ Fun,” which also resulted in minimal sales. Upon getting dropped from Island Records, Davis mostly disappeared from view in the music scene. A documentary about her life, Betty: They Say I’m Different, arrived in 2017, and followed a revaluation of her impact in the hip hop era where forward-thinking artists like OutKast and Erykah Badu were progeny of.

With Davis’ passing announced, Light in the Attic revealed plans to issue Davis’ final album, Crashin’ from Passion.