Betty Davis, hard funk pioneer, dead at 77

NEW YORK (AP) — Betty Davis, a bold and pioneering funk singer, model and songwriter of the 1960s and ’70s who was credited with inspiring then-husband Miles Davis’ landmark fusion of jazz and more contemporary sounds, has died. She was 77. Sometimes referred to as “Madonna before Madonna,” Davis was the rare woman to make funk albums in the 1970s, and her three albums from that time were showcases for her fearless personality and sexuality and insistence on control of her material and her image. She released no new music for decades, but she was not forgotten. “Betty Davis” and other ’70s albums were reissued and her music was heard on “Orange Is the New Black” and other TV series.