Linda Creed (December 6, 1949 - April 10, 1986) was an American songwriter who teamed up with Thom Bell to produce some of the most successful Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s.
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Career
Born in Philadelphia in 1948, Creed was raised in the city's Mt. Airy section. Her career was launched in 1971 when the great Dusty Springfield recorded her song "Free Girl". That same year, Creed teamed with Bell, a staff writer, producer, and arranger at Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's famed Philadelphia International Records. Their first songwriting collaboration, "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)," became a Top 40 pop hit for the Stylistics, beginning an extended collaboration that also yielded the group's symphonic soul classics "You Are Everything," "Betcha By Golly, Wow," and "I'm Stone in Love With You". Creed and Bell also paired on a number of hits for the Spinners, including "Ghetto Child," "I'm Coming Home," "Living a Little, Laughing a Little," and, most famously, the 1976 blockbuster "The Rubberband Man". Linda Creed also worked with fellow Philadelphia native Phyllis Hyman on many of her songs, most notably "Old Friend".
Death
Though diagnosed with breast cancer at 26, Creed kept on working, teaming with composer Michael Masser to write "The Greatest Love of All" for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest; in the spring of 1986, the song topped the charts for singer Whitney Houston. Sadly, weeks before Houston reached number one, Creed's battle with cancer ended on April 10, 1986. The following year, her family and friends established the Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation. In 1992, she was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Songwriting highlights
- "Betcha By Golly, Wow" - originally recorded by The Stylistics
- "You Are Everything" - originally recorded by The Stylistics
- "Break Up to Make Up" - originally recorded by The Stylistics
- "I'm Stone in Love With You" - originally recorded by The Stylistics
- "People Make the World Go Round" - origanlly recorded by The Stylistics
- "Rockin' Roll Baby" - originally recorded by The Stylistics
- "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" - originally recorded by The Sylistics
- "You Make Me Feel Brand New" - origanlly recorded by The Stylistics
- "The Rubberband Man" - originally recorded by The Spinners
- "Ghetto Child" - originally recorded by The Spinners
- "I'm Coming Home" - originally recorded by The Spinners
- "Living a Little, Laughing a Little" - originally recorded by The Spinners
- "The Greatest Love of All" - originally recorded by George Benson; later made famous by Whitney Houston
