Remembering Betty Davis

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Betty Davis died earlier this month. She was 77. She was the very definition of a cult hero – she never cut a hit record, but her influence is still strong today. Her music was absolutely unforgettable, and her style was outrageous, like a funky Barbarella with a two-foot-wide Afro. Her band was the best of the best. Even her husband was influential. (That's Betty Davis as in Miles Davis – they say she convinced him to listen to Sly Stone and make Bitches Brew.) Davis put out three classic records in three years, and then in 1980... she stopped. She retired from music altogether and moved back to Pittsburgh, where she grew up. Stopped doing interviews, stopped playing concerts. She disappeared from public life completely. When we talked to her in 2007, she was quiet and reserved, a sharp contrast with her persona as a performer. It was her first radio interview since her retirement.
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