Singer -songwriter Valerie Carter, who also sang backup on many hit records over the years, has died. She was 64.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Carter, who lived in St. Petersburg, Fla., died on March 4 of a heart attack. Carter's sister Janice told the paper that her younger sibling had heart issues for years.

Carter released a handful of solo albums over the years, starting with 1977's Just a Stone's Throw Away, which included the single "O-o-h Child," which was used in the 1979 movie Over the Edge. But she was best known as a backing singer on records by Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor.

Her career goes back to the mid-'70s and includes work with some of the era's biggest names, as well as with her group, Howdy Moon. Her songs were recorded by Judy Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire and Browne, who included her "Love Needs a Heart" on Running on Empty.

But Carter's most famous work was with Taylor, whom she first sang backup for on 1975's Gorilla LP. She also appeared on Henley's The End of the Innocence, Christopher Cross' self-titled debut and Eddie Money's Playing for Keeps.

graduated from a court-mandated drug program in 2011, following a 2009 arrest for possession.)

Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, singer-songwriter Van Dyke Parks and
Santana drummer Michael Shrieve, who shared one of his favorite Carter songs, also paid tribute to Carter on Twitter.


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