Arlene Smith

Arlene Smith died on July 29, 2026. Arlene Smith was known publicly as an Arlene Smith, Lead Singer and Co-Founder of The Chantels and Dies at 84. The Chantels are a pop music group and are the third African-American girl group to enjoy nationwide success in the United States, preceded by The Teen Queens and The Bobbettes. The group was established in the early 1950s by students attending St. Anthony of Padua Church and school in the Bronx. The original five members consisted of Arlene Smith (lead, born October 5, 1941 – July 29, 2026), Sonia Goring Wilson (born Millicent Goring, 1940), Renée Minus White (born 1943), Jackie Landry Jackson (May 22, 1941 – December 23, 1997) and Lois Harris (born 1940). They derived their name from that of Jane Frances de Chantal. Public biographical listings identify Smith as an Arlene Smith. Smith was also associated with Lead Singer and Co-Founder of The Chantels and Dies at 84. This public record remains centered on Smith's work as an Arlene Smith, Lead Singer and Co-Founder of The Chantels and Dies at 84 and the documented milestones of that career.