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Irish Grinstead, a member of the R&B trio 702, best known for their 1999 hit, \u201cWhere My Girls At?,\u201d died on Saturday. She was 43.<\/p>\n
Her sister and bandmate LeMisha Fields announced the death in an Instagram post<\/a>. It provided no other details. The group announced<\/a> in December that Ms. Grinstead was taking a \u201cmedical leave of absence due to serious medical issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Grinstead sisters and Kameelah Williams made up 702, which was named for the telephone area code in Las Vegas, where they were from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The group\u2019s 1996 debut album, \u201cNo Doubt,\u201d included a song called \u201cSteelo,<\/a>\u201d featuring the rapper, singer and producer Missy Elliott. A version of the track was the theme song for the Nickelodeon show \u201cCousin Skeeter.\u201d (The song was also sampled in a 2019 dance music hit<\/a>, \u201cOn My Mind,\u201d produced by Diplo.)<\/p>\n \u201cWhere My Girls At?\u201d was 702\u2019s defining hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100<\/a> chart in 1999. It appeared on their second album, \u201c702,\u201d and it was written and produced by Missy Elliott, who \u201cwas a big player in our success,\u201d Ms. Fields told<\/a> The Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2014. Ms. Grinstead was 18 when it was released. <\/p>\n The song, a thumping, danceable number with sweet harmonizing by the trio, carries lyrics warning off a female romantic rival. But the song\u2019s refrain \u2014 its title \u2014 sounds as much like a young woman\u2019s expression of need for her friends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAlthough the group is not often remembered as much as some of their \u201990s counterparts\u201d \u2014 among them Destiny\u2019s Child and TLC \u2014 \u201cthe singing trio had a huge influence on the culture of R&B music,\u201d Vibe magazine wrote<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Irish Beatrice Grinstead was born on June 2, 1980, in Harris, Texas, to Carlton and Theresa (Washington) Grinstead.<\/p>\n She began singing around the age of 10. With LeMisha and Irish\u2019s twin sister, Orish, they performed at sports events and other venues in Las Vegas, where the sisters had grown up. They occasionally sang at Caesars Palace, the hotel and casino. The comedian Sinbad saw them there and encouraged them to go to Atlanta for a music convention.<\/p>\n During that event they cornered the musician and producer Michael Bivins in a hotel lobby and persuaded him to give them a chance. He did, supplied them with their band name as well and signed them to a record contract. All three were still in their teens.<\/p>\n But before the trio recorded their first album, Orish dropped out, making room for Ms. Williams, a friend of the Grinstead girls since the 6th grade.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are asking me for my autograph,\u201d Irish told<\/a> The Review-Journal in wonderment in 1999, \u201cand we were just talking to each other at school.\u201d<\/p>\n The group released its last album, \u201cStar,\u201d in 2003 and broke up soon after. They resumed doing shows more recently, with several scheduled through the rest of this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Complete information on Ms. Grinstead\u2019s survivors was not available. Orish Grinstead died in 2008, according to IMDb.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a whirlwind,\u201d their sister Ms. Fields told The Review-Journal in 2014, looking back at her group\u2019s stardom. \u201cWe toured all over the world and met artists like Whitney Houston and Diana Ross. The life that we lived was almost like a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n Kirsten Noyes contributed research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n