Music
Juanita Cowart
born 1944 · singer
Original Marvelette from Inkster who sang on "Please Mr. Postman" and left the group in 1963; the last surviving member of the group.
- Born
Rockport, Mississippi
age 82- Also known as
- Juanita Cowart-Motley · Wyanetta Cowart
- Detroit years
- 1950s–
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Cowart was born in Mississippi and moved with her family to Inkster, the Detroit suburb, where she grew up listening to Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. At Inkster High School she helped form the Casinyets, later the Marvels and finally the Marvelettes, and she sang on "Please Mr. Postman", which in 1961 became Motown's first number-one pop hit. Touring was hard on her, and after an embarrassing moment during an interview on American Bandstand she left the group in 1963, reducing it to a quartet. She stayed in Inkster, finished her high school diploma, married and became active in her church choir and community. After the death of Ann Bogan in August 2026 she became the last surviving Marvelette.
Highlights
- Original member of the Marvelettes
- Sang on "Please Mr. Postman" (1961)
- Left the group in 1963
- Last surviving Marvelette (2026)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · late 1950s–1961
Inkster High School
Demolished · 2015
The Marvelettes formed here in 1960 among glee-club classmates. The school closed in 2013 and was demolished in 2015.
Recorded here · 1961–1963
Motown Museum
The Marvelettes recorded here in Studio A.