Singer Izora Rhodes Armstead, member of Two Tons O' Fun/The Weather Girls, dies of heart failure

Jet, Oct 11, 2004

Izora Rhodes Armstead, one-half of the singing groups Two Tons O' Fun and the Weather Girls, recently died of heart failure at San Leandro Hospital in California.

She was undergoing treatment for heart problems before her death. Her age was unknown.

Armstead and her singing partner, Martha Wash, were fellow choir members who began their career singing in the gospel group N.O.W. (News of the World) in 1976.

A few years later the ladies became backup singers for flamboyant disco singer Sylvester. Rhodes called her and partner Wash Two Tons O' Fun because of their rotund size.

The two full-figure singers and the flamboyant Sylvester, known for wearing feather boas and sequined gowns, became one of music's best-known disco acts in the '70s. Their powerful voices backed songs for Sylvester like (You Make Feel) Mighty Real, Dance (Disco Heat) and I Who Have Nothing.

In the early '80s Two Tons O' Fun left Sylvester to form their own group. After changing their name to the Weather Girls, they scored big with the 1982 classic dance hit It's Raining Men.

The duo, who remained friends, broke up in 1988. Armstead moved to Frankfurt, Germany, the following year. By 1991 she returned to the music scene and recruited her daughter, Dynell Rhodes, to reform the Weather Girls. They recorded a few albums and toured the club circuit overseas.

Armstead is survived by seven children, a sister and several grandchildren.