Daughter of Thelma Inez (née Matthews) (1911-2005) and Pullman porter Daniel Webster Riperton (1898-1991), Riperton was born in Chicago. She grew up embracing the arts as the youngest of eight children in a musical family.
Her parents pushed her to pursue music and voice even though she started with ballet and modern dance because they were aware of her vocal and musical skills. Marion Jeffery trained her in operatic singing at Chicago’s Abraham Lincoln Center.
What was Minnie Riperton’s octave range?
A popular American singer-songwriter who is best known for her 1975 single “Loving You” and her four-octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is particularly well-known for using the whistle register, earning the moniker “Queen of the Whistle Register” from the media.
Riperton was praised for her ability to whistle and speak in a high-head voice that was almost mechanical or orchestral. She sang a portamento ending two octaves above the staff in “You Take My Breath Away.”
In songs like “Reasons,” “Could It Be I’m in Love,” “Adventures in Paradise,” and “Inside My Love,” as well as “Love Me Now” with the Rotary Connection, she has also been praised for her prodigious ability to hold notes in the sixth and seventh octaves for extended periods.
While working as a secretary at Chess Records, Riperton was discovered because of her natural aptitude to impersonate a variety of instruments.
