First Choice

Rochelle Fleming was the founding lead singer of First Choice, a Philadelphia vocal group whose soaring, commanding voice helped define the sound of 1970s soul and disco. Fleming formed the group as a teenager with school friends Annette Guest and Wardell Piper, originally calling themselves the Debonettes before changing their name to First Choice and signing with producer Norman Harris.

Under Fleming's lead, First Choice scored a string of R&B and dance hits including "Armed and Extremely Dangerous," "Smarty Pants," "The Player (Part 1)," "Love Thang" and "Doctor Love." Their 1977 track "Let No Man Put Asunder" became the group's most enduring recording, later reissued as a single in 1983 and embraced by the house and techno scenes for decades afterward. Fleming's voice anchored the group through changes in membership and record labels, from Philly Groove and Gold Mind to Warner Bros. and Salsoul, as First Choice moved from Philadelphia soul into the disco era and beyond. Other members who passed through the lineup over the years included Joyce Jones, Ursula Herring and Debbie Martin, but Fleming remained the group's constant lead voice throughout its original run from 1971 to 1980.

First Choice's influence stretched well past their active years. "Let No Man Put Asunder" was sampled by house and techno producers including Todd Terry and the Jungle Brothers, covered by Mary J. Blige in 1999, and the group's "Wake Up to Me" was sampled by J. Cole on his 2019 hit "Middle Child." After the group's official breakup in 1980, Fleming continued to perform and record as a solo artist, and in 2014 she reunited with her former bandmates, including Guest, Piper and Herring, for a concert at East River Bandshell in New York City that drew on the group's Salsoul Records heritage.

Rochelle Fleming died on November 5, 2026, in Philadelphia, the city where she was born and where she had lived. She was 72. Her death was announced by her manager, George Iz Correia, who wrote on her behalf that she had brought light, laughter and love to the world. No cause of death has been made public. Tributes from soul and dance music fans and outlets followed, remembering her as one of the defining voices of the disco era and a pioneer whose work helped shape the sound of house music long after First Choice's commercial heyday had ended.