Ellie Greenwich, songwriter was 68

For those who keep score, we have our third newsworthy passing of the last 24 hours. Greenwich collaborated with Phil Spector and Jeff Barry on a bunch of hit songs in the 1960s, and in the mid 1980s the Broadway show "Leader of the Pack" was based on her life. She died in New York of a heart attack. From Rolling Stone, which also runs the great pic from the Michael Ochs Archive and Getty:

Among the most famous songs that list Greenwich as a songwriter are the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” and “Baby, I Love You,” the Shangri-La’s “Leader of the Pack,” the Dixie Cups’ “Chapel of Love,” Tina & Ike Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High” and the Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me” and “Da Doo Ron Ron.” Each of those landmark tracks were listed among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Discovered by famed songwriters Leiber and Stoller, Greenwich’s other major hits include Manfred Mann’s “Doo Wah Diddy Diddy,” Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and Tommy James’ and the Shondells’ “Hanky Panky.” Greenwich and Barry also helped nurture the career of a fledgling singer-songwriter named Neil Diamond, and Greenwich and Barry produced and contributed background vocals to Diamond hits like “Kentucky Woman,” “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” “Cherry, Cherry,” “Red, Red Wine” and “I’m a Believer.”

We'll send her out with The Crystals, who look to be having a ball here: