R.I.P. Orish

founding member of 702




via Transworld:

Orish Grinstead, Founding 702 Member, Dies of Kidney Failure

Atlanta, GA 4/24/2008 03:27 PM GMT (FINDITT)



Orish Grinstead, a founding member of the R&B group 702, died of kidney failure Sunday in her Las Vegas home. Grinstead was 27 years old.

Grinstead also suffered from other medical complications including cancer that had yet to be treated.

Grinstead founded the group, named for the area code of their hometown Las Vegas, with her twin sister Irish and older sister Lameisha. The group was originally a quartet with Orish, Irish, Lameisha and their cousin Amelia.

However, Orish dropped out of the group, along with Amelia, and they were replaced with Kameelah Williams, a close friend who went to high school with Irish and Lameisha.

The R&B group went gold on their first album No Doubt (1997) and platinum on their second album 702 (1999), but during the second album, Lameisha had a baby and left the group, prompting Orish to replace her.