Singer Jean Knight struck platinum with “Mr. Big Stuff”

Jean Knight, a soul singer whose memorable single “Mr. Big Stuff” — a brassy anthem of female strength — rose to No. 1 on Billboard’s rhythm and blues chart in 1971, died on Nov. 22 in Tampa, Fla. She was 80.

Her death, in a hospital, was confirmed by Mona Giamanco, a publicist for Knight’s family. She did not specify the cause.

When she sang “Mr. Big Stuff” on the television show “Soul Train,” Knight exhibited the narrator’s disdain for the wealthy man in her facial gestures and in the way she defiantly planted her hand on her right hip andwagged her right index finger. But her strong voice softened when she sang that she would rather have a “poor guy that has a love that’s true.”

Knight received a Grammy Award nomination for best female R&B vocal performance (Aretha Franklin won for “Bridge Over Troubled Water”), and “Mr. Big Stuff” was nominated for best R&B song (Billwithers won for “Ain’t No Sunshine”).

“Mr. Big Stuff”— written by Carrol Washington, Ralphwilliams and Joseph Broussard — topped Billboard’s R&B chart and rose to No. 2 on the magazine’s Hot 100. It was also certified double platinum for selling at least 2 million units.

The music historian John Broven, the author of “Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans” (1978), said in an email that “Mr. Big Stuff” “marked the end of the Golden Age of New Orleans R& B and helped to kick- start the city’s funky soul era.”

He added, “It was also remarkable for being recorded on the same day as an earlier No. 1 R&B hit, ‘Grooveme,’ by another New Orleans artist, King Floyd, by talented producer Wardell Quezergue” at a time when “New Orleans was suffering from a dearth of big hits.”