Linda Creed

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Linda Creed (1949 - April 10, 1986) was an American songwriter who teamed up with Thom Bell to produce some of the most successful Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s.

Born in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, Creed was active in music at Germantown High School and found her first writing success in 1971 at the age of 22 when Dusty Springfield recorded her song “Free Girl.” In time her work with Thom Bell, initially with The Stylistics and then with The Spinners, brought her huge commercial success. She was also co-writer of “The Greatest Love Of All” for George Benson, a song which later became a #1 hit for Whitney Houston for three weeks in 1986 (May 19th to June 6th)[1]. However, Linda never witnessed this success - she died of breast cancer on April 10th of that year, at the age of 37. While diagnosed with cancer at ten years earlier, she nonetheless had continued to work throughout and left a prolific legacy. She is survived by her husband, Stephen Epstein, her two brothers, and her two daughters.