Vicki Sue Robinson, the pop singer and actress who told and sang her life story in the 1999 Off-Broadway show, Vicki Sue Robinson: Behind the Beat, died April 27 of cancer, according to The New York Times.

A wider audience than saw her show at the Kaufman Theater April 30-July 4, 1999, will remember her hit disco single, "Turn the Beat Around," from 1976. She was 46.

In Behind the Beat, Robinson traced her own career from her Broadway debut in Hair and a stint with Broadway's Jesus Christ Superstar to her diva and drug days at Studio 54 to her recent comeback and new recordings. She sang "Turn the Beat Around" while in full "Queen of Disco" garb, including a crown with a twirling disco ball. Pop and soul oldies were part of the mix as were tunes from her newest CD, "Move On."

She is survived by her husband, Bill Good, and her mother, Marian Robinson.

-- By Kenneth Jones
and Christine Ehren