Ceybil "Sweet Sable" Jefferies Passes From Coronavirus

Source: Steve Eichner / Getty

This is so sad. Remember Sweet Sable — “Old Times’ Sake” from the ‘Above The Rim’ soundtrack? Sable, whose real name was Sybil Jefferies is one of the most recent talents to lose her life to COVID-19.

The passing of Jefferies, who also released music under the name Ceybil Jefferies, was first confirmed on Facebook by friend and co-artist Aaron Paar. Salaam Remi also mourned Jefferies’ death in an Instagram posted last week.

According to VIBE reports, Jefferies made a name for herself in house music while signed to Atlantic Records, where she leased her debut album Let Music Take Control in 1991. Her breakout single was “So Special,” and another track off the project, “Open Your Heart” landed in the Top 20 of Billboard’s Dance Clubs Chart the same year. Jefferies parted ways with Atlantic in 1993, signing a deal with Scotti Brothers label as Sable Jefferies.

Her first single under the new deal was a song called “Friends (For Old Time Sake),” which was later renamed “Old Times’ Sake” and placed on the Above The Rim soundtrack in 1994 under her new moniker Sweet Sable.

While Jefferies continued to release music into the 2000’s, she also began facing challenges to her health and was diagnosed with neurosarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that affects multiple organs in the body, particularly the lungs, where it causes difficulty breathing. Jefferies eventually lost her sight due to the disease.

You can read Jefferies full obituary here.

Prayers up for her family and loved ones.