The Crystals are a New York City based musical group. They were one of the defining acts during the girl group era of the 1960s.

They formed in 1961 with five girls: Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Dolores “Dee Dee” Kenniebrew, Myrna Giraud and Patricia “Patsy” Wright. The group were later joined by Darlene Love for a short time. Dee Dee Kenniebrew still performs in the group, now a trio.

The group was created by Alston’s uncle, Benny Wells, when he recruited the singers to record a series of pop singles. Wells enlisted the aid of a series of songwriters, a quest that led him to the Manhattan headquarters of publishers Hill and Range. It was there, while rehearsing the single “There’s No Other (Like My Baby),” that the group met producer Phil Spector. In the recording studio, Spector gave the song a rhythm-and-blues feel and added the layered instrumentation that would later characterize his “wall of sound” production style. Released on Spector’s Philles label in late 1961, “There’s No Other (Like My Baby)” reached the Billboard Top 20. The group followed with “Uptown,” a modest hit that allowed Spector to experiment with nontraditional pop instruments such as castanets and Spanish guitars.