"She had so many interests, she loved everything," Becky's mother, Ann Shaw, said. "She embraced life."

Becky grew up in Sudbury, Mass., and attended Providence College, where she was a business management major. Her father, John Shaw, is a professor in the college's marketing department.

"She had an artsy base, but she was in business and so sometimes it seemed like a strange fit," Ann Shaw said. "But for her, business was a good base for the arts."

In addition to the piano, Becky played the violin, rode horses, spoke French and loved to attend dances with her friends. Becky worked part-time at the RE/MAX office in Cranston, where she was learning the real estate business.

She was completing a bachelor's degree in business and planned to pursue a master's degree, but she hadn't yet solidified her long-range plans.

"She didn't have to be on the fast track, she wasn't under pressure to get married and have kids and start bringing home big checks," said Ann Shaw. , Becky's mother. "She was exploring life."

Becky was attending the Great White concert with her closest friend, Jeffrey Rader, whom she'd been dating for three months. The pair met at a concert of another '80s band, Telsa, for whom Rader had worked. Rader, of Danville, Calif., was also killed in the fire.

Becky's family and friends are planning a party in her memory. "It's going to be a celebration of life, because that's how Becky lived," Ann Shaw said.

MARK POTHIER