published: 07 Oct 2009
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- 3rd Bass
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Chicago
Chicago ( or ) is the largest city in the state of Illinois. With over 2.8 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous city in the country. Its metropolitan area, commonly named "Chicagoland," is the 26th most populous in the world, home to an estimated 9.7 million people spread across the U.S. states of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County.
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Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania () is a U.S. state and Commonwealth located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to the east. The state's four most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie. The state capital is Harrisburg.
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Philadelphia
Philadelphia () is the largest city in Pennsylvania, sixth-most-populous city in the United States and the fifty-first most populous city in the world.
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United States
The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
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West Point
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Ace Hood
Antoine McColister, (born May 11, 1988) better known by his stage name Ace Hood is an American rapper. He is signed to DJ Khaled's label We the Best Music Group and Def Jam Recordings.. His song "Top of the World" was also featured in the basketball simulation game, NBA 2K10.
http://wn.com/Ace_Hood -
Al Green
Albert Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me," "I'm Still In Love With You," "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together". In 2005, Rolling Stone named him #65 in their list of the '100 Greatest Artists of All Time'. The nomination, written by Justin Timberlake, stated that "people are born to do certain things, and Al was born to make us smile." The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Green in 1995, referring to him as "one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music." Green has sold more than 20 million records.
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Albertina Walker
Albertina Walker ( – ) was an American gospel singer.
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Alyson Williams
Alyson Williams (born May 11, 1962 in New York City, NY) is an R&B; singer.
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Ameriie
Amerie Mi Marie Rogers (born January 12, 1980 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts), known professionally as Ameriie, is a two time Grammy-nominated American singer, songwriter, producer and actress. She debuted in 2002 with the album All I Have, primarily co-written and produced by Rich Harrison, releasing her debut hit single "Why Don't We Fall In Love" and "Talkin' to Me". In 2005, Amerie released her sophomore effort featuring the hit "1 Thing", the lead single from her second album, Touch, which introduced elements of D.C.'s go-go, and became her biggest hit to date. The last single released from Touch was the self-titled "Touch", which became an international hit in other countries. Her junior effort Because I Love It would become an international only release in 2007. Amerie released her fourth studio album titled In Love & War on November 3, 2009. The singles released were "Why R U", "Heard 'Em All" featuring Lil Wayne, "Pretty Brown" featuring Trey Songz, and "More than Love" featuring Fabolous. She has sold over 4 million albums worldwide.
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Antonio "L.A." Reid
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Asher Roth
http://wn.com/Asher_Roth -
B.G. Knocc Out
Al Hasan Naqiyy (born Arlandis Hinton), best known by his stage name B.G. Knocc Out, is an American rapper known for collaborating with Eazy-E on the 1993 single "Real Muthaphuckkin G's". He is also the younger brother of rapper Dresta, who also collaborated in the song.
http://wn.com/BG_Knocc_Out -
Beanie Sigel
Dwight Grant (born on March 6, 1974), also known as Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is in talks with 50 Cent to sign with G-Unit Records and had formed a close association with rappers Jay-Z, Freeway and other former and current artists on the Roc-A-Fella roster. His stage name comes from a street in South Philadelphia, the rapper's former stomping grounds where he worked alongside Senior Durham in the projects. He has sold more than two million albums worldwide.
http://wn.com/Beanie_Sigel -
Big Boi
http://wn.com/Big_Boi -
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976, in Ada, Oklahoma) is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This song was the first single from his gold-certified debut album, which also produced two more Top 20 hits. Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.
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Bobby V
Bobby Wilson (born on February 27, 1980), better known by his stage name Bobby V, is an American recording artist (his nickname being "Valentino" because he was due to be born on Valentine's Day). He is known as Bobby V-Tino in the United Kingdom due to a lawsuit involving a British musician who has been recording under the name Bobby Valentino.
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Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack () (born March 4, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40 years and has spanned a repertoire in the styles of R&B;, soul, rock and roll, doo-wop, gospel, and country.
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Cam'ron
Cameron Giles (born February 4, 1974), better known by his stage name '''Cam'ron''' or "Killa Cam", is a Grammy-nominated, American rapper and actor. He is the founder of the hip-hop group The Diplomats (also known as Dipset), and also of The U.N. (Us Now) group.
http://wn.com/Cam'ron -
Capone-N-Noreaga
Capone-N-Noreaga is an American hip hop duo that consists of Capone and Noreaga.
http://wn.com/Capone-N-Noreaga -
Case (singer)
Case Woodard, stage name Case, is an American R&B; singer who was born in New York City.
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Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens; March 23, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the seventies as the front woman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career. Her signature hits, both with Rufus and solo, include "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing", "Ain't Nobody", "I'm Every Woman", "I Feel for You" and "Through the Fire".
http://wn.com/Chaka_Khan -
Chrisette Michele
http://wn.com/Chrisette_Michele -
Cormega
Cory McKay (born 1970) , better known as Cormega or "MC Cor", is an African American emcee best known for his vivid and poignant narratives about inner-city life.
http://wn.com/Cormega -
David Bowie
David Bowie ( ; born David Robert Jones, 8 January 1947) is an English rock musician, who has also worked as an actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for five decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s, and is known for his distinctive voice and the intellectual depth of his work.
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Davy DMX
Davy DMX is the stage name of David Reeves, a figure in hip-hop music. His career began in his hometown of Queens, New York as a DJ in the late 1970s. He is mostly known for his popular single "One for the Treble" released in 1984. This song was also included on the rap station in the video game .
http://wn.com/Davy_DMX -
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. During the 1960s, she helped shape the Motown sound as lead singer of The Supremes, before leaving the group for a solo career on January 14, 1970. Since the beginning of her career with The Supremes and as a solo artist, Ross has sold more than 150 million records.
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DJ Clue?
Ernesto Shaw (born January 8, 1975) better known as DJ Clue?, is a very well known mixtape DJ & MTV correspondent.
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DJ Richie Rich
DJ Richie Rich (born Richard Lawson in Jamaica), is a former record producer and turntablist who was best known as a member of the New York-based rap trio 3rd Bass. He was also known as Daddy Rich. Although he didn't win any major battles in the early 90's, Rich was considered by many to be the best skill/show DJs aka 'turntablists' in the world. He was part of The "Supermen" DJ crew which also included other top DJs such as Scratch, Clark Kent, Miz, Supreme, and Alladin. Rich also appeared in the movie "Juice" in the DJ battle scene, and recorded the scratches for the soundtrack. While working with Third Bass, he was one of the first DJs ever to do a DJ trick routine on TV when they appeared on the Arsenio Hall show. Although, he didn't stay in the forefront and mainstream, he was one of the best and most influential and skilled DJs ever, during the early stages of the worldwide growth of the art we now know as "turntablism".
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Domino (rapper)
Shawn Antoine Ivy, known as Domino, is an American rapper born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in Long Beach, California. Being a Crip himself, he auditioned for the Bloods & Crips project in the early 1990s. He is the first rapper, in order of appearance, in the title track ''Bangin' on Wax on the album of the same name. His debut album Domino spawned two major hits in the United States, including the Top 10 hit "Getto Jam", which reached #7 on the Billboard'' Hot 100. Several further albums were released, and Domino continued to score hits on the R&B; charts into the 2000s.
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Dresta
Andre DeSean Wicker (born April 18, 1971), better known by his stage name Dresta, is an American rapper known for collaborating with Eazy-E on the 1993 single "Real Muthaphuckkin G's". He is also the older brother of rapper B.G. Knocc Out, who also collaborated in the song.
http://wn.com/Dresta -
Dusty Springfield
http://wn.com/Dusty_Springfield -
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is an English singer-songwriter, composer and pianist. He has worked with his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date.
http://wn.com/Elton_John -
Fabolous
John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American recording artist. Growing up in Brooklyn in New York City. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut album Ghetto Fabolous. Fabolous has released five albums, which have collectively sold over three million copies in the United States.
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Fam-Lay
Nathaniel Johnson, also known as Fam-Lay (born May 28, 1974) is an American rapper from Norfolk, Virginia. Signed to The Neptunes' Star Trak imprint, he first gained notoriety through several guest appearances he made on various Neptunes-related projects, including the Clipse's debut album Lord Willin' in 2002. He also later appeared on The Neptunes' compilation The Neptunes Present... Clones in 2003, which featured his song "Rock 'N Roll". Then in 2004 he had the single and video "Rock N Roll (Remix)" featuring Lil Flip. It gained heavy rotation on MTV Jams.
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Flatlinerz
Flatlinerz is a hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York. The group was one of the early acts involved in the horrorcore genre of Hip-Hop, along with The Gravediggaz.
http://wn.com/Flatlinerz -
Flesh-n-Bone
Stanley Howse, better known as Flesh-n-Bone, (born June 10, 1973) is an American rapper from Cleveland, Ohio and is known as a member of the rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He is the older brother of Layzie Bone and cousin of Wish Bone.
http://wn.com/Flesh-n-Bone -
Florence Ballard
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Foxy Brown (rapper)
Inga D. Marchand (born September 6, 1979 to mother Judith Marchand and father Keith Stahler), better known as Foxy Brown, is an American rapper known for her solo work as well as numerous collaborations with other artists and her brief stint as part of hip hop music group The Firm. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, her father Keith Stahler abandoned the family at a young age to pursue his career at ERAC records. Her albums include Ill Na Na in 1996, followed by Chyna Doll in 1999, Broken Silence in 2001, and ''Brooklyn's Don Diva'' in 2008. She performed also in the 1997 self-titled album by the Firm, the only album to be released by that group to date. Throughout her career, Brown has held an extensive arrest record and served some time in jail.
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Funkmaster Flex
Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1968), better known as Funkmaster Flex is an American hip hop DJ, rapper, musician and producer on New York City's Hot 97 radio station, described by The Rough Guide to Hip-Hop as "one of the biggest players in the game". He plays hip-hop, R&B;, old school, back in the day, 80's, reggae, dancehall and reggaeton. He is on air Monday to Thursday from 7 PM to 12 AM. For Friday and Saturday he is on the air from 10 PM to 2 AM. He is featured on ESPN NFL 2K5 and .
http://wn.com/Funkmaster_Flex -
Grover Washington
http://wn.com/Grover_Washington -
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla". From 2000 to 2004, Ja Rule had several hits that made the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, including "Between Me and You" with Christina Millian, "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" with Jennifer Lopez, "Always on Time" with Ashanti, "Mesmerize" also with Ashanti, and "Wonderful" with R. Kelly and Ashanti. During the 2000s, Ja Rule was signed to BIG CHILE Records, which was formerly known as Murder Inc. and was led by Irv Gotti.
http://wn.com/Ja_Rule -
Jadakiss
Jason Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block.
http://wn.com/Jadakiss -
Jayo Felony
James Savage, better known by his stage name, Jayo Felony is a rapper from southeast San Diego, California. He is known for being the first San Diego rapper to be signed to a major label. Jayo Felony was a member of the Neighborhood Rollin 40's, a Crip gang from the Chollas View and Mount Hope neighborhoods of Southeast San Diego.
http://wn.com/Jayo_Felony -
Jennifer Lopez
http://wn.com/Jennifer_Lopez -
Jeremih
Jeremih Felton (born July 17, 1987) who performs under the mononym Jeremih (), is an American recording artist and producer. Signed to Def Jam Recordings, Jeremih's debut single, "Birthday Sex", peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. His self-titled debut album, Jeremih, debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, selling 59,000 copies in its first week.
http://wn.com/Jeremih -
Joe Budden
Joe Budden is an American rapper from Jersey City, New Jersey.
http://wn.com/Joe_Budden -
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE (born 20 May 1944, Sheffield, England) is an English rock/blues musician, composer and actor who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles. He is the recipient of several awards, including a 1983 Grammy Award for his song "Up Where We Belong", a duet which he performed with Jennifer Warnes. He was ranked #97 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest singers list.
http://wn.com/Joe_Cocker -
Jonell
Jonell is an American R&B; singer, born Shannon Jonell Showes in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.
http://wn.com/Jonell -
Joseph Simmons
http://wn.com/Joseph_Simmons -
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, percussionist, actor, comedian, and producer who has sold close to 20 million albums in the United States. He is known for his unique vocal quality and pop style with classical and world music influences. Each of his four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and, in 2007, was charted as the number one best selling artist in the United States.
http://wn.com/Josh_Groban -
Judy Garland
http://wn.com/Judy_Garland -
Juelz Santana
LaRon Louis James (born February 18, 1983), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper, producer and actor. He came to fame following his appearances on Cam'ron's 2002 singles, "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma". In 2003, his debut album From Me to U was released by Def Jam Recordings; his next album ''What the Game's Been Missing!'' contained the top-ten single "There It Go (The Whistle Song)".
http://wn.com/Juelz_Santana -
Kadeem Hardison
Kadeem Hardison (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor.
http://wn.com/Kadeem_Hardison -
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West (; born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and Janet Jackson. His style of production originally used pitched-up vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. However, subsequent productions saw him broadening his musical palette and expressing influences encompassing '70s R&B;, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, folk, alternative, electronica, synth-pop, and classical music.
http://wn.com/Kanye_West -
Karina Pasian
Karina Pasian (born July 18, 1991) is an American singer and pianist. She is currently signed to Def Jam.
http://wn.com/Karina_Pasian -
Kelly Price
Kelly Price (born April 4, 1973) is an American R&B; and soul singer, formerly on the Def Soul label.
http://wn.com/Kelly_Price -
Kelly Rowland
Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981), known as Kelly Rowland, is an American singer and entertainer. Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Houston, Texas, Rowland rose to fame in the late 1990s as one of the founding members of the girl group Destiny's Child. As a solo artist, Rowland has sold over 4 million albums worldwide.
http://wn.com/Kelly_Rowland -
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), better known by the stage name Lady Gaga, is an American recording artist. She began performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side in 2003 and enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She soon signed with Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records. During her early time at Interscope, she worked as a songwriter for fellow label artists and captured the attention of Akon, who recognized her vocal abilities, and signed her to his own label, Kon Live Distribution.
http://wn.com/Lady_Gaga -
Lady Luck (rapper)
Lady Luck (born 1982) is the stage name of rapper Shanel Jones.
http://wn.com/Lady_Luck_(rapper) -
Laura Nyro
http://wn.com/Laura_Nyro -
Lil Ru
http://wn.com/Lil_Ru -
Lil Scrappy
Darryl Kevin Richardson II (born January 19, 1984), better known by his stage name Lil Scrappy, is an American rapper.
http://wn.com/Lil_Scrappy -
Lillias White
Lillias White (born July 21, 1951) is an American singer and actress.
http://wn.com/Lillias_White -
Margaret Avery
Margaret Avery (born January 20, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Shug in The Color Purple (1985).
http://wn.com/Margaret_Avery -
Maria Menounos
Maria Menounos () (born June 8, 1978) is a Greek-American actress, journalist, and television presenter known in America for her appearances as a correspondent for Today and Access Hollywood, and abroad for co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece.
http://wn.com/Maria_Menounos -
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American R&B; singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. She made her recording debut, in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola, in 1993, a series of hit records established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. In 1998, Carey received the World Music Awards for becoming the "World's Best Selling Recording Artist of the 1990's" as well as the award for "World's Best Selling R&B; Artist."
http://wn.com/Mariah_Carey -
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige (surname ; born January 11, 1971), also known as Mary J. Blige, is an American singer, producer, songwriter, actress, and rapper. A recipient of nine Grammy Awards and many other honors, Blige has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. Blige has received the World Music Legends Award for combining hip hop and soul in the early 1990s. She was ranked number 100 in the list of 100 greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. As of 2010, Blige has sold over 50 million albums and 15 million singles. Blige has cited Anita Baker, Chaka Khan and Aretha Franklin as influences.
http://wn.com/Mary_J_Blige -
Megan Rochell
Megan Rochell is an American contemporary R&B; singer, who was formerly signed to Def Jam Records.
http://wn.com/Megan_Rochell -
Method Man
Clifford Smith (born April 1, 1971 in Staten Island, New York), better known by his stage name Method Man or Meth is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man & Redman along with fellow rapper Redman. He won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" with Mary J. Blige.
http://wn.com/Method_Man -
Montell Jordan
Montell Jordan (born December 3, 1968) is an American R&B; singer-songwriter and record producer. Jordan became the main solo male artist on its Def Soul imprint until leaving the label in 2003.
http://wn.com/Montell_Jordan -
Musiq Soulchild
Taalib Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by his stage name Musiq Soulchild or Musiq (), is a soul artist whose style blends contemporary R&B;, soul, funk, alternative, blues, jazz and hip hop.
http://wn.com/Musiq_Soulchild -
N.O.R.E.
Victor Santiago, Jr., best known by his stage name N.O.R.E. or Noreaga (born September 6, 1976), is an American rapper of African American and Puerto Rican descent. He is one half of the group Capone-N-Noreaga.
http://wn.com/NORE -
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (; born September 14, 1973), who performs under the name Nas (), formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, he was born and raised in the Queensbridge housing projects in New York City. His debut album Illmatic, released in 1994 by Columbia Records, was critically acclaimed and would go on to be widely hailed a classic in the genre. Nas was part of hip-hop supergroup The Firm, which released one album.
http://wn.com/Nas -
Ne-Yo
Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B; singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor, and occasional rapper. Since his debut, Ne-Yo has had five top ten songs on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist and two number-one albums on the Billboard 200. Ne-Yo has also amassed a catalog of chart-topping songs that he has written for other artists.
http://wn.com/Ne-Yo -
Nick Lachey
Nicholas Scott "Nick" Lachey ( "la-SHAY"; born November 9, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and television personality. Lachey rose to fame as a member of the boy band 98 Degrees. He later starred in the reality television series with his then-wife, Jessica Simpson. He has released two solo album, SoulO and ''What's Left of Me''.
http://wn.com/Nick_Lachey -
Nicole Wray
http://wn.com/Nicole_Wray -
Nikki D
Nichelle "Nikki D" Strong is an American female rapper.
http://wn.com/Nikki_D -
Nona Hendryx
Nona Hendryx (born October 9, 1944 in Trenton, New Jersey) is an American vocalist, producer, songwriter, musician, author, and actress.
http://wn.com/Nona_Hendryx -
Oran "Juice" Jones
Oran "Juice" Jones (born 1959, Houston, Texas), often incorrectly cited as Orange "Juice" Jones, "Horned Shoes" Jones, is a Soul and R&B; singer. He was raised in Harlem, New York. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1981. He was the second African-American Brigade Commander in Naval Academy history. He served his commitment as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps until 1986. He was the first artist who was signed to OBR Records, a subsidiary of Def Jam. He was also the first R&B; artist on the hip hop record label. His song "The Rain" became a hit in 1986, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart in December that year. He followed it with a successful duet with label mate Alyson Williams, "How to Love Again."
http://wn.com/Oran_"Juice"_Jones -
Otis Williams
Otis Williams (born October 30, 1941) is an American tenor singer. Nicknamed "Big Daddy", he has also acted as a sporadic songwriter and record producer. Williams co-founded the Motown vocal group The Temptations in early 1960 as The Elgins, a group in which he continues to perform. Williams is the group's only surviving original member.
http://wn.com/Otis_Williams -
Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle (born Patricia Louise Holte; May 24, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She fronted two groups, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, which received minor success on the pop charts in the 1960s, and Labelle, which received acclaim and a mainstream breakthrough in 1974 with their song "Lady Marmalade". She went on to have a solo recording career, earning another U.S. #1 single in 1986 with "On My Own", a duet with Michael McDonald.
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle -
Pete Nice
Prime Minister Pete Nice (born Peter J. Nash in Floral Park, Long Island, New York) is a former hip hop MC who was most noted as a member of the group 3rd Bass.
http://wn.com/Pete_Nice -
Pusha T
http://wn.com/Pusha_T -
Rell
Rell Gaddis, known by his stage name Rell, is an American R&B; singer. He was the first male R&B; singer signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, where he recorded with artists such as Kanye West, Jay-Z, Consequence, and Young Gunz.
http://wn.com/Rell -
Richie Rich (rapper)
Richard Serrell, better known by his stage name Richie Rich, is a rapper from Oakland, California.
http://wn.com/Richie_Rich_(rapper) -
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin (born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records.
http://wn.com/Rick_Rubin -
Rocko (rapper)
Rodney Ramone Hill, Jr. (born 1979) is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He is signed to
http://wn.com/Rocko_(rapper) -
Ron Isley
http://wn.com/Ron_Isley -
Sarah Dash
Sarah Dash (born August 18, 1945) is a singer and actress. Her first notable appearance on the music scene was as a member of Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles. Dash has had a full career, moving from singer, to songwriter, session musician, sideman for famous bands that include Patti LaBelle, The Rolling Stones, and Keith Richards.
http://wn.com/Sarah_Dash -
Selan Lerner
http://wn.com/Selan_Lerner -
Shareefa
Shareefa Faradah Cooper (born March 12, 1984), professionally known as Shareefa, is an R&B; singer. Shareefa has also lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. She signed with Disturbing tha Peace/Def Jam Recordings in 2005. Her debut single, "Need a Boss", features rapper and labelmate Ludacris, was produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, and also reached #62 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her debut album Point of No Return was released in October 2006 and charted at #25 on the Billboard 200. Shareefa has started work on her second album The Secret which was scheduled for a summer 2009 release, though there is still no word on any progress with it. July 28,2010 Shareefa Drop A Mixtape "The Misunderstanding Of Shareefa" Hosted By Don Cannon
http://wn.com/Shareefa -
Shawnna
Rashawnna Guy (born January 3, 1983), better known by her stage name Shawnna is an American rapper. She was the first female artist signed to Def Jam through Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace Records. She is a former member of the female Chicago rap duo Infamous Syndicate and she is also the daughter of the blues musician Buddy Guy.
http://wn.com/Shawnna -
Sheek Louch
Sean Divine Jacobs, better known as Sheek Louch (also known as Donnie Def Jam), is an African American rapper and member of The LOX.
http://wn.com/Sheek_Louch -
Shyne
Moses Michael Leviy (born Jamal Michael Barrow on 8 November 1976), better known as Shyne, is a Belizean-born rapper. He grew up in the notorious Vanderveer Estates in East Flatbush (now known as 'Flatbush Gardens').
http://wn.com/Shyne -
Sisqó
http://wn.com/Sisqó -
South Central Cartel
South Central Cartel is a Los Angeles-based gangsta rap group. Some of their popular songs include "U Gotta Deal Wit Dis", "Pops Was a Rolla", "Ya Getz Clowned", "Gang Stories", "Servin 'Em Heat", "Knocc on Wood" (Remix), and "All Day Everyday" & "Eastside-Westside".
http://wn.com/South_Central_Cartel -
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg, (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer and video game designer. In a career spanning six decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an archetype of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years, his films began addressing such issues as the Holocaust, slavery, war and terrorism. He is considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He is also one of the founders of DreamWorks.
http://wn.com/Steven_Spielberg -
Sundray Tucker
Sundray Tucker (born March 23, 1948) is an American singer. She is the eldest daughter of the late Ira Tucker (of The Dixie Hummingbirds) and Louise Tucker. Her sister is Lynda Laurence of The Supremes, and her brother is Ira Tucker Jr.
http://wn.com/Sundray_Tucker -
Terri Walker
http://wn.com/Terri_Walker -
The Dove Shack
The Dove Shack is a G-Funk group from Long Beach. Consisting of C-Knight, Bo-Roc and 2Scoops, the group made their debut with the song "This Is the Shack" on Warren G's album Regulate...G Funk Era. Under the same name they released their first album back in 1995 with the substantial hit single "Summertime in the LBC" featuring Arnita Porter. They later contributed to a few compilations, and released ''Reality's Got Me Tied Up'' in 2006.
http://wn.com/The_Dove_Shack -
The-Dream
Terius Youngdell Nash (born August 18, 1981), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American R&B; and pop singer, songwriter and record producer. He was born in Rockingham, North Carolina, and raised by his mother Reva Nash until her death at age 35. The-Dream moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he was raised by his grandfather.
http://wn.com/The-Dream -
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, film producer and rapper. He has enjoyed success in music, television and film. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor on the planet. Smith has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won multiple Grammy Awards.
http://wn.com/Will_Smith -
Young Jeezy
Jay Wayne Jenkins (born October 12, 1977), better known by his stage name Young Jeezy, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America (USDA) and a former member of Boyz n da Hood. He began his career in 2001 under an independent label and joined Boyz N Da Hood in 2005, the same year his solo major label debut ''Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'' was released. Its single "Soul Survivor", which featured Akon, became a top-ten hit in the U.S.
http://wn.com/Young_Jeezy
LaBelle, Patti Filmography
- The BET Honors (2012)
- Mama I Want to Sing (2011)
- Black Girls Rock! 2011 (2011)
- BET Awards 2011 (2011)
- The BET Honors (2010)
- An Evening of Grace: A Concert for the Children (2010)
- The Best of the World Music Awards (2010)
- BET Awards 2010 (2010)
- I Am an American: The Making of an Anthem (2009)
- Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (2009)
- An Evening of Stars: Tribute to Patti LaBelle (2009)
- Semi-Pro (2008)
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2008)
- 25 Most Sensational Hollywood Meltdowns (2008)
- Hillary! Uncensored: Banned by the Media (2008)
- The 2007 World Music Awards (2007)
- 18th Annual GLAAD Media Awards (2007)
- 22nd Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards (2007)
- Behind the Scenes: World Music Awards 2007 (2007)
- BET Awards 2007 (2007)
- Cover (2007)
- Diabetes: The Quiet Killer (2007)
- Clash of the Choirs (2007)
- Idlewild (2006)
- Destiny's Child: A Family Affair (2006)
- Legends Ball (2006)
- Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy (2006)
- On the One (2005)
- My Music: Funky Soul Superstars (2005)
- An All-Star Salute to Patti LaBelle: Live from Atlantis (2005)
- Be Cool (2005)
- Tommy and Quadrophenia Live: The Who (2005)
- The 2005 World Music Awards (2005)
- Apollo at 70: A Hot Night in Harlem (2004)
- VH1 Divas 2004 (2004)
- The 46th Annual Grammy Awards (2004)
- Denyce Graves: Breaking the Rules (2004)
- My Music: Superstars of Seventies Soul Live (2004)
- World Music Awards 2004 (2004)
- An Evening of Stars: 25th Anniversary Tribute to Lou Rawls (2004)
- Nina Simone: A Tribute (2003)
- Patti LaBelle Recording Session (2003)
- Born to Diva (2003)
- The Making and Meaning of 'We Are Family' (2002)
- American Bandstand's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2002)
- Sylvester: Mighty Real (2002)
- Santa, Baby! (2001)
- 1st Annual BET Awards (2001)
- Independence Day 2001 (2001)
- An Evening of Stars: A Celebration of Educational Excellence (2001)
- 2001 Lady of Soul Awards (2001)
- The Remarkable Journey (2000)
- 2000 Essence Awards (2000)
- Improv Ice III (2000)
- 100 Greatest Dance Songs of Rock & Roll (2000)
- The American Red Cross Holiday Music Spectacular (1999)
- Goodnight Moon & Other Sleepytime Tales (1999)
- The 1999 Billboard Music Awards (1999)
- Guide to Healthy Living (1998)
- The 40th Annual Grammy Awards (1998)
- 1998 ALMA Awards (1998)
- The 1998 Soul Train Christmas Starfest (1998)
- Essence Awards (1998)
- 28th NAACP Image Awards (1997)
- 10th Anniversary Essence Awards (1997)
- Happy Birthday Elizabeth: A Celebration of Life (1997)
- Celebrate the Dream: 50 Years of Ebony Magazine (1996)
- Tony Bennett: Here's to the Ladies, a Concert of Hope (1995)
- Soul Train's 25th Anniversary (1995)
- Sinatra: 80 Years My Way (1995)
- The History of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 5 (1995)
- Champions of the World (1995)
- The 9th Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1995)
- Super Bowl XXIX (1995)
- The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1994)
- All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! (1994)
- In a New Light '94 (1994)
- Touch of Music in the Night: Michael Crawford (1994)
- Sinatra Duets (1994)
- The 8th Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1994)
- The 35th Annual Grammy Awards (1993)
- The 7th Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1993)
- 1993 Essence Awards (1993)
- The 13th Annual American Black Achievement Awards (1992)
- The 6th Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1992)
- Comic Relief V (1992)
- A Party for Richard Pryor (1991)
- Ray Charles: 50 Years in Music (1991)
- Walt Disney World's 20th Anniversary Celebration (1991)
- Yellow Ribbon Party (1991)
- A Comedy Salute to Michael Jordan (1991)
- The Real Story of Itsy Bitsy Spider (1991)
- The 5th Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1991)
- Motown 30: What's Goin' On! (1990)
- Parker Kane (1990)
- Night of 100 Stars III (1990)
- The 4th Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1990)
- Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa (1990)
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1990)
- The Songwriter's Hall of Fame 20th Anniversary... The Magic of Music (1989)
- Fire and Rain (1989)
- The Who Live, Featuring the Rock Opera Tommy (1989)
- The 3rd Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1989)
- Sing (1989)
- The 16th Annual American Music Awards (1989)
- The 2nd Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1988)
- Sesame Street, Special (1988)
- We the People 200: The Constitutional Gala (1987)
- The 8th Annual Black Achievement Awards (1987)
- Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood (1987)
- An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. (1986)
- Sisters in the Name of Love (1986)
- Unnatural Causes (1986)
- Liberty Weekend (1986)
- The 12th Annual American Music Awards (1985)
- Live Aid (1985)
- Night of 100 Stars II (1985)
- Rock 'n' Wrestling Saturday Spectacular (1985)
- Musical Comedy III (1985)
- The Patti LaBelle Show (1985)
- Plácido Domingo: Stepping Out with the Ladies (1985)
- Motown Returns to the Apollo (1985)
- A Soldier's Story (1984)
- Salute to Lady Liberty (1984)
- A Celebration of Life: A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. (1984)
- Eubie Blake: A Century of Music (1983)
- Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)
- Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary (1977)
- It's What's Happening, Baby! (1965)
- Anything
- Come As You Are
- Come What May
- Don't Block The Blessings
- Don't Make Your Angel Cry
- I Believe I Can Fly
- If I Was A River
- Lady Marmalade
- Love Is Just A Whisper Away
- Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)
- Mm, Mm, Mm
- New Attitude
- Oh People
- Sparkle
- Walk Around Heaven
- We're Not Makin' Love Anymore
- When You've Been Blessed
- 2 Steps Away
- A Change Is Gonna Come
- All This Love
- Crazy Love
- Dont Make Me Over
- Good Lovin'
- Got To Be Real
- I Can't Complain
- I'll Still Love You More
- If Only You Knew
- Let Me Be There For You
- Love, Need And Want You
- Love Will Lead You Back
- Need A Little Faith
- Release yourself
- Somewhere Over The Rainbow
- The Bells
- Too Many Tears Too Many Times
- Way Up There
- You Are My Friend
- Ready For A Miracle
- Ain't No Way (Feat. Mary J. Blige)
- Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)
- Down The Aisle (Wedding Song)
- Finally Got The Nerve (Feat. Miri Ben ari)
- Gotta Go Solo (Ft. Ron Isley)
- Hear My Cry
- He`s Out Of My Life
- I Believe
- I Can't Make You Love Me
- I Hear Your Voice
- I Keep Forgetting
- I Sold My Heart To The Junkman
RELEASE
ALBUMS
- It's Alright With Me
- My Best Was Good Enough
- Wat'cha Doing to Me
- Love Is Just a Touch Away
- Love and Learn
- Deliver the Funk
- Come What May
- You and Me
- Music Is My Way of Life
- It's Alright With Me (single version)
- Music Is My Way of Life (single version)
- Music Is My Way of Life (instrumental)
- Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)
- Over the Rainbow
- What Can I Do for You?
- The Best Is Yet to Come
- New Attitude
- Stir It Up
- On My Own
- Oh, People
- Kiss Away the Pain
- If You Asked Me To
- Yo Mister
- Feels Like Another One
- Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is)
- When You've Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)
- The Right Kinda Lover
- When You Talked About Love
- Love Is Just a Whisper Away
- Don't Block the Blessing
- New Day
- If You Asked Me To
- Yo Mister
- Still in Love
- Feels Like Another One
- Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is)
- Crazy Love
- When You've Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)
- The Right Kinda Lover
- When You Talk About Love
- Love Is Just a Whisper Away
- Don't Block the Blessing
- Call Me Gone
- When a Woman Loves
- Love Will Lead You Back
- New Day
- Ain't No Way
- He's Out of My Life
- Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)
- Love Don't Live Here Anymore
- I Keep Forgetting
- Love Ballad
- I Can't Make You Love Me
- Your Song
- I Write a Song
- Silly
- Stand by You
- YGMMLSE
- Land of the Living
- More Than Material
- It's Time
- New Day
- Something More
- Sometimes Love
- Hear My Cry (feat. Floetry)
- Good Lovin'
- Mm, Mm, Mm
- Not Right but Real
- 2 Steps Away
- Finally Got the Nerve (feat. Miri Ben-Ari)
- Unpredictable
- When You Smile (Inspired by Celia Cruz...Azucar!) (feat. Carlos Santana, Shelia E, La India & Andy Vargas)
- Teach Me Tonight (Me Gusta Tu Baile)
- Little Girls
- Over the Rainbow
- Joy to Have Your Love
- I Don't Go Shopping
- Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)
- Music Is My Way of Life
- It's Alright With Me
- You Are My Friend
- Lady Marmelade
- Yo Mister
- Beat My Heart Like a Drum
- Feels Like Another One
- Release Yourself
- You're Mine Tonight
- All Right Now
- Oh, People
- When You Love Somebody (I'm Saving My Love for You)
- Sleep With Me Tonight
- There's a Winner in You
- Can't Bring Me Down
- If Only You Knew (live)
- Lady Marmelade (live)
- Over the Rainbow
- Lady Marmalade
- What Can I Do for You?
- Moon Shadow
- Going on a Holiday
- If Only You Knew
- Love, Need and Want You
- New Attitude
- Kiss Away the Pain
- Stir It Up
- If You Asked Me To
- Feels Like Another One
- Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is)
- On My Own
- Oh, People
- When You've Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)
- I'm In Love
- All This Love
- The Right Kinda Lover
- The Word is All
- Too Good to Be Through
- I Never Stopped Loving you
- Stay In My Corner
- If I Didn't Have You
- I CAn't Tell mY heart What To Do
- Time Will Tell
- Our World
- Come As You Are
- All Right Now
- Intro: Release Yourself
- Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is)
- New Attitude
- If Only You Knew
- You Are My Friend
- Lady Marmalade
- Feels Like Another One
- Wind Beneath My Wings
- When You've Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)
- I Don't Like Goodbyes / Over the Rainbow
- Up There With You
- This Christmas
- 'Twas Love
- Nothing Could Be Better
- If Everyday Could Be Like Christmas
- I'm Christmasing With You
- What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
- Reason for the Season
- Country Christmas
- Born in a Manger
- O Holy Night
- Wouldn't It Be Beautiful
- Oh, People
- On My Own
- Something Special (Is Gonna Happen Tonight)
- Kiss Away the Pain
- Twisted
- You're Mine Tonight
- Finally We're Back Together
- Beat My Heart Like a Drum
- Sleep With Me Tonight
- There's a Winner in You
- The Spirit's in It
- Here You Come Again
- Love Lives
- I Fell in Love Without Warning
- Boats Against the Current
- Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu
- Family
- Shoot Him on Sight
- Over the Rainbow
- Give It Up (The Dawning Of Rejection)
- Don't Make Your Angel Cry
- Release
- I Don't Go Shopping
- Ain't That Enough
- Love Has Finally Come
- Come And Dance With Me
- Get Ready (Lookin' For Loving)
- Find The Love
- This Word Is All
- Yo Mister
- Stir It Up
- If You Asked Me To
- When You Talk About Love
- Flame
- Oh, People
- Kiss Away the Pain
- Beat My Heart Like a Drum
- The Right Kinda Lover
- Time Will Tell
- Our World
- New Attitude
- Feels Like Another One
- When You've Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)
- Release Yourself
- If Only You Knew
- Love, Need and Want You
- If You Don't Know Me by Now (live)
- The Best Is Yet to Come (With Grover Washington Jr.)
- The Spirit's in It
- New Attitude
- On My Own (With Michael McDonald)
- When You Talk About Love
- My Love, Sweet Love
- Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is)
- Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)
- The Bells
- Last Dance
- Moonshadow
- I Sold My Heart to the Junkman
- Christmas Jam
- It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
- What the Lonely Do at Christmas
- Holidays Mean More to Me
- It's Going to Be a Merry Christmas
- Do You Hear What I Hear
- Nativity
- Jesus, Oh What a Wonderful Child
- Every Year, Every Christmas
- Away in a Manger
- Did You Pray Today
- Where Love Begins (feat. Yolanda Adams)
- Anything (feat. Mary Mary)
- Walk Around Heaven
- More Than (He Loves You) (feat. J Moss)
- God Ain't Through (feat. The Soul Seekers)
- I Just Love Him So
- Walking Away (feat. CeCe Winans)
- My Everything (feat. Wynonna Judd)
- Anything (feat. Kanye West, Mary Mary & Consequence)
- You Are My Friend
- Joy to Have Your Love
- Funky Music
- Since I Don't Have You
- Dan Swit Me
- You Are My Friend
- You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover
- I Think About You
- Do I Stand a Chance
- Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine)
- Love Symphony
- Living Double
- Where I Wanna Be
- Shy
- Look to the Rainbow
- I Can't Forget You
- What Can I Do for You
- If You Don't Know Me by Now
- I Believe
- When You Talk About Love
- Flame
- He Doesn't Love You
- New Attitude
- If You Asked Me To
- If You Only Knew
- You Are My Friend
- Lord's Side
- Joy to Have Your Love
- You Are My Friend
- Spirit's in It
- Here You Come Again
- Love Lives
- I Fell in Love Without Warning
- Boats Against the Current
- Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu
- Family
- Shoot Him on Sight
- Over the Rainbow
- I'm in Love Again
- Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)
- Love, Need and Want You
- The Kitchen
- When a Woman Loves
- Make Tonight Beautiful
- If I Was a River
- Why Do We Hurt Each Other
- Too Many Tears, Too Many Times
- Call Me Gone
- Time Will
- Tell Where It Hurts
- I'll Still Love You More
- Love Will Lead You Back
- When a Woman Loves (reprise)
- If You Asked Me To
- I Can't Complain
- Be Yourself
- Yo Mister
- I Got It Like That
- Love 89
- Still in Love
- I'm Scared of You
- Can't Bring Me Down
- Need a Little Faith
- I Can Fly
- Feels Like Another One
- Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is)
- When You Love Somebody (I'm Saving My Love for You)
- I Don't do Duets
- Temptation
- When You've Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)
- Burnin' (The Fire Is Still) Burnin' for You
- I Hear Your Voice
- We're Not Makin' Love Anymore
- Release Yourself
- Love Never Dies
- Crazy Love
- On My Own (feat. Michael Mcdonald)
- New Attitude
- Kiss the Pain Away
- Stir It Up
- Oh, People
- Yo Mister
- If You Asked Me To
- The Right Kind of Lover
- When You Talk About Love
- Flame
- Feels Like Another One
- When You've Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)
- Someone Like You
- I Like the Way It Feels
- You Are My Solid Ground
- Flame
- Let Me Be Your Lady
- Does He Love You
- Shoe Was on the Other Foot
- Addicted to You
- When You Talk About Love
- Love Is Just a Whisper Away
- If by Chance
- Let Me Be There for You
- You Saved My Life
- Don't Block the Blessings
- This Christmas
- 'Twas Love
- Nothing Could Be Better
- I'm Christmasing With You
- What Are You Doing New Year's Eve
- If Every Day Could Be Like Christmas
- Reason for the Season
- Country Christmas
- Born in a Manger
- O Holy Night
- Wouldn't It Be Beautiful
- Angel Man
- Love and Learn
- Come What My
- Find the Love
- Don't Make Your Angel Cry
- Isn't It a Shame
- You Are My Friend
- Little Girls
- Do I Stand a Chance
- Last Dance
- Quiet Time
- You Turn Me On
- I Don't Go Shopping
- Love Has Finally Come
- Lady Marmalade
- What Can I Do for You?
- Are You Lonely?
- You Turn Me On
- Messin' With My Mind
- Take the Night Off
- Get You Somebody New
- Isn't It a Shame
- Joy to Have Your Love
- I Think About You
- You Are My Friend
- Teach Me Tonight (Me Gusta Tu Baile)
- Quiet Time
- It's Alright With Me
- Don't Make Your Angel Cry
- Come What May
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Patti LaBelle - On My Own ft. Michael McDonald
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:34
- Published: 07 Oct 2009
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
Music video by Patti LaBelle performing On My Own. (C) 1986 Geffen Records
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_On_My_Own_ft_Michael_McDonald
Patti Labelle - Somewhere Over the Rainbow - One Night Only HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:47
- Published: 25 May 2009
- Updated: 24 Oct 2012
Patti sings in my opinion one of the best Versions of Somewhere over the Rainbow on her Live one Night only Tour.
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_Somewhere_Over_the_Rainbow_One_Night_Only_HD
Walk Around Heaven - Patti Labelle,"BET Celebration Of Gospel Spirit In Song"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:54
- Published: 06 Sep 2012
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
BET Celebration of Gospel: Spirit in Song Top R&B and gospel singers fill the room with songs of praise in this rousing revival. Artists include Patti LaBelle, John Legend, Shirley Caesar, Mighty Clouds of Joy and Kirk Franklin. This spiritual songfest, which first aired on BET, also includes performances by J Moss, T-Bone and Dr. Bobby Jones. DISCLAIMER: NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. I OWN ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THESE VIDEOS (UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED). COPYRIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR ORIGINAL OWNERS. MUSICAL VIDEOS POSTED ON THIS CHANNEL ARE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.
http://wn.com/Walk_Around_Heaven_Patti_Labelle,BET_Celebration_Of_Gospel_Spirit_In_Song
Patti LaBelle - If You Asked Me To
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:53
- Published: 25 Dec 2009
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
Music video by Patti LaBelle performing If You Asked Me To. (C) 2000 Geffen Records
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_If_You_Asked_Me_To
Patti LaBelle!" The Lena Horn Award!"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:07
- Published: 29 Sep 2012
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
Patti LaBelle The 2001 Lena Horn Award For Outstanding Career Achievements!"
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle!_The_Lena_Horn_Award!
Patti LaBelle - If Only You Knew
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:36
- Published: 26 Jul 2008
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
" If Only You Knew "
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_If_Only_You_Knew
Patti LaBelle & Luther Vandross performance / The Aretha Franklin Years
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:24
- Published: 29 Feb 2012
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
enjoy this duet performance from Patti & Luther and also enjoy a look back at The Queen of Soul on the show
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_Luther_Vandross_performance_The_Aretha_Franklin_Years
Patti LaBelle tribute to Cissy and Whitney Houston - I Have Nothing
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:38
- Published: 17 Feb 2012
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
RIP Whitney
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_tribute_to_Cissy_and_Whitney_Houston_I_Have_Nothing
Patti LaBelle & Big Daddy Kane!" Feels Like Another One!"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:56
- Published: 29 Sep 2012
- Updated: 11 Oct 2012
Patti LaBelle"""Walk Of Fame!" 2001!"
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_Big_Daddy_Kane!_Feels_Like_Another_One!
Tavis Smiley & Patti LaBelle!"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 20:52
- Published: 07 Oct 2012
- Updated: 22 Oct 2012
Patti LaBelle On Tavis Smiley Talking About Her New CD "When a Woman Loves!" 2001!"
http://wn.com/Tavis_Smiley_Patti_LaBelle!
Joe Cocker ft Patti LaBelle & Billy Preston - You Are So Beautiful (Live 1985) Video
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:32
- Published: 24 May 2012
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
Live from the Apollo Theatre 50th Anniversary 1985 "You Are So Beautiful" is a song written by Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher, and Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys. It was first recorded by Preston and made popular in a version by Joe Cocker. Preston's original version first appeared on his 1974 album, The Kids & Me. Cocker's producer, Jim Price created a slowed-down arrangement for Cocker's version, which first appeared on the album, I Can Stand a Little Rain (released later in 1974). Released as a single, the Joe Cocker version reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1975 and helped the album become a hit.
http://wn.com/Joe_Cocker_ft_Patti_LaBelle_Billy_Preston_You_Are_So_Beautiful_Live_1985_Video
Patti Labelle Al Green Mavis Staples Little Richard - Apollo
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:48
- Published: 25 Aug 2007
- Updated: 24 Oct 2012
Patti Labelle Al Green Mavis Staples Little Richard - You'll Never Walk Alone [Live at Apollo Theatre 1985] Mavis Staples, Little Richard & Al Green open the perfomance with I've got Joy in my heart. Empress Of Soul Patti Labelle bring the house down with the spiritual, powerhouse and untouchable rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, Patti Labelle Al Green Mavis Staples Little Richard join Patti in the end of the song!
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_Al_Green_Mavis_Staples_Little_Richard_Apollo
Patti Labelle - Change is gonna come - Live one night only - HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:06
- Published: 31 Mar 2012
- Updated: 24 Oct 2012
Patti Labelle sings her version of the classic hit A change is gonna come. This version is a little jumpy may upload a different one in the next couple of days.
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_Change_is_gonna_come_Live_one_night_only_HD
Superwoman - Performed by Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, and Dionne Warwick
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:16
- Published: 23 Jul 2010
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
If you have been the victim of bullying, of any kind, it is not your fault. Please do not suffer in silence because there are people who can help: www.overcomebullying.org To submit a privacy complaint on YouTube: www.google.com Superwoman: Early in the morning I put breakfast on your table And I make sure that your coffee Has its sugar and cream Your eggs are over easy Your toast done lightly All that's missing is your morning kiss That used to greet me Now you say the juice is sour It used to be so sweet And I can't help but to wonder If you're talking about me We don't talk the way we used to And it's hurting me so deep I got my pride I will not cry But it's making me weak I'm not your superwoman I'm not the kind of girl that you can lay down And think that everything's okay Boy, I am only human This girl needs more than occasional HUGS as a token of love from you to me I find my way through the rush hour Trying to make it home just for you I want to make sure that your dinner Will be waiting for you But when you get there you just tell me You're not hungry at all You said you'd rather read the paper And you don't want to talk You'd like to think I'm just crazy When I say that you've changed Well I think I know the problem You don't love me the same You're just going through the motions And you're not being fair I got my pride I will not cry But I can't help but care I'm not your superwoman I'm not the kind of girl that you can lay down And think that everything's <b>...</b>
http://wn.com/Superwoman_Performed_by_Gladys_Knight,_Patti_LaBelle,_and_Dionne_Warwick
Patti LaBelle - New Attitude
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:04
- Published: 06 Oct 2009
- Updated: 23 Oct 2012
Music video by Patti LaBelle performing New Attitude. (C) 1984 Geffen Records
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_New_Attitude
Patti LaBelle!" Team LaBelle Clash Of The Choirs!"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:12
- Published: 19 Oct 2012
- Updated: 20 Oct 2012
Patti LaBelle"""Team LaBelle Clash Of The Choirs!"
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle!_Team_LaBelle_Clash_Of_The_Choirs!
Patti LaBelle Performs On The Maze Summer Music Festival LIVE in Philly!!!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:09
- Published: 01 Aug 2012
- Updated: 06 Oct 2012
Patti did her thing for her hometown!!! "Joy To Have Your Love"..."Feels Like Another One"..."Right Kinda Lover"
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_Performs_On_The_Maze_Summer_Music_Festival_LIVE_in_Philly!!!
Patti LaBelle - Purple Rain LIVE BET 2010 Tribute to Prince
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:34
- Published: 27 Jul 2012
- Updated: 20 Oct 2012
Patti LaBelle sings Purple Rain LIVE video performance! Tribute to Prince. BET 2010
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_Purple_Rain_LIVE_BET_2010_Tribute_to_Prince
Patti Labelle - You are my Friend
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:21
- Published: 08 Mar 2007
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
Patti Labelle sings You are my Friend 1991! wonderful!
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_You_are_my_Friend
Michael Mcdonald & Patti LaBelle - On My Own ( Live )
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:19
- Published: 14 Apr 2012
- Updated: 13 Oct 2012
Michael Mcdonald & Patti LaBelle - On My Own
http://wn.com/Michael_Mcdonald_Patti_LaBelle_On_My_Own_Live_
Patti LaBelle - Gerald Levert Tribute
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:51
- Published: 01 Sep 2011
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
Yolanda Adams, Eddie Levert, Gladys Knight, & Patti "Thunderstorm" LaBelle honors their great friend, the legendary Gerald Levert Please comment, Like, & subscribe!!! QueenOldSkool is my channel also!!
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_Gerald_Levert_Tribute
Patti LaBelle - When You've Been Blessed (Live)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:47
- Published: 16 Oct 2011
- Updated: 25 Oct 2012
UNCF 2011 ........... LaBelleObamafan4life is my channel also!!!
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_When_You've_Been_Blessed_Live
Donnie McClurkin & Patti LaBelle!" Stand!"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:10
- Published: 29 Sep 2012
- Updated: 21 Oct 2012
Donnie McClurkin & Patti LaBelle"""Singing Stand!"
http://wn.com/Donnie_McClurkin_Patti_LaBelle!_Stand!
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PATTI LABELLE LIVE - YOU ARE MY FRIEND - WHAT A FRIEND WE HA
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:12
- Published: 16 Oct 2008
- Updated: 18 Oct 2012
PATTI PATTI BLEW THE ROOF OF THE HOUSE IN 2000.
http://wn.com/PATTI_LABELLE_LIVE_YOU_ARE_MY_FRIEND_WHAT_A_FRIEND_WE_HA
Patti Labelle - On My Own - Live in NY
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:06
- Published: 10 Mar 2008
- Updated: 17 Oct 2012
from Patti Labelle Live in NY Concert
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_On_My_Own_Live_in_NY
Patti Labelle - You'll Never Walk Alone (LIVE) HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:29
- Published: 26 Nov 2010
- Updated: 18 Oct 2012
Here can be your advertisement. Apollo Theatre, New York City 4 May 1985 Composer : Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II This song is Christine Johnson cover
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_You'll_Never_Walk_Alone_LIVE_HD
Patti LaBelle - Natural Woman (Live 1993)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:52
- Published: 23 Nov 2011
- Updated: 03 Oct 2012
Patti LaBelle singing "Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin.
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_Natural_Woman_Live_1993
Patti LaBelle - When You've Been Blessed (Live)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:47
- Published: 16 Oct 2011
- Updated: 17 Oct 2012
UNCF 2011 ........... LaBelleObamafan4life is my channel also!!!
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_When_You've_Been_Blessed_Live
Patti Labelle @ Live Aid- "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" 1985
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:49
- Published: 15 Aug 2007
- Updated: 14 Oct 2012
Rare, Exclusive, LIVE AID 1985- "Somewhere Over The Rainbow;" witness Patti doing her thing like never before.
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_@_Live_Aid_Somewhere_Over_The_Rainbow_1985
Patti LaBelle Live Someone Like You
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:18
- Published: 25 Dec 2010
- Updated: 19 Sep 2012
The greatest live opening I've heard for Someone LIke You.
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_Live_Someone_Like_You
Got To Be Real - Mariah Carey & Patti Labelle (LIVE)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:26
- Published: 26 Jun 2008
- Updated: 16 Oct 2012
Mariah Carey Got To Be Real with Patti Labelle at live one night only patti labelle Mariah Carey Feat Patti Labelle !!! Got to Be Real !! Got To Be Real - Live at Patti Labelle Concert (1998)
http://wn.com/Got_To_Be_Real_Mariah_Carey_Patti_Labelle_LIVE
Patti Labelle - Isn't it a shame
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:56
- Published: 10 Mar 2007
- Updated: 16 Oct 2012
Patti Labelle - Isn't it a shame [Live Rainbow tour 1985]. Unotouchable! wwooww
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_Isn't_it_a_shame
Lady Marmalade Moulin Rouge LIVE with Patti Labelle Christina Aguilera Pink Mya Lil Kim
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:10
- Published: 11 Oct 2006
- Updated: 17 Oct 2012
twitter.com
http://wn.com/Lady_Marmalade_Moulin_Rouge_LIVE_with_Patti_Labelle_Christina_Aguilera_Pink_Mya_Lil_Kim
Forver Young - Patti Labelle - Live Aid
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:01
- Published: 26 Mar 2008
- Updated: 15 Oct 2012
Patti Labelle's fantastic take on Bob Dylans forever young at 1985's Live Aid!
http://wn.com/Forver_Young_Patti_Labelle_Live_Aid
Patti Labelle - Change is gonna come - Live one night only - HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:06
- Published: 31 Mar 2012
- Updated: 10 Oct 2012
Patti Labelle sings her version of the classic hit A change is gonna come. This version is a little jumpy may upload a different one in the next couple of days.
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_Change_is_gonna_come_Live_one_night_only_HD
Patti LaBelle!" Live One Night Only!" Pt.1/2!"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 33:18
- Published: 25 Aug 2012
- Updated: 18 Oct 2012
Patti LaBelle Live One Night Only!" 1998!" w/ Special Guest"""Mariah Carey & Luther Vandross!" I Believe!" When You Talk About Love!" Flame!" He Doesn't Love You!" New Attitude!" If You Asked Me To!" You Are My Friend!" Who's On The Lords Side!"
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle!_Live_One_Night_Only!_Pt1_2!
![Patti LaBelle When A Woman Loves / Interview [Live]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121026061008im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/J_CyqJYXa1k/0.jpg "Patti LaBelle When A Woman Loves / Interview [Live]")
Patti LaBelle When A Woman Loves / Interview [Live]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:47
- Published: 16 Feb 2011
- Updated: 07 Oct 2012
visit: www.mspattipattitv.com ***NEW FAN SITE LAUNCHED*** Also visit and join our FACEBOOK & TWITTER at www.facebook.com and twitter at www.twitter.com/mspattipattitv. New FAN SITE and You Tube TV Channel dedicated to Patti LaBelle Music and Memorabilia Collector's! Join Today! Thank you for subscribing for the most informative web site for Patti LaBelle Music, Videos, and Memorabilia! ! More videos are coming soon! Keep checking your email box weekly!
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_When_A_Woman_Loves_Interview_Live_
Patti Labelle- Greatest Live Vocal Moments (1/2)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:49
- Published: 15 Feb 2009
- Updated: 10 Oct 2012
Is there anybody else like her? I didn't think so.
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_Greatest_Live_Vocal_Moments_1_2
Patti LaBelle - Yo Mister Live
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:19
- Published: 22 Sep 2011
- Updated: 10 Oct 2012
Patti LaBelle - Yo Mister LIVE I think this is her the best performance of this song! ;) :)
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle_Yo_Mister_Live
Patti Labelle - Somebody Loves You Baby Live
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:54
- Published: 15 Aug 2007
- Updated: 15 Oct 2012
Patti Labelle blow Somebody Loves You Baby. Pure Magic. Patti is completely spontaneous and genius so fun to watch her improvisation in her songs ("I need my background singers, bring them up..."), at the end she bloooww with her untouchable vocals. 1991 perfomance live at Apollo Theatre. Thats what I call music, this is SOUL ... Patti simply wonderful!
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_Somebody_Loves_You_Baby_Live
Patti labelle - If you asked me too - Live one Night Only - HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:14
- Published: 21 Dec 2009
- Updated: 17 Sep 2012
Patti sings a stunning version of her classic hit 'if you asked me too.
http://wn.com/Patti_labelle_If_you_asked_me_too_Live_one_Night_Only_HD
New Attitude/Imagine - Patti Labelle - Live Aid
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:06
- Published: 25 Mar 2008
- Updated: 03 Oct 2012
Patti Labelle in Live Aid 1985 - This is video footage recorded from the original concert hense new attitdue is featured as it was not on the DVD.
http://wn.com/New_Attitude_Imagine_Patti_Labelle_Live_Aid
Patti Labelle Live (The Lords Prayer) 11/15/08
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:30
- Published: 20 Nov 2008
- Updated: 29 Jun 2012
This is Patti Labelle singing live at the Health Partners benefit on 11/15/08.
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_Live_The_Lords_Prayer_11_15_08
Patti Labelle - You are my Friend - Live one night Only - HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:20
- Published: 25 May 2009
- Updated: 17 Oct 2012
Patti Labelle sings you are my friend during the Live One Night Only tour back in 19XX
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_You_are_my_Friend_Live_one_night_Only_HD
Patti Labelle & El Debarge- "All This Love"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:29
- Published: 20 Mar 2007
- Updated: 26 Sep 2012
Patti Labelle and El Debarge sing his song, "All This Love," and they really vibe off of each other both physically and vocally. This is what LIVE AND RAW music is all about.
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle_El_Debarge_All_This_Love
Patti Labelle's Choir - LIVE on CLASH OF THE CHOIRS
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:13
- Published: 19 Dec 2007
- Updated: 24 Sep 2012
Patti Labelle's choir steals the show on NBCs Clash of the Choirs with this rendition of He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. This was the final performance from the first episode.
http://wn.com/Patti_Labelle's_Choir_LIVE_on_CLASH_OF_THE_CHOIRS
5:29
Patti Labelle - You'll Never Walk Alone (LIVE) HD
Here can be your advertisement. Apollo Theatre, New York City 4 May 1985 Composer : Richar...
published: 26 Nov 2010
Patti Labelle - You'll Never Walk Alone (LIVE) HD
Here can be your advertisement. Apollo Theatre, New York City 4 May 1985 Composer : Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II This song is Christine Johnson cover
published: 26 Nov 2010
author: AndranikAzizbekyan
2:52
Patti LaBelle - Natural Woman (Live 1993)
Patti LaBelle singing "Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin....
published: 23 Nov 2011
Patti LaBelle - Natural Woman (Live 1993)
Patti LaBelle singing "Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin.
published: 23 Nov 2011
author: QueenOldSkool
4:47
Patti LaBelle - When You've Been Blessed (Live)
UNCF 2011 ........... LaBelleObamafan4life is my channel also!!!...
published: 16 Oct 2011
Patti LaBelle - When You've Been Blessed (Live)
UNCF 2011 ........... LaBelleObamafan4life is my channel also!!!
published: 16 Oct 2011
author: QueenOldSkool
5:49
Patti Labelle @ Live Aid- "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" 1985
Rare, Exclusive, LIVE AID 1985- "Somewhere Over The Rainbow;" witness Patti doin...
published: 15 Aug 2007
Patti Labelle @ Live Aid- "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" 1985
Rare, Exclusive, LIVE AID 1985- "Somewhere Over The Rainbow;" witness Patti doing her thing like never before.
published: 15 Aug 2007
author: f5izbackagain
5:18
Patti LaBelle Live Someone Like You
The greatest live opening I've heard for Someone LIke You....
published: 25 Dec 2010
Patti LaBelle Live Someone Like You
The greatest live opening I've heard for Someone LIke You.
published: 25 Dec 2010
author: BigWhiteBoyLuvsPatti
3:26
Got To Be Real - Mariah Carey & Patti Labelle (LIVE)
Mariah Carey Got To Be Real with Patti Labelle at live one night only patti labelle Mariah...
published: 26 Jun 2008
Got To Be Real - Mariah Carey & Patti Labelle (LIVE)
Mariah Carey Got To Be Real with Patti Labelle at live one night only patti labelle Mariah Carey Feat Patti Labelle !!! Got to Be Real !! Got To Be Real - Live at Patti Labelle Concert (1998)
published: 26 Jun 2008
author: BiggestMariahfan
5:56
Patti Labelle - Isn't it a shame
Patti Labelle - Isn't it a shame [Live Rainbow tour 1985]. Unotouchable! wwooww...
published: 10 Mar 2007
Patti Labelle - Isn't it a shame
Patti Labelle - Isn't it a shame [Live Rainbow tour 1985]. Unotouchable! wwooww
published: 10 Mar 2007
author: golden0eye
6:01
Forver Young - Patti Labelle - Live Aid
Patti Labelle's fantastic take on Bob Dylans forever young at 1985's Live Aid!...
published: 26 Mar 2008
Forver Young - Patti Labelle - Live Aid
Patti Labelle's fantastic take on Bob Dylans forever young at 1985's Live Aid!
published: 26 Mar 2008
author: Rik Ramsden
4:06
Patti Labelle - Change is gonna come - Live one night only - HD
Patti Labelle sings her version of the classic hit A change is gonna come. This version is...
published: 31 Mar 2012
Patti Labelle - Change is gonna come - Live one night only - HD
Patti Labelle sings her version of the classic hit A change is gonna come. This version is a little jumpy may upload a different one in the next couple of days.
published: 31 Mar 2012
author: Rik Ramsden
33:18
Patti LaBelle!" Live One Night Only!" Pt.1/2!"
Patti LaBelle Live One Night Only!" 1998!" w/ Special Guest"""Mar...
published: 25 Aug 2012
Patti LaBelle!" Live One Night Only!" Pt.1/2!"
Patti LaBelle Live One Night Only!" 1998!" w/ Special Guest"""Mariah Carey & Luther Vandross!" I Believe!" When You Talk About Love!" Flame!" He Doesn't Love You!" New Attitude!" If You Asked Me To!" You Are My Friend!" Who's On The Lords Side!"
published: 25 Aug 2012
author: MsQueenPattiTv
10:47
Patti LaBelle When A Woman Loves / Interview [Live]
visit: www.mspattipattitv.com ***NEW FAN SITE LAUNCHED*** Also visit and join our FACEBOOK...
published: 16 Feb 2011
Patti LaBelle When A Woman Loves / Interview [Live]
visit: www.mspattipattitv.com ***NEW FAN SITE LAUNCHED*** Also visit and join our FACEBOOK & TWITTER at www.facebook.com and twitter at www.twitter.com/mspattipattitv. New FAN SITE and You Tube TV Channel dedicated to Patti LaBelle Music and Memorabilia Collector's! Join Today! Thank you for subscribing for the most informative web site for Patti LaBelle Music, Videos, and Memorabilia! ! More videos are coming soon! Keep checking your email box weekly!
published: 16 Feb 2011
author: MsPattiPattiTV
Vimeo results:
3:51
CONGRATULATIONS, LADY GAGA!
Stephen Gan and Nicola Formichetti surprised Lady Gaga with a secret performance by the le...
published: 10 Jun 2011
Author: V Magazine
CONGRATULATIONS, LADY GAGA!
Stephen Gan and Nicola Formichetti surprised Lady Gaga with a secret performance by the legendary Patti Labelle at the Top of the Standard, in celebration of Gaga’s CFDA Icon Award.
2:27
How to Invite people to Grace Compass Church?
Grace Compass Church
7 Steps to More Spiritual Conversations
Here is what I do to engage ...
published: 27 Apr 2009
Author: Grace Compass Church
How to Invite people to Grace Compass Church?
Grace Compass Church
7 Steps to More Spiritual Conversations
Here is what I do to engage people in a spiritual conversation:
1. Make it a priority. Be intentional
2. Pray for the opportunities.
3. Get out into the community.
4. Cultivate relationships.
5. Learn to ask good questions.
6. Look for God’s work in people.
7. Guard your heart.
Effective Evangelism Training
Power of the Holy Spirit emphasizes learning God’s vision for evangelism, and developing a passion for personal evangelism. This evangelism conference also seeks to develop practical evangelism skills in cooperating with the Holy Spirit.
The course uses a lot of the principles we teach about cooperating with the Holy Spirit and conversational evangelism, based on Phillip and Ethiopian Eunuch.
Phillip And The Ethiopian Eunuch
By EvangelismCoach • April 24, 2007
Acts Conversions
Let’s look at an “easy conversion,” that of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts Chapter 8.
This conversion was as simple as picking a ripe mango ready to fall from a tree.
It’s not so much about the Eunuch as it is about Phillip being God’s tool to help the man come to faith.
The fruit is ready
The Fruit is Ready
These are the kinds of evangelistic conversations I love because a person has been prepared by the Lord to this point, and I get to be the one God uses to bring that person into the kingdom.
It reminds me that God is the Evangelist, that the Holy Spirit goes before us to prepare the way, and that when we are obedient to His promptings, the Lord can use us.
The passage: Acts 8:26-40.
Phillip had been directed by the Lord to go on a scavenger hunt. “Go to the south road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
Phillip was then prompted to go and stand near a chariot that was on the road.
Phillip hears a man reading a particular passage from the book of Isaiah.
Phillip asks if he understands.
The man’s response: “How can I unless someone explains it to me? Please tell me who the prophet is talking about.”
Phillip began there and told him the good news about Jesus. The eunuch believed, he took baptism, and went on his way rejoicing, never to see Phillip again.
Reflections:
A seeker:
We know from the text what Phillip didn’t know at first. This man had been coming from Jerusalem, where he had been to worship God. Phillip didn’t know him, but found a man reading out loud from the Old Testament.
This man shows all the signs of one who is spiritualy thirsty.
• He had reworked his schedule to go to Jerusalem on his own.
• He was reading from the Scripture.
• He wanted somebody to explain what he was reading.
• He was willing to search for the truth.
• He was willing to understand.
This man was hungry for the things of God. He was spiritually thirsty. Prepared by God.
All he needed was a person to help explain.
An evangelist.
The Lord used an obedient Phillip to help this man into the kingdom.
Both sides always balance
God worked both sides of the equation, so to speak, putting Phillip and the spiritualy thirsty eunuch in the same place at the same time. This positioning is the Role of the Holy Spirit in Evangelism.
All Phillip had to do in this encounter with a stranger was to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, Phillip got to work with God.
Phillip didn’t
• need to pry open a hard heart like a can of beans.
• have to waste hours of conversation about the existence of God.
• need to get the Eunuch to the starting point of a Gospel Script
All the talk in the world could not replace the work of God that prepared the eunuch ahead of time.
Luke on summarizes the conversation as “the good news about Jesus”. This was not a Scripted Evangelism Conversation.
So what?
For one brief afternoon, the stories of these two strangers intersected. Phillip was doing his ordinary routine when the Lord prompted him to go to specific place. The eunuch was simply going home after a pilgrimage.
But at one moment, their paths crossed and one man’s destiny was changed.
It is my desire that you spend time asking “God where are you at work?” It’s much easier to cooperate with God’s activity, rather than wasting hours of argument prying open a locked heart.
The key is that Phillip noticed “THAT” Chariot. God underlined the chariot and Phillip positioned himself.
We know that God’s Spirit is at work in us as believers, training us, teaching us, and transforming us.
But, I also want to point out how the Holy Spirit prepares the way for evangelism to occur naturally.
Consider Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Clearly the Spirit of God was at work in the life of the Eunuch.
• He had gone to Jerusalem to worship.
• He was reading Scripture.
• He wanted someone to explain Scripture to him.
The eunuch had a spiritual thirst, created by the Holy Spirit, and he was busy searching to slake that thirst. He was like the merchant looking for the fine pearl.
Easy Conversati
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Lady Marmalade (Patti Labelle)
published: 18 Apr 2011
Author: Karaoke Jukebox Live
Lady Marmalade (Patti Labelle)
Youtube results:
2:19
Patti LaBelle - Yo Mister Live
Patti LaBelle - Yo Mister LIVE I think this is her the best performance of this song! ;) :...
published: 22 Sep 2011
Patti LaBelle - Yo Mister Live
Patti LaBelle - Yo Mister LIVE I think this is her the best performance of this song! ;) :)
published: 22 Sep 2011
author: CHARMEDAK
5:54
Patti Labelle - Somebody Loves You Baby Live
Patti Labelle blow Somebody Loves You Baby. Pure Magic. Patti is completely spontaneous an...
published: 15 Aug 2007
Patti Labelle - Somebody Loves You Baby Live
Patti Labelle blow Somebody Loves You Baby. Pure Magic. Patti is completely spontaneous and genius so fun to watch her improvisation in her songs ("I need my background singers, bring them up..."), at the end she bloooww with her untouchable vocals. 1991 perfomance live at Apollo Theatre. Thats what I call music, this is SOUL ... Patti simply wonderful!
published: 15 Aug 2007
author: puresoulvoice
3:14
Patti labelle - If you asked me too - Live one Night Only - HD
Patti sings a stunning version of her classic hit 'if you asked me too....
published: 21 Dec 2009
Patti labelle - If you asked me too - Live one Night Only - HD
Patti sings a stunning version of her classic hit 'if you asked me too.
published: 21 Dec 2009
author: Rik Ramsden
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WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
WN / Aaron Gilbert
Photo: White House / Pete Souza
24 Oct 2012
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25 Oct 2012
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Photo: AP / Collin Reid
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Photo: AP
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C.J.
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Star Tribune
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The Examiner
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The Examiner
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Meningitis outbreak prompts FDA warnings
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Signon San Diego
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Cow pats are fast food for cane toads
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Volleyball's second season
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my SA
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| Patti LaBelle | |
|---|---|
.jpg) LaBelle in Zang Toi at The Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection Fashion Show, 2011 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Patricia Louise Holte |
| Also known as | Patricia Edwards |
| Born | (1944-05-24) May 24, 1944 (age 68) |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Genres | R&B, soul, pop, soft rock, gospel |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, actress |
| Years active | 1958–present |
| Labels | Epic, Philadelphia Int'l, MCA, Def Soul Classics, Umbrella, Bungalo |
| Associated acts | Labelle, Michael McDonald, Mary J. Blige |
| Website | pattilabelle.com |
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards (born May 24, 1944), better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry. LaBelle spent 16 years as lead singer of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, who changed their name to Labelle in the early 1970s and released the iconic disco song, "Lady Marmalade".
LaBelle started her solo career shortly after the group disbanded in 1977 and crossed over to pop music with "On My Own", "If Only You Knew", "If You Asked Me To", "Stir It Up" and "New Attitude". She has also recorded R&B ballads such as "You Are My Friend" and "Love, Need and Want You".[1]
LaBelle possesses the vocal range of a soprano.[2]
Contents |
Biography[link]
Early years[link]
Patricia Louise Holte was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 24, 1944 . Her father, Henry Holte (alternatively, Holt),[3] was a railroad worker and lounge singer. Her mother, Bertha Holte, was a domestic and housewife. Holte was one of four daughters (Vivian, Barbara, Patricia and Jacqueline). Holte recalls having a happy childhood but said being sexually molested at the age of seven led her to be shy and withdrawn. Holte's parents had an unhappy marriage. When Holte was twelve, her parents split up and Bertha Holte raised her daughters as a single mother. Holte's mother later adopted Claudette Grant, who would become one of Holte's closest friends.
Despite her shyness, Holte was known for her gifted voice even as a child. After first joining her church choir at ten, she sung her first solo at the Beulah Baptist Church at the age of twelve. Growing up, Holte listened not only to gospel, but jazz and rhythm and blues. By her teens, "Patsy", as friends and family called her, also began listening to doo-wop and was encouraged to form a girl group in the late fifties. In 1958, she formed The Ordettes with three other friends. The following year, when two members of the group dropped out, singers Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, from a former rival group, joined them. Eventually with Cindy Birdsong included in the lineup by 1961 and with respected music impresario Bernard Montague managing them, the group gained a reputation around Philadelphia and soon caught the eye of a record scout, who introduced them to Newtown Records president Harold Robinson.
After hearing Holte's voice during an audition, Robinson, who nearly ditched the group due to their looks - he allegedly thought Holte was "too plain and dark" to lead a singing group, agreed to sign the group, renaming them The Blue Belles (the name would simply be "The Bluebelles" by the mid-1960s), after a Newtown subsidiary label.
Early career[link]
Not long after signing, the group was credited for the hit single, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman", though the song was recorded by another girl group, the Chicago-based The Starlets. This led to a. lawsuit by a manager of the group and its record label boss, later resulting in the group winning $5,000 in damages. "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" eventually reached the Billboard top 20. Despite this credited success, the group could not follow up with any other hit. The Blue Belles supported themselves by constantly touring including an appearance at the Apollo Theater.
In 1963, a record label executive sued Harold Robinson for use of the name "Blue Belles", since another group was using the name. As a result, Robinson gave Holte the nickname, Patti La Belle (La Belle is French for "the beautiful one") and the group's name was altered to "Patti La Belle and Her Blue Belles". A year later, the group left Newtown switching over to Cameo-Parkway Records. Their first hit for Cameo-Parkway was the top 40 hit, "Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)". Their follow-ups included "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Danny Boy".
In 1965, Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun signed the group to the label, working with the group for a year. The group issued their first studio album (as Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles) titled Somewhere Over the Rainbow in 1966. While they had a modest pop charted hit with "All or Nothing" and its b-side, a pop cover of Judy Garland's "Over The Rainbow", the group was not as successful as the label predicted. In 1967, their second release, Dreamer, issued two singles, "Take Me For A Little While" and the Curtis Mayfield standard, "I'm Still Waiting". In the mid of touring for that album, Cindy Birdsong suddenly left the group to join The Supremes after replacing Florence Ballard. The remaining trio of LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash struggled with subsequent recordings and by 1970, Atlantic had dropped the group from its roster, as had longtime manager Bernard Montague, who had by now focused his full energy on more successful Philly groups such as The Delfonics and The Stylistics.
After almost signing a management deal with Frankie Crocker and Herb Hamlett, the group settled on British manager Vicki Wickham (producer of the UK pop show, Ready, Steady, Go!) after Dusty Springfield had mentioned signing them. Wickham advised the group to perform in London and work on a brand new image and sound. LaBelle would later have disagreements with Wickham over changes often saying in interviews that she liked things the way they were. This led to some musical disagreements between LaBelle and Nona Hendryx.
Labelle[link]
Main article: Labelle
In late 1970, the group returned to the U.S. changing their name to Labelle and signing a contract with Warner Bros imprint, Track Records. Wickham then had the group open for rock group The Who. In mid-1971, the group released their Warner debut, Labelle. The record mixed harder-edged soul music with rock music elements, a marked departure from the pop sound of the Blue Belles. The album failed to catch on, as did their 1972 follow-up, Moon Shadow. The group, however, did find success singing alongside Laura Nyro on her acclaimed album, Gonna Take a Miracle. The group would tour with Nyro off and on for the next couple of years.
In 1973, Wickham had the group signed to RCA Records, in Chicago where they recorded the Pressure Cookin' album. In the middle of recording, LaBelle gave birth to her only child, Zuri. While promoting the album opening for The Rolling Stones, Wickham advised the group to adapt the same flamboyant costumes of rock artists such as T. Rex, Elton John and David Bowie. Soon, their own stage entrances started to take a life on its own, at one point the group members flew into the concert stage, while singing. Despite this change in direction, their third album failed to become a success. However, a scout for Epic Records advised the group to sign with them in 1974 at the end of the Rolling Stones tour.
Later that year, Labelle issued their most acclaimed album, Nightbirds. In October 1974, the group made history by becoming the first pop group to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House.[4] In late December, Epic issued the single, "Lady Marmalade". Within six months, the record became a smash and reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, the group's first to do so. This helped their album sell over a million copies. Their fame was so massive during this time that they made the cover of Rolling Stone later in 1975.
Later in 1975, the group issued their follow-up, Phoenix, which did not quite catch on as fast though it was critically raved. They had a little more success with the Chameleon album in 1976, with the songs, "Get You Somebody New" and "Isn't It A Shame", the latter song Patti LaBelle would say was "the last record we ever did together". Despite her success, LaBelle was not pleased at the group's direction and by late 1976, neither LaBelle, Dash nor Hendryx could agree on a musical direction. Following a concert in Baltimore in December 1976, LaBelle advised the others to break up.
Solo career[link]
LaBelle released her self-titled album in 1977 on Epic. The record was a critical success, with the highlights being the dance singles, "Joy To Have Your Love" and "Dan Swit Me" and the pop-R&B ballad, "You Are My Friend", a song she and her husband co-wrote. Her subsequent follow-ups, however, 1978's Tasty, 1979's It's Alright with Me and 1980's Released, failed to be as successful. Though well-established in some circles, LaBelle never follow her live performance success with hit records, which was often the case with the Bluebelles. In 1981, she was switched to the CBS subsidiary, Philadelphia International Records, issuing the album, The Spirit's In It.
LaBelle found success outside music, performing in the Broadway revival of Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God, with Al Green. However, the play was criticized mainly because of what critics felt was vocal showboating by Green and LaBelle, criticism that LaBelle did not take lightly. In 1982, she recorded the Grover Washington ballad, "The Best Is Yet To Come", which led to her first top 20 R&B hit and her first Grammy nomination in the spring of 1983. Later that year, LaBelle appeared in the PBS-produced play, Working. In October 1983, the mid-tempo love song, "If Only You Knew", was released. The parent album, I'm In Love Again, was released the following month. In January 1984, "If Only You Knew" reached number-one on the Hot R&B Singles chart, where it stayed for four weeks. The song became LaBelle's first charted hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist, reaching the lower regions of the top fifty, peaking at number 46. The success of that single and its similar-sounding follow-up, "Love, Need and Want You", which reached number ten on the R&B chart, helped I'm in Love Again, reached gold in the U.S.
Later in 1984, LaBelle appeared in her first film, A Soldier's Story. Her appearance in the film later led to Steven Spielberg handpicking her for the role of Shug Avery on The Color Purple, but she turned it down due to hearing that there was a nude scene and same-sex kissing. LaBelle would later regret her decision to turn down the role, after Margaret Avery won an Academy Award nomination for her role as Shug. In the fall of 1984, LaBelle recorded the songs, "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up", later issued for the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop, released in December 1984. The soundtrack became a hit, thanks to the releases of "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up". The former single reached as high as number seventeen on the Hot 100 and was number-one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the spring of 1985, introducing LaBelle to pop audiences. In 1985, LaBelle left Philadelphia International signing a lucrative contract with MCA. PIR issued the final contractual LaBelle album, Patti. The album was not successful.
LaBelle garnered headlines in 1985 for her showstopping performances, first at Motown Returns to the Apollo where she opened the show with Joe Cocker singing You Are So Beautiful in which she received very high praise. In the same show she engaged in the so-called "infamous mic toss" between her and Diana Ross during the show's finale, to the Foreigner song, "I Want to Know What Love Is". LaBelle later alleged that Ross grabbed the microphone away from LaBelle following her taking over the lead, though someone else gave LaBelle another microphone where she finished singing. That same year, LaBelle was accused again of showboating, after singing in the finale of Live Aid to "We Are the World" so loud that she sounded as the only audible singer. Due to this press, she was given her own television special later that fall. Because of these performance Patti gained even more mainstream popularity and it showed in 1986 when LaBelle released her eighth album, Winner in You, which peaked at number-one on the Billboard 200 on the strength of the pop hit, "On My Own", a duet with singer Michael McDonald. The song became LaBelle's first number-one hit since "Lady Marmalade" and her highest selling album. Winner in You eventually sold a million copies, becoming platinum. It remains her best-selling album. LaBelle took a break in 1988, re-emerging with Be Yourself, in 1989. The album went gold thanks to LaBelle's soft rock ballad, "If You Asked Me To" which also was the song for the final credits in the James Bond film License to Kill. In 1989, LaBelle also sang the role of "the Acid Queen" in The Who's star-studded performance of TOMMY in Los Angeles.
Her 1991 album, Burnin', resulted in LaBelle's first Grammy win for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and spawned three top ten hits on Billboard's R&B chart also selling half a million copies becoming her third gold album. Her 1994 album, Gems and 1997 follow-up, Flame, also were certified gold and LaBelle's 1990s singles, "The Right Kinda Lover" and "When You Talk About Love" hit number-one on the dance charts. She won a second Grammy in 1998 for her live album, One Night Only! Following the announcement of the end of her marriage to her husband, Armstead Edwards, who also dismissed himself as LaBelle's manager after more than 20 years, LaBelle released the ballad-heavy When A Woman Loves album in 2000. LaBelle would not release another album until, after signing with the Def Jam Records imprint, Def Soul Classics, she released Timeless Journey, in 2004. The album became her highest-charted album in eighteen years. In 2005 a follow-up album, Classic Moments, was released. Shortly after LaBelle left Def Jam Records in 2006 over a public dispute with Antonio "L.A." Reid.[5] She released her first gospel album, The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle,which was #1 on the gospel billboard charts[6] on the Bungalo label. She returned to Def Jam in 2007 and released her second holiday album, Miss Patti's Christmas. As of 2011, LaBelle has yet to release a new solo album. In 2008, LaBelle briefly reunited with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash as Labelle on the group's first new album in over thirty years, Back to Now.
Following her roles in A Soldier's Story and Sing, LaBelle won a recurring role as Kadeem Hardison's mother on the hit show, A Different World. In 1992, following her success on the sitcom and responding to the success of rapper Will Smith's Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, LaBelle starred in her own sitcom, Out All Night. The show was cancelled after only 19 episodes. In 1993, she earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and two years afterwards, performed at the Super Bowl half time show. For a period, LaBelle's theme song for The Oprah Winfrey Show, titled "Get With the Program", proved to be popular along with its catchphrase. In 2003, she starred in her own lifestyle show, Livin' It Up With Patti LaBelle, which aired for three years on the TV-One channel. In 1996, LaBelle issued her autobiography, Don't Block the Blessings. She released her first of five cookbooks in 1997, and in 2006, released the book, Patti's Pearls. In addition, LaBelle began to sell collections of spices, lipstick and even wigs on her website. Her "Patti Labelle"wig collection,-featured in Especially Yours wig catalogs-.
On September 14, 2010, LaBelle made a return two decades after her last Broadway performance to star in the award-winning musical Fela![7] about Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. LaBelle replaced Tony Award-nominee Lillias White as Fela's mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, and remained with the production through the end of its run on January 2, 2011.[8]
On May 23, 2011, LaBelle appeared on "Oprah's Farewell Spectacular, Part 1” the first show in a series of three shows constituting the finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show, singing "Over the Rainbow" with Josh Groban.[9]
LaBelle was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards on June 26, 2011.[10]
She performed for Obama at the 9/11 tribute, singing "Two Steps Away." She received a standing ovation, after she walked away from the microphone and continued to be heard.
On December 21, 2011, she appeared on an episode of the Bravo television series Top Chef, surprising the ten remaining chefs after their "Quickfire" challenge. A shortened version of Lady Marmalade was in the broadcast, which was filmed in Austin, Texas. She then served as a guest judge on the episode.
On January 2, 2012, she performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the NHL Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers at Citizens Bank Park.[11]
Patti LaBelle Honored Mariah Carey singing Carey's Hit Hero at the 2012 BET Honors.
Personal life[link]
A longtime resident of Philadelphia, LaBelle currently lives in the Philadelphia suburb, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. In 1969, she married Armstead Edwards. In July 1973, their first and only child, Zuri Kye Edwards, was born. In the late 1970s, Labelle and Edwards adopted two teenage boys, Stanley and Todd, the children of their next-door neighbor, after their mother died of cancer. Following the death of her youngest sister Jackie Padgett, Labelle raised Padgett's teenage children. Following the disbanding of the group Labelle in 1976, Edwards, who was a schoolteacher, took over as his wife's manager. In 2000, the couple announced their separation. Their divorce was finalized in 2001. LaBelle's son Zuri has since taken over as her manager.
Her youngest sister Jackie Padgett became president of her sister's fan club in the early 1980s. When Jackie later died of lung cancer in 1989, LaBelle dedicated her 1991 album, Burnin', to Padgett and filmed the video for "If You Asked Me To" a day after her funeral. Her two other sisters, Vivian and Barbara preceded Jackie in death, dying of cancer themselves. LaBelle was diagnosed with diabetes in 1995. Prior to her marriage to Edwards, LaBelle was once engaged to Temptations singer Otis Williams breaking it off due to conflicting schedules.
In June 2011 a West Point cadet filed civil suit against LaBelle after he was allegedly assaulted by her bodyguards at Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston in March.[12] Houston police department is reviewing the conduct of officers responding to the incident after they posed for photographs with the singer,[13][14] and have also filed assault charges against members of her entourage and warrants were issued.[15] In August 2011, the cadet, who had initially been suspended from West Point for his involvement in the altercation, was allowed back in West Point. LaBelle has countersued alleging the cadet was drunk and using racial slurs.[16]
In November 2011, LaBelle was sued by a woman named Roseanna Monk, from New York, after LaBelle allegedly hurled insults at her for allowing her then 18-month-old daughter to walk steps away from her at an apartment lobby where LaBelle was renting during her appearance on Fela! in November 2010. According to the lawsuit, after Monk reportedly told LaBelle it was none of her business as to why the child was "scampering", she allegedly threw water at Monk and her child.[17]
Discography[link]
Main article: Patti LaBelle discography
Awards[link]
Grammys[link]
| Patti LaBelle Grammy Award history | ||||
| Year | Category | Title | Genre | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | "New Day" | R&B | Nominee |
| 2003 | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | "Way Up There" | R&B | Nominee |
| 2003 | Grammy Hall of Fame | "Lady Marmalade" | R&B | Inducted |
| 1998 | Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | Live! One Night Only | R&B | Winner |
| 1997 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "When You Talk About Love" | R&B | Nominee |
| Best R&B Album | Flame | R&B | Nominee | |
| 1993 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "All Right Now (live)" | R&B | Nominee |
| 1991 | Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | "Superwoman" (with Gladys Knight & Dionne Warwick) | R&B | Nominee |
| Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | Burnin' | R&B | Winner | |
| 1990 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "I Can't Complain" | R&B | Nominee |
| 1986 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | Winner in You | R&B | Nominee |
| Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | "On My Own" (with Michael McDonald) | Pop | Nominee | |
| 1985 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "New Attitude" | R&B | Nominee |
| 1983 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "The Best Is Yet to Come" | R&B | Nominee |
Other[link]
| Year | Category | Title | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Lifetime Achievement Award | BET Awards | Winner | |
| 2009 | Legends Hall of Fame | Apollo Theater | Winner | |
| 2009 | UNCF Award of Excellence | UNCF Evening of Stars | Winner | |
| 2008 | Legend Award | World Music Awards | Winner | |
| 2006 | Outstanding Actress - Television, Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special | NAACP Image Awards | Winner | Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy |
| 2006 | Outstanding Gospel Artist | NAACP Image Awards | Nominee | |
| 2004 | Outstanding Female Artist | NAACP Image Awards | Nominee | |
| 2003 | Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award | Songwriter's Hall of Fame | Winner | |
| 2001 | Walk of Fame Award | BET Walk of Fame | Winner | |
| 2001 | Lena Horne Lifetime Achievement Award | Lady of Soul Awards | Winner | |
| 1998 | Triumphant Spirit Award - Career Achievement | The Essence Awards | Winner | |
| 1998 | Outstanding Performance - Variety Series/Special | NAACP Image Awards | Winner | Live! One Night Only |
| 1996 | Outstanding Performance - Variety Series/Special | NAACP Image Awards | Winner | The Essence Awards |
| 1995 | Heritage Award - Career Achievement | Soul Train Music Awards | Winner | |
| 1992 | Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist | American Music Awards | Winner | |
| 1986 | Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist | American Music Awards | Nominee | |
| 1986 | Outstanding Individual Performance, Variety or Music Program | Emmy Awards | Nominee | Sylvia Fine Kaye's Musical Comedy Tonight III |
Tours[link]
- 1985: Look To The Rainbow Tour
- 1986-1987: Winner In You Tour
- 1989-1990: Be Yourself Tour
- 1991: Burnin' Tour
- 1993: Still Patti Tour
- 1995: Gems Tour
- 1997-1998: Flame Tour
- 2000: When a Woman Loves Tour
- 2005: Timeless Journey Tour
- 2006: Classic Moments Tour
- 2008: Divas with Heart Tour (w/Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight and Diana Ross)
- 2008/2009: Back to Now Tour (w/Labelle)
Filmography[link]
- Film
- 1979: Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (documentary) (scenes deleted)
- 1984: A Soldier's Story
- 1986: Unnatural Causes
- 1989: Sing
- 1990: A Different World
- 2002: Sylvester: Mighty Real (short subject)
- 2005: Preaching to the Choir
- 2006: Idlewild
- 2007: Cover
- 2008: Semi-Pro
- 2011: Mama, I Want to Sing!
- Television
- 1990: A Different World
- 1992: Out All Night
- 1994: The Nanny
- 1997: Cosby
- 2003: Living It Up With Patti LaBelle
- 2007: The Dog Whisperer
- 2008: An Evening With The Stars: A Tribute to Patti Labelle
- 2011: Oprah`s Farewell Season
- 2011: UNCF: An Evening of Stars "When You've Been Blessed"
- 2011: Top Chef, Season 9: Texas, Episode 8
- Music video
- Going Home to Gospel with Patti Labelle (1991) with Albertina Walker, Barrett Sisters, Ricky Dillard and many more.
See also[link]
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
References[link]
- ^ "Patti LaBelle - Vocal Profile". http://www.divadevotee.com/2010/12/patti-labelle-vocal-profile-range.html.
- ^ Tricker, Spencer (22 July 2008). "Patti LaBelle: The Essential Patti La Belle / Live In Washington D.C.". Popmatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/patti-labelle-the-essential-patti-la-belle-live-in-washington-dc/. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
- ^ "Patti LaBelle Biography (1944-)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/41/Patti-LaBelle.html. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ^ "Musician Guide Biography: Patti LaBelle". http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003882/Patti-LaBelle.html. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ "PATTI LABELLE VS. ANTONIO 'LA' REID: Did mogul pull artists out of her all-star birthday celebration?". EURweb. October 18, 2005. http://www.eurweb.com/printable.cfm?id=22939.
- ^ Campbell, Dwayne (December 15, 2006). "Patti LaBelle's first gospel album recalls her Baptist roots". The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/news/article/8997/patti-labelles-first-gospel-album-recalls-her-baptist-roots/.
- ^ "Renowned Multiple Grammy Award-Winner Patti Labelle Joins Cast Of Award-Winning Broadway Musical Fela!". Fusemix.com. http://fusemix.com/en/the-leak/1539-renowned-multiple-grammy-award-winner-patti-labelle-joins-cast-of-award-winning-broadway-musical-fela. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ^ "Patti LaBelle Will Step into Fela! in September; Musical to Close in January". Playbill.com. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/142039-Patti-LaBelle-Will-Step-into-Fela-in-September-Musical-to-Close-in-January. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ^ "Josh Groban and Patti LaBelle's Duet - Oprah's Farewell Spectacular". Oprah.com. 2011-05-23. http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Star-Studded-Moments-from-Oprahs-Surprise-Farewell-Part-1/5. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Kimelman, Adam (January 2, 2012). "Legendary performer LaBelle ready for anthem first". NHL.com. National Hockey League. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=609417. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ Turner, Allen (4 June 2011). "HPD looking into LaBelle airport altercation". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7594731.html. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
- ^ "ABC News". Patti LaBelle Sued By West Pointer Over Guard Attack. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/patti-labelle-sued-west-point-cadet-houston-airport/story?id=13752701. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
- ^ Patti LaBelle sued over Houston scuffle UPI. Published: June 5, 2011
- ^ Glenn, Mike (2011-07-08). "2 LaBelle employees charged in Bush airport fracas". Houston Chronicle (Houston Chronicle). http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7645515.html. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
- ^ "West Point Cadet Who Sued Patti LaBelle Reinstated". Foxnews.com. 2010-04-07. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/08/19/west-point-cadet-who-sued-patti-labelle-reinstated/. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ^ "LaBelle threw water at tot in NYC lobby". 2011-11-13. http://news.yahoo.com/lawsuit-labelle-threw-water-tot-nyc-lobby-235912136.html. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
Further reading[link]
- Labelle, Patti and Randolph, Laura B. (March 1997). Don't Block the Blessings. Thorndike Press. p. 200.
External links[link]
- Official website
- Patti LaBelle at Allmusic
- Patti LaBelle at the Internet Movie Database
- Patti LaBelle at the Internet Broadway Database
- Official FELA! Broadway website
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| Persondata | |
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| Name | Labelle, Patti |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | May 24, 1944 |
| Place of birth | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Patti_LaBelle
Related pages:
http://fr.wn.com/Patti LaBelle
http://nl.wn.com/Patti LaBelle
http://pt.wn.com/Patti LaBelle
http://de.wn.com/Patti LaBelle
http://it.wn.com/Patti LaBelle
http://pl.wn.com/Patti LaBelle
http://cs.wn.com/Patti LaBelle
http://id.wn.com/Patti LaBelle
http://es.wn.com/Patti Labelle
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_LaBelle
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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| Lena Horne | |
|---|---|
 Horne in her stage show, Nine O'Clock Revue, 1961. |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Lena Mary Calhoun Horne |
| Born | (1917-06-30)June 30, 1917 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | May 9, 2010(2010-05-09) (aged 92) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Broadway, traditional pop, vocal jazz |
| Occupations | Singer, dancer, actress, civil rights activist, recording artists |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1933–2000 |
| Labels | MGM, RCA Victor, United Artists, Blue Note, Qwest/Warner Bros. Records |
| Associated acts | Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, Judy Garland, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis, Jr., Barbra Streisand, Teddy Wilson |
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.
Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather. Due to the Red Scare and her left-leaning political views, Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood.[1]
Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne took part in the March on Washington in August 1963, and continued to work as a performer, both in nightclubs and on television, while releasing well-received record albums. She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway and earned her numerous awards and accolades. She continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, disappearing from the public eye in 2000.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Horne was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.[1] Reported to be descended from the John C. Calhoun family, both sides of her family were a mixture of European American, Native American, and African American descent, and each belonged to what W. E. B. Du Bois called "The Talented Tenth", the upper stratum of middle-class, well-educated blacks, some of whom were mixed race.[2][3]
Her father, Edwin Fletcher "Teddy" Horne, Jr. (1892–1970),[4][5] a numbers kingpin in the gambling trade, left the family when she was three and moved to an upper-middle-class black community in the Hill District community of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[6][7] Her mother, Edna Louise Scottron (1895–1985), daughter of inventor Samuel R. Scottron, was an actress with a black theatre troupe and traveled extensively. Scottron's maternal grandmother, Amelie Louise Ashton, was a Senegalese slave.[8] Lena Horne was mainly raised by her grandparents, Cora Calhoun and Edwin Horne.[5]
When Horne was five, she was sent to live in Georgia.[9] For several years, she traveled with her mother.[10] From 1927 to 1929 she lived with her uncle, Frank S. Horne, who was dean of students at Fort Valley Junior Industrial Institute in Fort Valley, Georgia [10] and who would later become an adviser to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.[11]
From Fort Valley, southwest of Macon, Horne briefly moved to Atlanta with her mother; they returned to New York when Horne was 12 years old.[10] She then attended Girls High School, an all-girls public high school in Brooklyn which has since become Boys and Girls High School; she dropped out without earning a diploma. Aged 18, she moved in with her father in Pittsburgh, staying in the city's Little Harlem for almost five years and learning from native Pittsburghers Billy Strayhorn and Billy Eckstine, among others.[12]
Career[link]
Road to Hollywood[link]
In the fall of 1933, Horne joined the chorus line of the Cotton Club in New York City. In the spring of 1934, she had a featured role in the Cotton Club Parade starring Adelaide Hall who took Lena under her wing. A few years later she joined Noble Sissle's Orchestra, with which she toured and with whom she recorded her first record release, a 78rpm single issued by Decca Records. After she separated from her first husband, Horne toured with bandleader Charlie Barnet in 1940–41, but disliked the travel and left the band to work at the Café Society in New York. She replaced Dinah Shore as the featured vocalist on NBC's popular jazz series The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. The show's resident maestros, Henry Levine and Paul Laval, recorded with Horne in June 1941 for RCA Victor. Horne left the show after only six months to headline a nightclub revue on the West Coast, and was replaced by Linda Keene.[citation needed]
Horne already had two low-budget movies to her credit: a 1938 musical feature called The Duke is Tops (later reissued with Horne's name above the title as The Bronze Venus); and a 1941 two-reel short subject, Boogie Woogie Dream, featuring pianists Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons. Horne's songs from Boogie Woogie Dream were later released individually as soundies. Horne was primarily a nightclub performer during this period, and it was during a 1943 club engagement in Hollywood that talent scouts approached Horne to work in pictures. She chose Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and became the first black performer to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio. November 1944 she was featured in an episode of the popular radio series, Suspense, as a fictional nightclub singer, with a large speaking role along with her singing. In 1945 and 1946 she sang with Billy Eckstine's Orchestra.
She made her debut with MGM in Panama Hattie (1942) and performed the title song of Stormy Weather based loosely on the life of Adelaide Hall, (1943), which she made at 20th Century Fox, on loan from MGM. She appeared in a number of MGM musicals, most notably Cabin in the Sky (also 1943), but was never featured in a leading role because of her race and the fact that films featuring her had to be re-edited for showing in states where theaters could not show films with black performers. As a result, most of Horne's film appearances were stand-alone sequences that had no bearing on the rest of the film, so editing caused no disruption to the storyline; a notable exception was the all-black musical Cabin in the Sky, although one number was cut because it was considered too suggestive by the censors. "Ain't it the Truth" was the song (and scene) cut before the release of the film Cabin in the Sky. It featured Horne singing "Ain't it the Truth", while taking a bubble bath (considered too "risqué" by the film's executives). This scene and song are featured in the film That's Entertainment! III (1994) which also featured commentary from Horne on why the scene was deleted prior to the film's release.
In Ziegfeld Follies (1946) she performed "Love" by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. Horne wanted to be considered for the role of Julie LaVerne in MGM's 1951 version of Show Boat (having already played the role when a segment of Show Boat was performed in Till the Clouds Roll By) but lost the part to Ava Gardner, a personal friend in real life, due to the Production Code's ban on interracial relationships in films. In the documentary That's Entertainment! III Horne stated that MGM executives required Gardner to practice her singing using Horne's recordings, which offended both actresses. Ultimately, Gardner's voice was overdubbed by actress Annette Warren (Smith) for the theatrical release.
Changes of direction[link]
By the mid-1950s, Horne was disenchanted with Hollywood and increasingly focused on her nightclub career. She only made two major appearances in MGM films during the 1950s: Duchess of Idaho (which was also Eleanor Powell's film swan song); and the 1956 musical Meet Me in Las Vegas. She was blacklisted during the 1950s for her political views.[13] She returned to the screen three more times, playing chanteuse Claire Quintana in the 1969 film Death of a Gunfighter, Glinda in The Wiz (film) (1978), and co-hosting the 1994 MGM retrospective That's Entertainment! III, in which she was candid about her treatment by the studio.
After leaving Hollywood, Horne established herself as one of the premiere nightclub performers of the post-war era. She headlined at clubs and hotels throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, and the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. In 1957, a live album entitled, Lena Horne at the Waldorf-Astoria, became the biggest selling record by a female artist in the history of the RCA-Victor label. In 1958, Horne was nominated for a Tony Award for "Best Actress in a Musical" (for her part in the "Calypso" musical Jamaica) which, at Lena's request featured her longtime friend Adelaide Hall.
From the late 1950s through the 1960s, Horne was a staple of TV variety shows, appearing multiple times on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show, and The Bell Telephone Hour. Other programs she appeared on included The Judy Garland Show, The Hollywood Palace, and The Andy Williams Show. Besides two television specials for the BBC (later syndicated in the U.S.), Horne starred in her own U.S. television special in 1969, Monsanto Night Presents Lena Horne. During this decade, the artist Pete Hawley painted her portrait for RCA Victor, capturing the mood of her performance style.and she also had 2 kids
In 1970, she co-starred with Harry Belafonte in the hour-long Harry & Lena for ABC; in 1973, she co-starred with Tony Bennett in Tony and Lena. Horne and Bennett subsequently toured the U.S. and U.K. in a show together. In the 1976 program America Salutes Richard Rodgers, she sang a lengthy medley of Rodgers songs with Peggy Lee and Vic Damone. Horne also made several appearances on The Flip Wilson Show.
Additionally, Horne played herself on television programs such as The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Sanford and Son in the 1970s, as well as a 1985 performance on The Cosby Show and a 1993-appearance on A Different World. In the summer of 1980, Horne, 63 years old and intent on retiring from show business, embarked on a two month series of benefit concerts sponsored by Delta Sigma Theta. These concerts were represented as Horne's farewell tour, yet her retirement lasted less than a year.
On April 13, 1980, Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, and host Gene Kelly were all scheduled to appear at a Gala performance at the Metropolitan Opera House to salute the N Y City Center's Joffrey Ballet Company. However, Pavarotti's plane was diverted over the Atlantic and he was unable to appear. James Nederlander was an invited Honored Guest and noted that only three people at the sold out Metropolitan Opera House asked for their money back. He asked to be introduced to Lena following her performance. In May 1981, The Nederlander Organization, Michael Frazier, and Fred Walker went on to book Horne for a four-week engagement at the newly named Nederlander Theatre (formerly the Trafalgar, the Billy Rose, and the National) on West 41st Street in New York City. The show was an instant success and was extended to a full year run, garnering Horne a special Tony award, and two Grammy Awards for the cast recording of her show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. The 333-performance Broadway run closed on Horne's 65th birthday, June 30, 1982. Later that same week, the entire show was performed again and videotaped for television broadcast and home video release. The tour began a few days later at Tanglewood (Massachusetts) during the July 4, 1982 weekend. The Lady and Her Music toured 41 cities in the U.S. and Canada through June 17, 1984. It played in London for a month in August and ended its run in Stockholm, Sweden, September 14, 1984.
In 1981, she received a Special Tony Award for her one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which also played to acclaim at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1984.[14] Despite the show's considerable success (Horne still holds the record for the longest-running solo performance in Broadway history), she did not capitalize on the renewed interest in her career by undertaking many new musical projects. A proposed 1983 joint recording project between Horne and Frank Sinatra (to be produced by Quincy Jones) was ultimately abandoned, and her sole studio recording of the decade was 1988's The Men in My Life, featuring duets with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Joe Williams. In 1989, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 1990s found Horne considerably more active in the recording studio - all the more remarkable considering she was approaching her 80th year. Following her 1993 performance at a tribute to the musical legacy of her good friend Billy Strayhorn (Duke Ellington's longtime collaborator), she decided to record an album composed largely of Strayhorn's and Ellington's songs the following year, We'll Be Together Again. To coincide with the release of the album, Horne made what would be her final concert performances at New York's Supper Club and Carnegie Hall. That same year, Horne also lent her vocals to a recording of "Embraceable You" on Sinatra's Duets II album. Though the album was largely derided by critics, the Sinatra-Horne pairing was generally regarded as its highlight.[citation needed]
In 1995, a 'live' album capturing her Supper Club performance was released (subsequently winning a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album). In 1998, Horne released another studio album, entitled Being Myself. Thereafter, Horne essentially retired from performing and largely retreated from public view, though she did return to the recording studio in 2000 to contribute vocal tracks on Simon Rattle's Classic Ellington album.[citation needed]
Civil rights activism[link]
Horne was long involved with the Civil Rights movement. In 1941, she sang at Cafe Society and worked with Paul Robeson. During World War II, when entertaining the troops for the USO, she refused to perform "for segregated audiences or for groups in which German POWs were seated in front of African American servicemen",[15] according to her Kennedy Center biography. Because the U.S. Army refused to allow integrated audiences, she wound up putting on a show for a mixed audience of black U.S. soldiers and white German POWs. Seeing the black soldiers had been forced to sit in the back seats, she walked off the stage to the first row where the black troops were seated and performed with the Germans behind her. She was at an NAACP rally with Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi, the weekend before Evers was assassinated. She also met President John F. Kennedy at the White House two days before he was assassinated. She was at the March on Washington and spoke and performed on behalf of the NAACP, SNCC, and the National Council of Negro Women. She also worked with Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-lynching laws.[16] She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Tom Lehrer mentions her in his song "National Brotherhood Week" in the line "Lena Horne and Sheriff Clark are dancing cheek to cheek" referring (wryly) to her and to Sheriff Jim Clark, of Selma, Alabama, who was responsible for a violent attack on civil rights marchers in 1965.
Personal life[link]
Horne married Louis Jordan Jones in January 1937 in Pittsburgh. On December 21, 1937, their daughter, Gail (later known as Gail Lumet Buckley, a best-selling author) was born there.[17] and a son, Edwin Jones (born February 7, 1940 – September 12, 1970)[4] who died of kidney disease.[5] Horne and Jones separated in 1940 and divorced in 1944.
Horne's second marriage was to Lennie Hayton, one of the premier musical conductors and arrangers at MGM, in December 1947 in Paris. They separated in the early 1960s, but never divorced; he died in 1971.[18]
In her as-told-to autobiography Lena by Richard Schickel, Horne recounts the enormous pressures she and her husband faced as an interracial couple. She later admitted in an Ebony, May 1980 interview she had married Hayton to advance her career and cross the "color-line" in show business, but had learned to love him in a way.[19]
Screenwriter Jenny Lumet, known for her award-winning screenplay Rachel Getting Married, is Horne's granddaughter, the daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet and Horne's daughter Gail.[20] Horne's other grandchildren include Gail's other daughter, Amy Lumet, and her son's three children, Thomas, William, and Lena.
Death[link]
Horne died on Mothers Day, May 9, 2010, in New York City of heart failure. Horne's funeral took place at St. Ignatius Loyola Church on Park Avenue in New York City. Thousands gathered to mourn her, including Leontyne Price, Dionne Warwick, Jessye Norman, Chita Rivera, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Leslie Uggams, Lauren Bacall, Audra McDonald, Vanessa L. Williams .
Legacy[link]
In 2003, ABC announced that Janet Jackson would star as Horne in a television biopic. In the weeks following Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" debacle during the 2004 Super Bowl, however, Variety reported that Horne demanded Jackson be dropped from the project. "ABC executives resisted Horne's demand", according to the Associated Press report, "but Jackson representatives told the trade newspaper that she left willingly after Horne and her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, asked that she not take part." Oprah Winfrey stated to Alicia Keys during a 2005 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show that she might possibly consider producing the biopic herself, casting Keys as Horne.[citation needed]
In January 2005, Blue Note Records, her label for more than a decade, announced that "the finishing touches have been put on a collection of rare and unreleased recordings by the legendary Horne made during her time on Blue Note." Remixed by her longtime producer Rodney Jones, the recordings featured Horne in remarkably secure voice for a woman of her years, and include versions of such signature songs as "Something to Live For", "Chelsea Bridge", and "Stormy Weather". The album, originally titled Soul but renamed Seasons of a Life, was released on January 24, 2006.
In 2007, Horne was portrayed by Leslie Uggams as the older Lena and Nikki Crawford as the younger Lena in the stage musical Stormy Weather staged at the Pasadena Playhouse in California (January through March 2009).
In 2011 Horne was also portrayed by actress Ryan Jillian in a one woman show titled "Notes from A Horne" staged at the Susan Batson studio in New York City, From November 2011 to February 2012.
The 83rd Academy Awards presented a tribute to Horne by actress Halle Berry at the ceremony held February 27, 2011.[21]
Awards and recognition[link]
Grammy Awards[link]
| Year | Category | Title | Genre | Label | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | An Evening with Lena Horne | Jazz | Blue Note | Winner |
| 1989 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Winner | |||
| 1988 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance – Female | The Men in My Life | Jazz | Three Cherries | Nominee |
| 1988 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance – Duo or Group | "I Won't Leave You Again" | Jazz | Three Cherries | Nominee |
| 1981 | Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female | Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music | Pop | Qwest | Winner |
| 1981 | Best Cast Show Album | Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music | Pop | Qwest | Winner |
| 1962 | Best Female Vocal Performance | Porgy and Bess | Pop | RCA | Nominee |
| 1961 | Female Solo Vocal Performance | Lena at the Sands | Pop | RCA | Nominee |
Other awards[link]
| Year | Organization | Category | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site |
International Civil Rights Walk of Fame[24] | Inducted | |
| 1999 | NAACP Image Award | Outstanding Jazz Artist | Winner | |
| 1994 | Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award | Songwriters Hall of Fame | Winner | |
| ? | Hollywood Chamber of Commerce | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Winner | Honor (motion pictures) |
| ? | Hollywood Chamber of Commerce | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Winner | Honor (recordings) |
| 1987 | American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers |
The ASCAP Pied Piper Award[25] | Winner | Given to entertainers who have made significant contributions to words and music |
| 1985 | Emmy Award | Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music | Nominee | |
| 1984 | John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts |
Kennedy Center Honors[26] | Winner | For extraordinary talent, creativity, and perseverance |
| 1980 | Howard University | Honorary doctorate[27] | Honored | |
| 1980 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress – Musical | Winner | Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music |
| 1980 | New York Drama Critics Circle Awards | Special Citation | Winner | Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music |
| 1981 | Tony Awards | Special Citation | Winner | Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music |
| 1957 | Tony Awards | Best Actress | Nominee | "Jamaica" |
Filmography[link]
Film[link]
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Television[link]
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Discography[link]
Albums[link]
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Singles[link]
As featured vocalist[link]
- A:"That's What Love Did To Me" (Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin) / B:"I Take To You" (Mack Gordon, Harry Warren)
Issued in 1936 on 78rpm 10" vinyl by Decca Records on Decca 778B. Credits Noble Sissle and His Orchestra,[28] Lena Horne was credited as Helena Horne for this recording. Recorded on the 3rd of November 1936 in New York.
- "Stormy Weather" (1943)
- "Love Me or Leave Me" (1955) #19 U.S. Pop
References[link]
- ^ a b "Lena Horne - About the Performer | American Masters | PBS". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/lena-horne/about-the-performer/487/. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
- ^ William Ruhlmann (2008). "Artist: Lena Horne Biography". Allmusic. http://www.answers.com/topic/lena-horne. Retrieved 2008-08-010.
- ^ The Economist (May 20, 2010). "Lena Horne, entertainer, died on May 9th, aged 92". BlackAmericaWeb. http://www.economist.com/node/16160124?story_id=16160124. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
- ^ a b Vh1 biography
- ^ a b c McLellan, Dennis; Nelson, Valerie J. (2010-05-10). "Lena Horne dies at 92; singer and civil rights activist who broke barriers". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-horne-20100510,0,1501683,full.story. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Played Role In Lena Horne's Life". KDKA. 2010-05-10. http://kdka.com/entertainment/Lena.Horne.Pittsburgh.2.1686377.html. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- ^ Brewer, John M. (2007). Pittsburgh Jazz. Arcadia Publishing. p. 14. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/917800738549804|917800738549804]].
- ^ Schickel (1965), p. 7
- ^ "Lena Horne on Tonight Show 1982 - Part 1". NBC/YouTube. 1982. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvcuwCNIJVE. Retrieved "2010-05-10.
- ^ a b c "Lena Horne". New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1691. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- ^ Augustus F. Hawkins (November 18, 1992) (trasnscript). Black Leadership in Los Angeles: Tape Number: II, Side Two, pp. 66-67. Interview with Clyde Woods. http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=hb858011v4&brand=calisphere&doc.view=entire_text. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
- ^ Lena Horne Post-Gazette profile
- ^ "American Masters: Lena Horne". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/horne_l.html. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
- ^ The Times, obituary 11 May 2010.
- ^ Kennedy Center: Biographical information for Lena Horne
- ^ Lena Horne biography
- ^ Gail Lumet Buckley profile
- ^ Telegraph obituary
- ^ Company, Johnson Publishing (1980-05). Ebony. http://books.google.com/?id=NDbcot0HasEC&lpg=PA38&dq=Ebony%201980%20Lena%20Horne&pg=PA44#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (2008-10-10). "Ella unenchanted goes to a wedding - Demme explores concept of family". Chicago Sun-Times. p. B1.
- ^ "'The King's Speech', Colin Firth, Natalie Portman Take Top Honors at 2011 Academy Awards". Moviefone. http://www.popeater.com/2011/02/28/2011-oscar-winners. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ^ Grammy Award Database
- ^ "&Nbsp". Los Angeles Times. http://theenvelope.latimes.com/factsheets/awardsdb/env-awards-db-search,0,7169155.htmlstory.
- ^ International Civil Rights Walk of Fame
- ^ ASCAP Award
- ^ Kennedy Center Database
- ^ Kennedy Center Horne bio
- ^ http://www.redhotjazz.com/sissleo.html
Bibliography[link]
- Horne, Lena and Schickel, Richard, Lena, Doubleday, 1965 ISBN 978-0-385-08034-7
- Haskins, James and Benson, Kathleen Lena, Stein and Day, 1984 ISBN 0-8128-2853-4
- Gavin, James, Stormy Weather, The Life of Lena Horne, Atria 2009 ISBN 978-0-7432-7143-1
External links[link]
 |
Book: Lena Horne |
| Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. | |
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lena Horne |
- Lena Horne at the Internet Movie Database
- Lena Horne at the Internet Broadway Database
- Lena Horne discography at Discogs
- Lena-Horne Tribute Site
- Entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Biography
- Remembering Lena Horne - slideshow by Life magazine
- Lena Mary Calhoun Horne
- Lena Horne turns 80
- Remembering the great Lena Horne
- Pioneering African American Actress, Singer and Civil Rights Activist Lena Horne, 92, Dies - video report by Democracy Now!
- Literature on Lena Horne
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Horne, Lena |
| Alternative names | Horne, Lena Mary Calhoun |
| Short description | Singer, actress, activist |
| Date of birth | 1917-06-30 |
| Place of birth | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Date of death | 2010-05-09 |
| Place of death | New York City, New York, U.S. |
http://wn.com/Lena_Horne
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is about the singer. For his self-titled album, see Luther Vandross (album).
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011) |
| Luther Vandross | |
|---|---|
 Vandross performing with Diana Ross in New York in 2000 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Luther Vandross |
| Born | (1951-04-20)April 20, 1951 New York, New York, United States |
| Died | July 1, 2005(2005-07-01) (aged 54) Edison, New Jersey, United States |
| Genres | R&B, soul, adult contemporary, soft rock, soul jazz, quiet storm |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, Musician, record producer |
| Years active | 1968–2005 |
| Labels | Cotillion, Epic, Virgin, J, Legacy |
| Associated acts | Change, Chic, Dionne Warwick, Richard Marx, Whitney Houston |
| Website | luthervandross.com |
Luther Vandross (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums[1] and won eight Grammy Awards[2] including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times. He won four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for the track "Dance with My Father",[3] co-written with Richard Marx.
Contents |
Biography[link]
1951–1979: Early life and career[link]
Luther Vandross was born on April 20, 1951 at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, United States.[4] He was the fourth child and second son to Mary Ida Vandross and Luther Vandross, Sr.[4][5]
Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City in the NYCHA Alfred E. Smith Houses public housing development, Vandross began playing the piano at the age of three. He grew up in a musical family that moved to the Bronx when he was thirteen. His sister, Patricia, sang with the vocal group The Crests, who had a number two hit in 1958 with "16 Candles", though she left the group before the recording. Vandross's father died of diabetes when Vandross was eight years old. Luther Vandross was in a high school group, Shades of Jade, that once played at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He was also a member of a theater workshop, "Listen My Brother" who released the singles "Only Love Can Make a Better World" and "Listen My Brother", and appeared on the second and fifth episodes of Sesame Street in November 1969.
Vandross attended Western Michigan University for a year before dropping out to continue pursuing a career in music.
His next hit credit was on an album by Roberta Flack in 1972. He was the founder of the first-ever Patti LaBelle fan club. Luther also sang on Delores Hall's Hall-Mark album from 1973. He sang with her on the song "Who's Gonna Make It Easier for Me", which he wrote. He also contributed another song, "In This Lonely Hour." Having co-written "Fascination" for David Bowie's Young Americans, he went on to tour with him as a back-up vocalist in September 1974. Vandross wrote "Everybody Rejoice" for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz and appeared as a choir member in the movie.
Vandross also sang backing vocals for Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Gary Glitter, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Donna Summer, Bette Midler, Chic, and Barbra Streisand.
Before his breakthrough, Vandross was part of a singing quintet in the late '70s named Luther, consisting of former Shades of Jade members Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler, Theresa V. Reed, and Christine Wiltshire, signed to Cotillion Records. Although the singles "It's Good for the Soul", "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)", and "The Second Time Around" were relatively successful, their two albums, the self-titled Luther (1976) and This Close to You (1977), didn't sell enough to make the charts. Vandross bought back the rights to these albums after Cotillion dropped the group, preventing their later re-release.
Vandross also wrote and sang commercial jingles during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and continued his successful career as a popular session singer during the late 1970s.
In 1978, Luther sang lead vocals for a disco band called Greg Diamond's Bionic Boogie on the song titled "Hot Butterfly." Also in 1978, he appeared on Quincy Jones's Sounds...and Stuff Like That!!, most notably on the song "I'm Gonna Miss You In The Morning" along with Patti Austin. Luther also sang with the band Soirée, where he was the lead vocalist on the track "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", and contributed background vocals to the album along with Jocelyn Brown and Sharon Redd, each of whom also saw solo success. He also sang the lead vocals on the group Mascara LP title song "See You in L.A." released in 1979. Luther shines with his impeccable singing supported by his group's co-members David Lasley and Ula Hedwig. Luther also appeared on the group Charme's 1979 album Let It In, most notably on a remake of Toto's hit single "Georgy Porgy".
1980–2003: Career success[link]
Vandross finally made his long desired career breakthrough as a featured singer with the vaunted pop-dance act Change, a studio concept created by French-Italian businessman Jacques Fred Petrus. Their 1980 hits, "The Glow of Love" (by Romani, Malavasi and Garfield) and "Searching" (by Malavasi), both featuring Vandross as lead singer, opened up the world for Vandross. And there was no doubt about whether Vandross liked the song "The Glow of Love". In an interview that Vibe Magazine did with him in 2001 Vandross said, "This is the most beautiful song I've ever sung in my life." Both songs were from Change's debut album The Glow of Love. Vandross was also originally intended to perform on their second and highly successful album Miracles in 1981, but declined the offer as Petrus didn't pay enough money. Vandross' decision rapidly led to a recording contract with Epic Records that same year but didn't stop him from doing some background vocals on "Miracles" and on the new Petrus created act, The B. B. & Q. band in 1981. During that hectic year Vandross jump-started his second attempt at a solo career with his debut album, Never Too Much. In addition to the hit title track it contained a version of the Burt Bacharach / Hal David song "A House Is Not a Home". The song "Never Too Much", written by himself, reached number-one on the R&B charts. This period also marked the beginning of frequent songwriting collaboration with bassist Marcus Miller, who played on many of the tracks and would also produce or co-produce a number of tracks for Vandross. The Never Too Much album was arranged by high school classmate Nat Adderley, Jr., a collaboration that would last through Vandross's career.[6]
Vandross released a series of successful R&B albums during the 1980s and continued his session work with guest vocals on groups like Charme in 1982. Many of his earlier albums made a bigger impact on the R&B charts than on the pop charts. During the 1980s, Vandross had two singles that reached #1 on the Billboard R&B charts: "Stop to Love", in 1986, and a duet with Gregory Hines—"There's Nothing Better Than Love."[7] Vandross was at the helm as producer for Aretha Franklin's Gold-certified, award-winning comeback album Jump to It. He also produced the disappointing follow-up album, 1983's Get It Right. In 1983, the opportunity to work with his main music influence, Dionne Warwick, came about with Vandross producing, writing songs, and singing on How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye, her fourth album for Arista Records. The title track duet reached #27 on the Hot 100 chart (#7 R&B/#4 Adult Contemporary),[8] while the second single, "Got a Date" was only a moderate hit (#45 R&B/#15 Club Play).
In 1985, Vandross first spotted the talent of Jimmy Salvemini, 15 at the time, on Star Search. He thought Salvemini had the perfect voice for some of his songs. He contacted Salvemini, who was managed by his brother Larry. A contract was negotiated with Elektra records for $250,000 and Vandross agreed to produce the album. Luther even contacted old friends to appear on the album, Cheryl Lynn, Alfa Anderson (Chic), Phoebe Snow and Irene Cara. After the album was completed, Vandross, Jimmy, and Larry decided to celebrate. On January 12, 1986, they were riding in Vandross' convertible Mercedes when it crossed the yellow lines of the two lane street and smashed into two vehicles. All three men were rushed to the hospital. Larry Salvemini died during surgery, and Vandross and Jimmy Salvemini survived. At first, the Salvemini family was supportive of Vandross. In 1986, Vandross faced vehicular manslaughter charges as a result of Larry's death. Vandross pled no contest to reckless driving. The Salvemini family filed a wrongful death suit against Vandross. The case was quietly settled out of court with a payment to the Salvemini family for $700,000. The album called "Roll With It" was released later that year.
Vandross also sings background in Stevie Wonder's 1985 hit "Part Time Lovers".
In 1986, Vandross voiced a cartoon character named Zack for three Saturday morning animated PSA spots for ABC Television called 'Zack of All Trades'.
The 1989 compilation The Best of Luther Vandross... The Best of Love included the ballad "Here and Now", his first single to chart in the Billboard pop chart top ten, peaking at number six. He won his first Grammy award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1991.
In 1990, Vandross wrote and sang background for Whitney Houston in a song entitled "Why Do You Love?" which appeared on her "I'm Your baby Tonight" album. Vandross and Houston had been long time acquantances, probably having met doing sessions in the late 70s and early 80s.
More albums followed in the 1990s, beginning with 1991's Power of Love which spawned two top ten pop hits. He won his second Best Male R&B Vocal in the Grammy Awards of 1992 with the track "Power of Love/Love Power" winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in the same year. In 1992, "The Best Things in Life Are Free", a duet with Janet Jackson from the movie Mo' Money became a hit.
In 1993, Vandross had a brief non-speaking role in the Robert Townsend movie The Meteor Man. He played a hit man who plotted to stop Townsend's title character.
Vandross hit the top ten again in 1994, teaming with Mariah Carey on a cover version of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's duet "Endless Love". It was included on the album Songs (Luther Vandross album), a collection of songs which had inspired Vandross over the years. He also appears on Frank Sinatra's posthumous Duets album. At the Grammy Awards of 1997, he won his third Best Male R&B Vocal for the track "Your Secret Love". A second greatest hits album, released in 1997, compiled most of his 1990s hits and was his final album released through Epic Records. After releasing I Know on Virgin Records, he signed with J Records. His first album on Clive Davis's new label, entitled Luther Vandross, was released in 2001, and it produced the hits "Take You Out" (#7 R&B/#26 Pop), and "I'd Rather" (#17 Adult Contemporary/#40 R&B/#83 Pop) Vandross scored at least one top 10 R&B hit every year from 1981-1994.
In 1997, Vandross sang the American national anthem during Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana.
In September 2001, Vandross performed a rendition of Michael Jackson's hit song "Man in the Mirror" at Jackson's 30th Anniversary special, alongside Usher.
In 2002, he gave some of his final concerts during his last tour, The BK Got Soul Tour starring Vandross featuring Angie Stone and Gerald Levert.
In 2003, Vandross released the album Dance with My Father. The title track, which was dedicated to Vandross' memory childhood dances with his father, won Vandross and his co-writer, Richard Marx, the 2004 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. The song also won Vandross his fourth and final award in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category. The album was his first to reach number one on the Billboard album chart. The video for the title track features various celebrities alongside their fathers and other family members. The 2nd single released from that album, "Think About You" was the Number One Urban Adult Contemporary Song of 2004 according to Radio & Records.
In 2003, after the televised NCAA Men's Basketball championship, CBS Sports gave "One Shining Moment" a new look. Vandross, who had been to only one basketball game in his life, was the new singer, and the video didn't have any special effects like glowing basketballs and star trails like it did in previous years. This song version is in use today.[9]
2003–2005: Illness and death[link]
Vandross suffered from diabetes and hypertension, both of which ran in his family.
On April 16, 2003, Vandross suffered a stroke at his home in Manhattan, New York. At the time of his stroke, he had just finished the final vocals for the album Dance With My Father. His collaborator on the album was pop star Richard Marx, whom Vandross had met in 1989. Vandross appeared briefly on videotape at the 2004 Grammy Awards to accept his Song of the Year Award, where he said, "When I say goodbye it's never for long because I believe in the power of love". Other than an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, he was never seen in public again.
Vandross died on July 1, 2005 at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey at the age of 54. The apparent cause of his death was a heart attack.
His funeral was in New York City on July 8, 2005. After two days of viewing, Vandross was entombed at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey. Much of his estate was left to friends and his godson Mark West.
Voice recognition[link]
In 2008, Vandross was ranked #54 on Rolling Stone magazine's List of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[10]
Tribute[link]
In 1999, Whitney Houston sang Vandross' "So Amazing" as a tribute to Vandross as he sat in the audience during the Soul Train Awards. Johnny Gill, El Debarge, and Kenny Lattimore provided background vocals. On July 27, 2004, GRP Records released a smooth jazz various artists tribute album, Forever, For Always, For Luther, with ten popular songs written by Luther. The album featured vocal arrangements by Luther, and was produced by Rex Rideout and Bud Harner. Rideout had co-authored songs and contributed arrangements and played keyboards on Luther's final three albums. The tribute album was mixed by Ray Bardani, who recorded and mixed most of Luther's music over the years. It featured an ensemble of smooth jazz performers, many of whom had previously worked with Luther.[11] On September 20, 2005, the album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross was released. The album is a collection of some of Luther's songs performed by various artists, including Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Fantasia, Beyoncé Knowles, Donna Summer, Alicia Keys, Elton John, Celine Dion, Wyclef Jean, Babyface, Patti LaBelle, John Legend, Angie Stone, Jamie Foxx, Teddy Pendergrass, and Aretha Franklin. Aretha Franklin won a Grammy for her rendition of "A House Is Not a Home", and Stevie Wonder and Beyoncé won a Grammy for their cover of "So Amazing". The violin duo Nuttin' But Stringz did a remix of the song "Dance with My Father" for their album Struggle from the Subway to the Charts, which was released on October 3, 2006. On November 21, 2006, saxophonist Dave Koz released a followup to the earlier smooth jazz GRP tribute album, this time on his own Rendezvous Entertainment label, an album called Forever, For Always, For Luther Volume II, also produced by Rex Rideout and Bud Harner. Dave Koz played on all the featured Luther Vandross tracks, which were recorded by various smooth jazz artists.[12] In 2007, Deniece Williams included "Never Too Much" on her Love, Niecy Style CD. Williams said that she recorded the song to say "I love you" to her old friend. The music video "Bye Bye" from Mariah Carey sees Vandross' picture appear in the closing images. His image was included as a tribute along with various other deceased people with whom Carey had collaborated. On A Different Me, Keyshia Cole sings the outro to "Luther Vandross" on "Playa Cardz Right", which features rapper Tupac Shakur. Guitarist Norman Brown did a rendition of "Any Love" on his 1994 album After The Storm. R&B band 112 sampled Vandross' "Don't You Know That" to make their song "Love Me" on their second album Room 112. Saxophonist Boney James covers his rendition on his final track "The Night I Fell In Love" on Backbone in 1994. Author Craig Seymour wrote a book about Vandross called Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross. The book includes numerous interviews with Vandross. In 2009, Jadakiss sampled Vandross' "Promise Me" to make his song "The Things I've Been Through" on his album, "The Last Kiss". In 1998, well-known guitarist Peter White covered the Vandross song "Don't Want to Be a Fool", from the album Perfect Moment. In November 2006, Korean singer K included a cover of the Vandross song "Every Year, Every Christmas" on his Christmas single, ファースト・クリスマス ("First Christmas"), released in Japan. It was also later added to his tribute album, The Timeless Collection Vol. 1. In 2010, NPR included Vandross in its 50 Greatest Voices in recorded history, saying Vandross represents "the platinum standard for R&B song stylings." The announcement was made on NPR's All Things Considered on November 29, 2010. In late 2010, rapper Battman D.E. GannaBanna sampled Vandross' "Make Me A Believer" for his song "Wanna Luv U" on his debut album The World Is A MothaF**kin' Ghetto. Hip-hop duo Young Gunz featuring Rell sampled Vandross' "Better Love" to the make the song "No Better Love" on their 2004 Roc-A-Fella Records debut album, Tough Luv. Jacob Lusk performed "Dance With My Father" on American Idol season 10 as a tribute to his late father Gregory Lusk and as a tribute to Vandross on April 20, 2011. Smooth jazz urban saxophonist Alfonzo Blackwell covered the song on his 2001 Reflections CD, just two months after Vandross' self-titled release. Teddy Riley's protege rapper Queen Pen has been sampled on her song "All My Love" which based on Vandross' song of the same name that was produced by Riley on her 1997 debut release, My Melody. Other tribute artists include FiL Straughan, a singer based in London and New York, and Harry Cambridge.
New releases[link]
J Records released a song "Shine"—an upbeat R&B track that samples Chic's disco song "My Forbidden Lover"—reaching #31 on the R&B chart. The song was originally slated to be released on the soundtrack to the movie The Fighting Temptations, but it was shelved. This is evidenced by a reference to "fighting temptation" in two of the verses. A later remix of the song peaked at #10 on the Club Play chart. "Shine" and a track entitled "Got You Home" were previously unreleased songs on The Ultimate Luther Vandross, a greatest hits album on Epic Records/J Records/Legacy Recordings that was released August 22, 2006.
On October 16, 2007, Epic Records/J Records/Legacy Recordings released a 4 disc box set entitled Love, Luther. It features all of Vandross' R&B and pop hits throughout his career, as well as unreleased live tracks, alternate versions and outtakes from sessions that Vandross recorded. The set also includes "There's Only You", a version of which had originally appeared on the soundtrack to the 1987 film Made in Heaven.[13]
Discography[link]
Main article: Luther Vandross discography
Tours[link]
- Forever Tour (1982)
- Give Me The Reason Tour (1987)
- Best of Love Tour (1990)
- The Power of Love Tour (1991)
- Songs Tour (1994)
- Your Secret Love Tour (1997)
- The BK Got Soul Tour (2002)
Awards[link]
| Grammy Award history | ||||
| Year | Category | Title | Field | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Best New Artist | — | General | Nominated |
| Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | Never Too Much | R&B | Nominated | |
| 1983 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | Forever, For Always, For Love | R&B | Nominated |
| 1986 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | The Night I Fell in Love | R&B | Nominated |
| 1987 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "Give Me the Reason" | R&B | Nominated |
| Best R&B Song | "Give Me the Reason" (shared with Nat Adderley, Jr.) |
R&B | Nominated | |
| 1989 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | Any Love | R&B | Nominated |
| Best R&B Song | "Any Love" (shared with Marcus Miller) |
R&B | Nominated | |
| 1990 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "She Won't Talk to Me" | R&B | Nominated |
| 1991 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "Here and Now" | R&B | Won |
| 1992 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | Power of Love | R&B | Won |
| Best R&B Song | "Power of Love/Love Power" (shared with Marcus Miller & Teddy Vann) |
R&B | Won | |
| Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | "Doctor's Orders" (shared with Aretha Franklin) |
R&B | Nominated | |
| 1993 | Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (shared with Janet Jackson) |
R&B | Nominated |
| 1994 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "How Deep Is Your Love" | R&B | Nominated |
| 1995 | Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male | "Love the One You're With" | Pop | Nominated |
| Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals | "Endless Love" (shared with Mariah Carey) |
Pop | Nominated | |
| Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "Always and Forever" | R&B | Nominated | |
| Best R&B Album | Songs | R&B | Nominated | |
| 1997 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "Your Secret Love" | R&B | Won |
| Best R&B Song | "Your Secret Love" (shared with Reed Vertelney) |
R&B | Nominated | |
| 1998 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "When You Call On Me / Baby That's When I Come Runnin'" | R&B | Nominated |
| 1999 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "I Know" | R&B | Nominated |
| 1999 | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | I Know | R&B | Nominated |
| 2003 | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | "Any Day Now" | R&B | Nominated |
| 2004 | Song of the Year | "Dance with My Father" (shared with Richard Marx) |
General | Won |
| Best R&B Album | Dance with My Father | R&B | Won | |
| Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | "The Closer I Get to You" (shared with Beyoncé) |
R&B | Won | |
| Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "Dance with My Father" | R&B | Won | |
| Best R&B Song | "Dance with My Father" (shared with Richard Marx) |
R&B | Nominated | |
| 2007 | Best R&B Vocal Performance - Male | "Got You Home" | R&B | Nominated |
See also[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ "Luther Vandross". AskMen.com (UK Edition). http://uk.askmen.com/men/entertainment_100/132b_luther_vandross.html. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
- ^ "Vandross' Funeral Soulful and Powerful". Yahoo! News. July 8, 2005. http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/21620783. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
- ^ "Obituary: Luther Vandross". BBC News. July 1, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/2975731.stm. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
- ^ a b Seymour 2004, p. 16
- ^ Seymour 2004, p. 15
- ^ Stewart, Zan. "Born to swing: Nat Adderley Jr. returns to his roots", The Star-Ledger, September 10, 2009. Accessed September 10, 2009.
- ^ .Artist Chart History
- ^ Artist Chart History
- ^ {{cite web| url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1318%7C title=tyrtitiiyj
- ^ "100 Greatest Singers: Luther Vandross". http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231/luther-vandross-19691231.
- ^ Forever, For Always, For Luther, VerveMusicGroup.com
- ^ Forever, For Always, For Luther Volume II, smoothvibes.com
- ^ EUR Web article, "Luther Boxed Set Includes Rare/Unreleased Tracks, EURWeb.com
References[link]
- Seymour, Craig (2004). Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross. New York, NY: HarperEntertainment. ISBN 0-06-059418-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=2sh1meimv0sC&dq=%22Luther+Vandross&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
- Vandross, Luther. The Best of Luther Vandross: The Best of Love, Hal Leonard Corporation, 1990 - ISBN 0-7935-0291-8
External links[link]
|
Book: Luther Vandross |
| Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. | |
- Official site
- Remembering Luther Vandross
- Luther Vandross at Allmusic
- Luther Vandross at the Internet Movie Database
- Luther Vandross at Find A Grave
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Vandross, Luther Ronzoni |
| Alternative names | Vandross, Luther |
| Short description | American singer, songwriter, and record producer |
| Date of birth | April 20, 1951 |
| Place of birth | New York City, New York, United States |
| Date of death | July 1, 2005 |
| Place of death | Edison, New Jersey, United States |
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Vandross
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012) |
| Aretha Franklin | |
|---|---|
 Franklin performing at President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Aretha Louise Franklin |
| Born | (1942-03-25) March 25, 1942 (age 70) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | Soul, jazz, blues, R&B, gospel, funk, rock |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, pianist |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 1956–present |
| Labels | Columbia (1960–1966) Atlantic (1967–1979) Arista (1980–2003) Aretha Records (2004–) |
| Associated acts | Sweet Inspirations, Carolyn Franklin, Erma Franklin, Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston, George Benson, George Michael, Michael McDonald, Eurythmics, Luther Vandross |
Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and pianist. In a recording career that has spanned over half a century, Franklin's repertoire has included gospel, jazz, blues, R&B, pop, rock and funk. Franklin is known as one of the most important popularizers of the soul music genre and is referred to as the Queen of Soul, a title she was given early in her career. Franklin, the daughter of prominent Baptist minister and activist C. L. Franklin, began her singing career singing in her father's church at the age of ten and started recording four years later. After several years in the gospel circuit and with her father's blessing, she formed a secular pop music career at the age of eighteen, signing with Columbia Records, where she was branded by its CEO John Hammond as his most important act since Billie Holiday. Franklin's Columbia period wasn't as successful as hoped and in late 1966, Franklin switched over to Atlantic Records, where she began recording a string of popular hits including "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Think", "Chain of Fools" and what later became her signature song, "Respect".
After a brief lull in 1969, Franklin continued to record a string of popular singles throughout the early 1970s, reaching her peak as an albums artist with 1970's Spirit in the Dark, 1971's Young, Gifted & Black and the 1972 gospel record, Amazing Grace, which later became one of the best-selling gospel albums of all time and was the biggest-selling album in gospel music for over 25 years. Franklin's success in Atlantic peaked after the release of the singles, "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", "I'm in Love" and "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" and the 1976 soundtrack to the movie, Sparkle and Franklin left the label in 1980 to sign with Clive Davis' Arista Records label where she switched over from soul and funk music to a more conservative urban adult contemporary sound in the albums, Aretha and Love All the Hurt Away, before regaining commercial success with the 1982 album, Jump to It, produced by R&B hitmaker Luther Vandross. In 1984, Franklin added modern day pop rock and dance elements to her sound, which was integral to the success of her 1985 album, Who's Zoomin' Who?, which spawned the hits "Freeway of Love", "Who's Zoomin' Who" and the Eurythmics featured "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves". The 1986 release of Aretha featured her last number-one hit single with the George Michael duet "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me". Afterwards Franklin returned to a lull in her career until the release of 1998's A Rose Is Still a Rose, which incorporated modern day contemporary R&B and which the title track returned Franklin to the top 40 of the pop charts.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" list,[1] as well as the ninth greatest artist of all time.[2] She has won 18 Grammys and received two honorary Grammys. In 1987, Franklin became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Franklin is planned to be inducted to the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame in August 2012.
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Early life (1942-1960)[link]
Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee to Barbara (née Siggers) and Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. Franklin's father, Clarence, otherwise known as "C. L." Franklin, was a rising itinerant preacher, who moved to Memphis from Shelby, Mississippi. Within two years after Aretha's birth, however, Franklin's father again moved, this time up north to Buffalo, New York. The initial reasoning behind Franklin's move to Buffalo was because Franklin sought to find better opportunities and reach a bigger church audience as compared to the South. However, it was debated Franklin moved after word reached about him impregnating a teenage member of his Memphis church and he moved north to avoid the scandal and a possible court case.
Franklin wasn't six yet when her father moved to and eventually settled in Detroit where he built his own church, the New Bethel Baptist Church. Following the move, Franklin's parents separated after a contentious marriage, with Barbara Franklin settling in Buffalo, New York where she became a nurse. Aretha would later recall spending time with her mother at her house in Buffalo during summertime visits though it had been debated Franklin's mother had abandoned her, a charge Franklin has constantly denied. Franklin wasn't yet ten when her mother died suddenly in Buffalo. While she and her siblings attended her funeral, it was said their father either couldn't or refuse to attend. Shortly after her mother was buried, Aretha started singing solos at her father's church.[4] Her father's local celebrity in Detroit helped to attract attention to Franklin's home. Franklin remembered seeing several celebrities and prominent public figures at her house. Among those that would later influenced her music and vocal style included gospel musicians Mahalia Jackson, Clara Ward and The Caravans founder Albertina Walker, while other musicians such as Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson and fellow preacher Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also became prominent visitors. Franklin began playing the piano at a young age and knew much of how to play by ear. Franklin recalled that when it came to musical taste, her father wasn't strict, allowing Franklin to listen to a variety of genres including blues, jazz and R&B.
By the mid-fifties, Franklin's father was recording for JVB Records, becoming one of the few preachers to record an album full of sermons, which also included musical performances by the minister along with his choir. In 1956, Franklin started bringing his daughter with him to perform on the gospel circuit. That year, Franklin's father recorded his 14-year-old daughter's gospel performances at a local church and helped Franklin reach a deal with JVB Records where she recorded the album, Songs of Faith, and also released her first single, "Never Grow Old", which would later be reissued by Checker Records numerous times. Franklin's performances on the gospel circuit continued until she reached 17, by then Franklin had a desire to record pop music, something always frowned upon in the ministry. However, her father C. L. approved of her decision, and did the same with his eldest daughter Erma, and helped both daughters reach deals with several record labels outside of Detroit. Prior to signing her first deal, Motown CEO Berry Gordy pursued both Erma and Aretha to sign with Motown. C. L. Franklin, however, passed on the offer thinking the label was too local to promote their talents. Eventually, Aretha settled for Columbia Records.
Music career[link]
Early recordings (1960-1966)[link]
Franklin's first Columbia single, "Today I Sung the Blues", was released in September 1960, becoming her first charted success, it eventually reached #10 on Billboard's R&B chart. Her debut album Aretha followed in January of the following year, recorded with the Ray Bryant Combo. Franklin's second single, "Operation Heartbreak", repeated the R&B chart success of Franklin's debut single, reaching #7, followed by another R&B top ten single, "Won't Be Long". Franklin's recordings were often compared to that of Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday, singers Franklin admired. Columbia CEO and founder John Hammond, upon hearing Franklin, felt she had what it took to be the next Billie Holiday and recorded Franklin strictly in jazz-influenced pop.
Later Hammond acknowledged that he felt the label didn't understand Franklin's background in gospel music and failed to bring that aspect out in her first secular recordings.[5] Later in 1961, Franklin had her first top 40 single on the pop chart with a ballad rendition of "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody". While Franklin would later say she enjoyed her tenure on Columbia Records, most of the records were considered to be not artistically satisfying to Aretha's style and would later be forgotten about following Franklin's rise to stardom with her earthier R&B recordings with Atlantic. Franklin was placed on the list of jazz magazine Downbeat's top ten best jazz vocalists in 1961, 1962 and 1963. One of her most significant recordings during her early Columbia period was the ballad, "Skylark", recorded in 1962. The song previewed what was to come of Franklin as parts of her gospel singing was showcased in the song.
After a well received tribute album to Dinah Washington, Columbia Records switched paths from their early hopes of jazz stardom to more commercial pop music for Franklin as well as some blues music. The latter music showed up in Franklin's 1964 hit, "Runnin' Out of Fools". Afterwards, Franklin was given covers of Motown hits and other girl group sounding hit singles to record as well as original songs such as "One Step Ahead" and "Cry Like a Baby", which was a top 30 R&B recording and was one of the first hits written by the team of Ashford & Simpson. Following this, Franklin and Columbia opted not to renew their contract. Under the advice of her then-husband and manager, Ted White, Franklin decided to sign with top R&B label, Atlantic Records, signing with them in December 1966. Following her success with Atlantic, Columbia began reissuing Franklin's Columbia material and releasing Columbia recordings that Franklin hadn't released before she left the label in an attempt to capitalize on her success.
Success with Atlantic (1967-1976)[link]
After signing with Atlantic, Franklin was sent to the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record her first songs with the label alongside the respected Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. It was in Muscle Shoals that Franklin cut her first Atlantic recording, the blues ballad "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)".[5] While busy recording another song at the studio, Franklin's husband and one of the musicians got into a drunken argument over Franklin, leading to the couple returning to their house in New York, where they hid for several weeks. Eventually, Franklin returned to record at New York's Atlantic Studios to finish her vocals on the song, "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man". "I Never Loved a Man" would be released in February 1967 and become Franklin's first significant hit single, reaching #9 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart. The b-side, "Do Right Woman", helped Aretha's first Atlantic single to become a double-sided hit on the R&B chart, where it peaked at #37.
In April, Atlantic issued her second single, the Otis Redding song, "Respect"[5], which was re-arranged by the song's producers Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin and Aretha into a gospel-sounding shouter with Franklin later incorporating call and response vocals with her two sisters, Erma and Carolyn present. With Wexler's allowance, Franklin added in the ad-lib, "r-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to me, r-e-s-p-e-c-t, take care, TCB", which led to her sisters afterwards shouting out, "sock it to me" repeatedly. Franklin would later insist the song's alleged sexual overtones were not what people insisted saying it was simply a female's response to her lover to show her respect. The song became a simultaneous #1 hit on the pop and R&B charts. Both songs helped its parent album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, to reach the top ten of the pop albums chart. Franklin's version of "Respect" later was hailed as a 1960s anthem. Franklin's hit streak continued throughout 1967 and 1968 with songs such as "Baby I Love You", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "Chain of Fools".[5] "Respect" later won Franklin her first two Grammys. She eventually won eight consecutive Grammys under the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category.[6]
During a 1967 performance in a Chicago dance, deejay Pervis Spann crowned Franklin a tiara and announced her as "Lady Soul". Franklin's hit streak continued with songs such as "Think" (also referred sometimes as "Freedom" due to Franklin's repeats of the word), "Ain't No Way", "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone", "The House That Jack Built" and "I Say a Little Prayer". Due to Franklin's earthier hits, her rendition of the latter song generated mild controversy due to her recording what had been strictly a sweet pop song recorded by Franklin's friend Dionne Warwick, however, the song turned out to be a huge success, eventually becoming a bigger hit in the UK where it reached #4. Franklin's albums such as Lady Soul (taken from the title she was given to in 1967) and Aretha Now became successful albums with Lady Soul boasting three top ten singles. Though she wouldn't take part in the civil rights movement of that time period, Franklin's songs, including "Respect" and "Think", were often used as a means of protest. Franklin insists however that she recorded the songs for fun as she was allowed to freely experiment with vocal styles in the studio. Around this time, Franklin used other background singers, including New Jersey backing group The Sweet Inspirations, to help her on recordings.
Franklin's hit streak was more modest throughout 1969 while Aretha battled personal problems including her filing for divorce from Ted White after eight years of an acrimonious marriage. After a break from the studio, she returned in mid-1969 and recorded "Share Your Love with Me" and the self-penned composition "Call Me", which was released in late 1969 and early 1970 respectively and returned Franklin to #1 on the R&B chart. Franklin also reinvented her style of dress and, as was the trend at the time, she wore an Afro hairstyle and adapted traditional African garb, influenced by the black nationalist movement that had started in the late 1960s. Franklin's success continued with her hit renditions of rock songs such as "The Weight", "Let It Be" and "Eleanor Rigby". Franklin's next album, Spirit in the Dark, included the hits "Spirit in the Dark" and "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)", which became a hit in the UK where Franklin promoted the single. The following year, Franklin became the first black artist to perform at Bill Graham's Fillmore West[7] where she later released a live album from the performance. Following these triumphs, Franklin was beginning to be referred to as "The Queen of Soul", a title which she's kept since.
Following the release of the 1971 hits, "Spanish Harlem" and the self-penned number "Rock Steady", Franklin issued the acclaimed Young, Gifted and Black album in early 1972 and had a follow-up hit with the ballad, "Day Dreaming". The album was also noted for Franklin recording the first cover of an Elton John song with Elton's song, "Border Song". Later in 1972, Franklin released her first gospel album in sixteen years with the Amazing Grace album, which became her most successful album in Atlantic Records, later reportedly selling over two million copies making it at that time the best-selling gospel album of all time. That record has since passed but Franklin's album still remains a huge seller. Franklin's success continued the following year with the release of the ballad, "Angel", which was co-penned by her sister Carolyn. The song was co-produced by Franklin and Quincy Jones, who together produced the concept album, Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky), which had initially started off as a jazz album. Though some noted the album for its risky experimentation of different styles, it wasn't totally received well by the Atlantic staff and some fans didn't know what to make of its direction. Following its release, Franklin began producing her own Atlantic albums after a renegotiation of her contract with the label. One of the first albums she released following her new deal was Let Me In Your Life, in 1974. The album returned Franklin, who was now adapting a more glamorous figure, to the top 40 thanks to the hits, "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" and "I'm in Love" and a sensual cover of the Marvin Gaye single, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing".
By the release of 1974's With Everything I Feel in Me and 1975's You, however, Franklin's success had started to peak. Having relocated to Los Angeles, Franklin's recordings suffered from dismal promotion and changing musical tastes as soul music started to lose its popularity with pop fans in the emergence of different genres such as hard rock, heavy metal, funk and disco. The albums weren't hits and no song from any of those albums were huge hits, leading to a fallout between Franklin and Atlantic Records, which had started with the label's embrace of British hard rock group Led Zeppelin and softer R&B vocalist Roberta Flack, no longer making Franklin the top priority artist she had been since signing with the label. To make matters worse, in 1976, her eight-year streak of winning a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, was broken by Natalie Cole. However, that year, Franklin found renewed success with the Curtis Mayfield production, Sparkle, which spawned the #1 R&B hit, "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" and going gold.
Fallout with Atlantic and first Arista recordings (1977-1984)[link]
However, the success wouldn't last long. Franklin's next three albums, the Lamont Dozier and Carole Bayer Sager-produced Sweet Passion, the Mayfield produced Almighty Fire and the Van McCoy-produced La Diva tanked on the charts and no single released from those albums charted on the Hot 100 during this tumultuous period. Franklin continued performing in the US and worldwide but was now building a reputation on living comfortably off royalties so that she only performed on occasion rather than as normal procedure. Aretha would later win the masters off her post-1974 Atlantic recordings. Following the release of La Diva in 1979, Atlantic decided not to renew her contract.
In 1980, Franklin gained something of a new audience after a cameo appearance in The Blues Brothers film where she appeared as the wife of Matt "Guitar" Murphy and engages in a brief war of words with Dan Aykroyd's and John Belushi's characters Elwood and Jake Blues, over Murphy leaving his restaurant to perform with them again in which Franklin afterwards performed "Think". Afterwards, Franklin signed a contract with Clive Davis' Arista Records label. Later in 1980, she issued the Aretha album, which featured a minor hit, "United Together", which became a #3 R&B hit. The music on Aretha and its 1981 follow-up, Love All the Hurt Away, furthered Franklin away from earthy soul and into a more glossier and conservative form of R&B music labeled as urban contemporary. The title track off her 1981 album produced another R&B hit with duet vocals provided by George Benson.
In 1982, Franklin returned to the top of the R&B charts with the Jump to It album boasted by the success of the title track, which became her first number-one R&B single in five years. The album also became her first to go gold after her first two Arista albums had failed to reach that position. The album was produced by then R&B hitmaker Luther Vandross, who was then called in to produce Franklin's follow-up, 1983's Get It Right. However, that record failed, selling less than 200,000 copies, despite the title track becoming another number-one R&B hit for Franklin.
Success with Arista (1985-1998)[link]
Following its release and the subsequent death of her minister father, C. L., in 1984, Franklin laid low for a few months before returning to the studio in her native Detroit to record her next Arista album which was later titled, Who's Zoomin' Who? The inspiration behind the making of the album was due to Aretha listening to the radio and liking what she heard and opted for "a younger sound".[8] This album was produced by rising producer Narada Michael Walden. The album included dance, pop and modern rock elements and would return Franklin to the top ten of the pop charts. "Freeway of Love" became her biggest hit in years reaching #3 on the pop chart and #1 R&B while the follow-up, "Who's Zoomin' Who" reached #7 pop and #2 R&B and was co-penned by Franklin, partly because she inspired the song title. A third single, "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves", featuring the Eurythmics, peaked at #18 on the pop charts. The videos for "Freeway of Love" and "Sisters" made Franklin popular with music video audiences and her success was compared to another sixties R&B contemporary, Tina Turner's own groundbreaking success years after leaving Ike Turner.
Franklin followed up this success with the Aretha album in 1986. The album spawned another series of hits including "Jimmy Lee", a cover of the Rolling Stones hit "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and the #1 George Michael duet, "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me" later going gold. To help promote the album, Franklin filmed a Showtime concert TV special. Around this time, Franklin also contributed her voice to several TV networks including a theme song for ABC TV titled "Together" in 1986[9] and the hit series, "A Different World", where her rendition of the theme song remained part of the show from its second season in 1988 through its fifth season in 1992. However, Franklin's success was not as long lasting. Due to an accident in a plane she suffered in 1983, Franklin missed schedule for performances overseas which caused a pain for Arista promoters overseas. Also a problem was Franklin's vocals, which was starting to hamper after years of cigarette smoking. Franklin started adapting to a raspier, low tone starting with performances in 1982 and 1983. In spite of this, she remained a popular concert draw. In 1987, Franklin recorded her first gospel album in fifteen years, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, in hopes of having similar success with that record as she had had with Amazing Grace. However, the album failed to find an audience. Franklin returned to the pop charts in 1989 with the release of the Elton John duet, "Through the Storm" and the subsequent release of the album of the same name. However, the album failed to become a success and a much publicized duet with fellow label mate and chart-topping singer Whitney Houston titled "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" failed to bring much notice peaking below the top 40.
Franklin's attempt at revamping her sound with new jack swing productions in the 1991 album, What You See Is What You Sweat was badly received and was another commercial failure. Following this, Franklin quit chain smoking and spent the next several years reviving parts of her vocal style. In 1994, she contributed to the Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit soundtrack recording the dance song, "A Deeper Love", which became Franklin's biggest single in years reaching #5 in the UK. Later that year, following the release of an Arista best-of, Franklin recorded the Babyface compositions, "Honey" and "Willing to Forgive", with the latter single becoming her first top 40 single in five years. Franklin later contributed vocals to the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack recording the song "It Hurts Like Hell" and following a couple years on the road, recorded the hit album, A Rose Is Still a Rose, which success was mainly due to the success of its title track, which became her last top 40 single on the Billboard Hot 100 nearly 40 years after recording her first one. Throughout 1998, Franklin had success with TV performances including the 1998 Grammys when she performed Luciano Pavarotti's rendition of the opera ballad, "Nessun Dorma", generating a standing ovation at the end of her performance, and a show-stopping performance at VH-1's Divas Live.
Later work (1999-present)[link]
In 1999, Franklin issued her autobiography, Aretha: From These Roots. Franklin would not release her next album until 2003 when she issued the album, So Damn Happy. In between then, she contributed to albums and songs by several artists including K-Ci and JoJo on a song titled "Angel", and Mary J. Blige on the song, "Don't Waste Your Time", featured on Blige's 1999 album, Mary. The So Damn Happy album featured a minor R&B hit with "Wonderful", which later nabbed Franklin another Grammy. After the release of So Damn Happy, Franklin decided to not renew her contract with Arista after 23 years with the label. In 2004, she began work on her album, A Woman Falling Out of Love, due to be the first release off her dormant Aretha's Records, in 2005. In the meantime, Arista released a duets compilation, 2007's Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen, which featured another minor R&B hit with the Fantasia duet, "Put You Up on Game". That same year, Franklin issued her first Christmas album, This Christmas, Aretha, which was initially released as a Borders Group exclusive and was later issued on the DMI label.
In 2008, she won her 18th career Grammy in the gospel category on the song "Never Break My Faith" with Mary J. Blige. A year after, she received news for performing at the inauguration for then newly elected President Barack Obama performing the song "My Country 'Tis of Thee", with her attire, including her church hat, becoming a popular item online and the subject of several internet memes. The following year, Franklin received an honorary music degree from Yale.[10] By 2010, Franklin announced that she had sold her rights to movie producers to produce a biopic on her in which would be loosely based off Franklin's 1999 memoirs, Aretha: From These Roots. Franklin had initially planned for Halle Berry to play her in the featured role but Berry turned down her offer in January 2011. Franklin has since picked singer Audra McDonald to play her.
In May 2011, commemorating on her 50th anniversary since the release of her first non-gospel recording, Franklin issued her 38th studio release, A Woman Falling Out of Love through WalMart. Franklin recorded two duets with longtime friend, Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers, recording "The Way We Were" on Aretha's album, while recording "You've Got a Friend" on Isley's record, Mr. I. Later in September, Franklin contributed duet vocals to the Tony Bennett rendition of "How Do You Keep The Music Playing" off his Duets II album.
Personal life[link]
Children[link]
Aretha, by her own admission grew up fast as a child and discovered boys at the age of thirteen, getting pregnant just three months after becoming a teenager. A relationship with one boy led to the birth of her first son, Clarence, named after her father, on March 28, 1956, just three days after she turned 14. In January 1957, before reaching 15, Franklin had another son, Edward, with another boy.[11] She never identified by name the father of either child. Her grandmother, Rachel, raised the boys while Aretha pursued her singing career. Rachel lived in a guest house behind C.L. Franklin's LaSalle Street home. (The Franklin family moved from their home on Boston Street in Detroit's North End section to LaSalle Street during the late 1950s.)
Franklin had a third son, Ted White, Jr. (sometimes referred to as Teddy Richards), with her manager and former family friend Ted White, Sr., born in 1964. Teddy is the musical director and guitarist of his mother's touring band.[12] A relationship with road manager Ken Cunningham produced a fourth son, Kecalf, who was named after the first initials of their parents' names.[13] Kecalf, her youngest-born child, was born three days after his mother's 28th birthday. In 2010, Aretha's son Edward was attacked by three people at a Detroit gas station near Plymouth Road and Evergreen.[14][15] Kecalf Franklin, Aretha's youngest son, is currently a rapper and produces gospel recordings.[16]
Marriages[link]
Against her father's wishes, Aretha married her first husband, Ted White, in front of a justice of the peace in Ohio in 1961 when she was nineteen. White later replaced Aretha's father as her manager in 1967. According to close friends, White was physically abusive and it's suggested White's physical abuse and philandering were the cause of Franklin's heart-wrenching vocals on her best-known recordings during the Atlantic years. Her producer, Jerry Wexler once called Franklin "the lady of mysterious sorrows" since Aretha didn't tell anyone her personal story. Following a 1968 cover article in Time magazine in which her abusive marriage and a claim that her mother abandoned her at a young age led Franklin to not give any interviews to media groups and increasing her privacy.
After ending her affair with Ken Cunningham after a seven-year on-again, off-again relationship, Franklin married actor Glynn Turman on April 11, 1978 at her father's New Bethel Baptist Church with her father presiding over the ceremony. Aretha became a surrogate stepmother to Turman's three children from a previous marriage. Due to their schedules, however, it wasn't long before their marriage fell apart despite living together in Franklin's mansion in Encino. In late 1982, Franklin and Turman separated after only four years, eventually divorcing in early 1984. In early 2012, it was reported that Franklin was set to walk down the aisle a third time with her longtime companion Willie Wilkerson.[17][18] Franklin and Wilkerson had plans to marry in 1987 but later nixed those plans. Within a month after Aretha had announced the wedding this year, she nixed the plans again.
Relatives, other romances and friends[link]
Franklin's sisters Erma Franklin and Carolyn Franklin were professional singers and sang as backup for Aretha during her initial success at Atlantic. Her brother, the Reverend Cecil Franklin, took over as her manager after her divorce from Ted White was finalized. Cecil remained her manager until his death from cancer on December 26, 1989. Younger sister Carolyn preceded Cecil in death in early 1988 from breast cancer while Erma Franklin later died from throat cancer in 2002. Franklin's eldest half-brother, Vaughn (born December 24, 1934) and elder half-sister Carl Kelley (née Jennings; born 1940) are still alive. Kelley is C.L. Franklin's daughter by Mildred Jennings, a then 12-year-old congregant of New Salem Baptist Church of Memphis, Tennessee, where C.L. was pastor in the late 1930s and early 1940s.[19] Franklin was close to her minister father, C. L. Franklin. C. L. served as Franklin's first manager, a position he gave up to Ted White around 1967. Aretha was performing in Las Vegas on June 10, 1979 when her father was shot by attempted robbers at his LaSalle Street home in Detroit. Aretha and her family returned their father back to his home six months after the shooting left him in a coma. Aretha moved back to Detroit at the end of 1982 to assist with the care of her father, who died in a nursing home on July 27, 1984.
Aretha's relationship with road manager Ken Cunningham was on and off from 1969 until a final breakup in 1976. During one breakup in 1971, Franklin, living back in northwest Detroit, had a brief liaison with Temptations star Dennis Edwards. The relationship inspired Franklin's hit, "Day Dreaming". Franklin and Edwards' romance cooled quickly but they've remained friends. Aretha is also friendly with many of her Detroit peers that went on to be music superstars including Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. She was friendly with members of the Four Tops as well, later singing with them on several records in the 1980s. Franklin also had a close friendship with Sam Cooke after meeting as gospel performers. Following Cooke's death, Franklin recorded his songs "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "You Send Me".
Franklin grew close with Sweet Inspirations founder Cissy Houston, who sang background on Franklin's "Ain't No Way".[20] Due to this friendship, she was later made honorary aunt of Cissy's daughter, Whitney Houston, who often referred to Franklin as "Auntie Ree".[21] Franklin recalled meeting Whitney at either 8 or 9 years old when Whitney's mother brought her to a recording studio.[22] Sometime in the 1980s, a PR mistake listed Franklin as Houston's godmother. On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston died in Beverly Hills from unknown causes.[23] Aretha was devastated by her death and said it was "so stunning and unbelievable".[23] She planned to perform at the memorial service on February 18, but her representative claimed that Aretha was "ill" and was "not performing at the memorial service", though she later performed at New York's Radio City Music Hall on the same night.[24][25]
Weight issues, health problems, surgery and rumors of cancer[link]
Franklin acknowledged her issues with her weight in the past even telling an interviewer from Jet magazine that she was always trying to lose weight. Before undergoing surgery for an undisclosed ailment that halted her schedule in 2010, Franklin had begun losing weight. According to the singer in 2011, she said she had lost up to 85 lbs in weight following her surgery. In the past, Franklin had went through periods of yo-yo dieting, at one time, losing over 100 pounds showing off her weight loss on the cover of Ebony magazine in 1974. Franklin managed to keep the weight off until after 1982. After another slim period in the early '90s, and after quitting cigarettes cold turkey in 1991, Franklin's weight started to balloon up. In 2010, Franklin suffered a pain in her side which she said, "was so hard it almost brought me to my knees." After continuing a concert tour, the pain recurred, and she subsequently underwent surgery for an undisclosed ailment in October 2010, ending several engagements with Condoleeza Rice. At this time, rumors surfaced that she was suffering from pancreatic cancer. In discussing the events in 2011, she has said that this was not the case and that her doctor told her, "the surgery that you just had is going to add 15 to 20 more years to your life."[26]
Connection to the Civil Rights Movement[link]
Franklin’s music and civil rights involvement cannot be separated for it was through music, which Franklin was able to reach out to so many and empower those who had felt so long oppressed.
Aretha Franklin first became connected with the civil rights movement through her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin. Rev. Franklin was an influential preacher who traveled the country as well as recorded a weekly sermon for the radio station, WLAC, which reached 65 percent of the African-American population. It was these same tours that Aretha would begin her singing career.[27] Rev. Franklin would also introduce Aretha to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. starting a life long friendship between the two.
It was Franklin's soulful sound, which would become the driving anthem of the civil rights movement or as poet Nikki Giovanni put it “the voice of the civil rights movement, the voice of the black America”.[28]
Through Franklin’s album ‘I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You’, hit ‘Respect’ rose to the top. Her strong voice asking for something as simple as respect reflects the cries of the civil rights movement. Her lyrics mirror that of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. Most notably the lines “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children”.[29] While the civil rights movement was already in motion before Franklin became a prominent figure she had now lent it a soundtrack.
Franklin did not have to do much to help propel the civil rights movement. “Her own sense of pride and her dignified stance, she represented the new black woman of the late 1960s”.[13] Franklin’s own sound and presence were enough to reflect the ideas of the movement and were what caused her to become a notable figure in the cause.
Franklin was not actively heading demonstrations or participating in sit-ins, but she was able to do her part and use her talent to help the movement. She would numerous times perform at rallies with King, lending her voice and fame to pull in crowds. Franklin is a registered Democrat.[30]
Awards and achievements[link]
- On June 28, 1968 she became the second African-American woman to appear on the cover of TIME magazine.[31]
- On August 1, 1968, she sang the National Anthem at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, IL.
- In 1985, then-Gov. James Blanchard of Michigan declared her voice “a natural resource” during a ceremony that marked her 25 years in show business.
- Aretha Franklin is one of three musicians, along with Madonna & Marvin Gaye, to have singles peak at each of the top 10 positions on the US Billboard Hot 100.
- On January 20, 1987, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[32]
- On March 29, 1987, Franklin sang "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania III.
- In September 1999, she was awarded The National Medal of Arts by President Clinton.
- In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked her ninth on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[33]
- In 2005, she was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.
- In 2005, she became the second woman (Madonna being the first) to be inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
- In 2005, Franklin was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.[34]
- On February 6, 2006, she performed, along with Aaron Neville, "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XL.
- On May 13, 2006, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the Berklee College of Music.
- On April 1, 2007 Aretha sang "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania 23.
- On May 14, 2007, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
- In 2007, Aretha Franklin's recording of "Respect" was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.[35]
- Is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority
- On February 8, 2008, Franklin was honored as MusiCares "Person of the Year".
- On February 14, 2008, Franklin was given the Vanguard award at the NAACP Image awards.
- On May 4, 2008, Franklin was given the Key to the City of Memphis at the 2008 "Memphis in May International Music Festival" by Mayor Dr. Willie Herenton during her performance onstage.
- On September 13, 2008, Franklin was ranked No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists list by Billboard.[36]
- November 2008, Franklin was named by Rolling Stone as the No. 1 all-time best singer of the rock era, according to the magazine's survey of 179 musicians, producers, Rolling Stone editors, and other music industry insiders.[37]
- On January 20, 2009, Franklin performed "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" during the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama.
- On May 23, 2010, Franklin received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Yale University.[38]
- On June 1, 2010, Aretha Franklin's recording of "Chain Of Fools" was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.[35]
- On February 13, 2011, the Grammy Awards paid tribute to Franklin with a medley of her classics by fellow singers Christina Aguilera, Florence Welch, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and Yolanda Adams[39]
- On October 16, 2011, Franklin sang "Precious Lord (Take My Hand)" for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s memorial dedication ceremony in Washington, D.C.
- On August 14, 2012, Franklin will be inducted to the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
Grammy Awards[link]
Franklin has won 18[40] performance Grammy Awards,[41] and two honorary Grammys: the Grammy Legend Award (1991) and the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award (1994).[42]
She holds the record[citation needed] for most Best Female R&B Vocal Performance awards, with eleven to her name (including eight consecutive awards from 1968 to 1975 – the first eight awarded in that category).
| Aretha Franklin's 18 Grammy Award Wins | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Year | Category | Genre | Title |
| 1 | 1968 | Best Rhythm & Blues Recording | R&B | Respect |
| 2 | 1968 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Respect |
| 3 | 1969 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Chain Of Fools |
| 4 | 1970 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Share Your Love With Me |
| 5 | 1971 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Don't Play That Song For Me |
| 6 | 1972 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Bridge Over Troubled Water |
| 7 | 1973 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Young, Gifted and Black (album) |
| 8 | 1973 | Best Soul Gospel Performance | Gospel | Amazing Grace (album) |
| 9 | 1974 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Master Of Eyes |
| 10 | 1975 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing |
| 11 | 1982 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Hold On...I'm Comin' (album track) |
| 12 | 1986 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Freeway Of Love |
| 13 | 1988 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Aretha (album) |
| 14 | 1988 | Best R&B Performance – Duo Or Group with Vocals | R&B | I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) (with George Michael) |
| 15 | 1989 | Best Soul Gospel Performance – Female | Gospel | One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism (album) |
| * | 1991 | Living Legend Award | Special | |
| * | 1994 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Special | |
| 16 | 2004 | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Wonderful |
| 17 | 2006 | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | A House Is Not A Home |
| 18 | 2008 | Best Gospel-Soul Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | Gospel | Never Gonna Break My Faith (with Mary J. Blige) |
Discography[link]
Further information: Aretha Franklin discography
LPs[link]
- Songs of Faith (1956)
- Aretha (1961)
- The Electrifying Aretha Franklin ' (1962)
- The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin' (1962)
- Laughing on the Outside (1963)
- Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington (1964)
- Runnin' Out of Fools (1964)
- Yeah!!! In Person (1965)
- Soul Sister (1966)
- Take It Like You Give It (1967)
- I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967)
- Aretha Arrives (1967)
- Lady Soul (1968)
- Aretha Now (1968)
- Soul '69 (1969)
- This Girl's in Love with You (1970)
- Spirit in the Dark (1970)
- Young, Gifted and Black (1972)
- Amazing Grace (1972)
- Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (1973)
- Let Me in Your Life (1974)
- With Everything I Feel in Me (1974)
- You (1975)
- Sparkle (1976)
- Sweet Passion (1977)
- Almighty Fire (1978)
- La Diva (1979)
- Aretha (1980)
- Love All the Hurt Away (1981)
- Jump to It (1982)
- Get It Right (1983)
- Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985)
- Aretha (1986)
- One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism (1987)
- Through the Storm (1989)
- What You See Is What You Sweat (1991)
- A Rose Is Still a Rose (1998)
- So Damn Happy (2003)
- This Christmas, Aretha (2008)
- A Woman Falling Out of Love (2011)
Top 10 US Hot 100 singles[link]
| Year | Title | Peak |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 | "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" | 9 |
| 1967 | "Respect" | 1 |
| 1967 | "Baby I Love You" | 4 |
| 1967 | "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" | 8 |
| 1967 | "Chain of Fools" | 2 |
| 1968 | "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" | 5 |
| 1968 | "Think" | 7 |
| 1968 | "The House That Jack Built" | 6 |
| 1968 | "I Say a Little Prayer" | 10 |
| 1971 | "Bridge Over Troubled Water" / "Brand New Me" | 6 |
| 1971 | "Spanish Harlem" | 2 |
| 1971 | "Rock Steady" | 9 |
| 1972 | "Day Dreaming" | 5 |
| 1973 | "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" | 3 |
| 1985 | "Freeway of Love" | 3 |
| 1985 | "Who's Zoomin' Who" | 7 |
| 1987 | "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (with George Michael) | 1 |
Source:[43]
All no. 1 hits in US R&B 100 singles[link]
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1967 | "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" |
| 1967 | "Respect" |
| 1967 | "Baby I Love You" |
| 1967 | "Chain of Fools" |
| 1968 | "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" |
| 1968 | "Think" |
| 1969 | "Share Your Love with Me" |
| 1970 | "Call Me" |
| 1970 | "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" |
| 1971 | "Bridge Over Troubled Water" / "Brand New Me" |
| 1971 | "Spanish Harlem" |
| 1972 | "Day Dreaming" |
| 1973 | "Angel" |
| 1973 | "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" |
| 1974 | "I'm in Love" |
| 1976 | "Something He Can Feel" |
| 1977 | "Break It to Me Gently" |
| 1982 | "Jump to It" |
| 1983 | "Get It Right" |
| 1985 | "Freeway of Love" |
Source:[43]
Filmography[link]
Movies / Concerts / Documentaries[link]
- The Blues Brothers (1980)
- Motown 40: The Music Is Forever (1998) (ABC-TV documentary)
- Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
- DIVAS LIVE (1998)
- Immaculate Funk (2000) (documentary)
- Rhythm, Love and Soul (2002)
- Tom Dowd & the Language of Music (2003) (documentary)
- Singing in the Shadow: The Children of Rock Royalty (2003) (documentary)
- From The Heart / The Four Tops 50th Anniversary and Celebration (2004)
- Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built (2007) (documentary)
Television[link]
- The Tonight Show / Johnny Carson
- The Mike Douglas Show
- In 1972, she had a role in the TV show Room 222
- Solid Gold (numerous appearances with the last in 1982 performing "Jump To It")
- Kelly & Company (Marilyn Turner and John Kelly, Detroit)
- Dayna (Dayna Eubanks, fomer Detroit newscaster)
- Rolonda Show (Rolonda Watts)
- The Oprah Winfrey Show (numerous appearances including Oprah's 40th birthday, with Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight)
- Live with Regis and Kelly (numerous appearances)
- The View
References[link]
- ^ "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone (1066): 73. November 27, 2008. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/6027/32782/32784. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
- ^ Waxler, Jerry. "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231/aretha-franklin-19691231. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
- ^ "Sister Ree's Scrapbook, An Aretha Franklin Photo Gallery 13". http://www.morethings.com/music/aretha_franklin/photo_gallery13.htm. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ^ Dave Hoekstra (12 May 2011). "Aretha Franklin’s roots of soul". Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/5151565-421/roots--of-soul.html. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ a b c d Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 52 – The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 8] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19834/m1.
- ^ Natalie Cole broke Franklin's "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" winning streak with her 1975 single "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" (which, ironically, was originally offered to Franklin).
- ^ "Aretha Franklin songs". http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/aretha-franklin/songs. – from the Bill Graham archives; requires free login.
- ^ Rolling Stone magazine, "Aretha Franklin's New Wave of Pop" by Eliza Graham, page 11.
- ^ Patrick Goldstein (18 July 1986). "Writer`s Ballad Tapped For Abc-tv Fall Theme". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-07-18/features/8602120160_1_abc-tv-aretha-franklin-brock-walsh. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ Rosenthal, Lauren (May 24, 2010). "Univ. confers 3,243 degrees at 309th Commencement". Yale Daily News. http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2010/may/24/univ-confers-3243-degrees-at-309th-commencement. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
- ^ Nick Salvatore (2005). Singing in a Strange Land: C.L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America. Little Brown. pp. 203–204, 224. ISBN 0-316-16037-7. OCLC 56104283. http://books.google.com/books?id=bRDAQSK9DlkC&pg=PA203.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin gets engaged". NDTV. 3 January 2012. http://www.ndtv.com/article/music/aretha-franklin-gets-engaged-163296. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ a b Bego, Mark (1989). Aretha Franklin: The Queen Of Soul. New York: St.Martin's Press. p. page #s?. ISBN 0-306-8093-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=ErKigdCXUwoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bego,+Mark.+Aretha+Franklin:+the+queen+of+soul&hl=en&ei=s3nhToWzL-je2QXPqYjMBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Bego%2C%20Mark.%20Aretha%20Franklin%3A%20the%20queen%20of%20soul&f=false.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin's 52-year-old son hospitalised after brutal attack at Detroit gas station". Daily Mail. 22 September 2010. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1314055/Aretha-Franklins-son-Eddie-hospitalised-Detroit-gas-station-attack.html. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin's son has been released from hospital after being beaten in Detroit". Action News. September 21, 2010. http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/homepage_showcase/aretha-franklin%27s-son-severely-beaten-in-detroit.
- ^ "Franklin previews new album at Detroit restaurant". Journal Register Company. 27 February 2010. http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2010/02/27/entertainment/srv0000007709849.txt. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Soul singer Aretha Franklin is engaged". CNN. January 2, 2012. http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/02/showbiz/aretha-franklin-engaged/?hpt=hp_c2.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin to get married this summer | Celebrity Buzz | a Chron.com blog". Blog.chron.com. 2012-01-02. http://blog.chron.com/celebritybuzz/2012/01/aretha-franklin-to-get-married-this-summer/. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ Salvatore, Nick, Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America, Little Brown, 2005, Hardcover ISBN 0-316-16037-7, pp. 61–62
- ^ Roger Friedman (17 February 2012). "Who Is Cissy Houston? A Primer". Showbiz411. http://www.showbiz411.com/2012/02/17/who-is-cissy-houston-a-primer. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ Whitall, Susan. "Aretha Franklin recalls meeting a young Whitney Houston". The Queen of Soul corrected one thing about her relationship to Houston. She says she wasn't Houston's godmother, but a sort of honorary aunt.. The Detroit News. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120217/ENT09/202170397/1361/Aretha-Franklin-recalls-meeting-a-young-Whitney-Houston. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ Whitall, Susan. "Aretha Franklin recalls meeting a young Whitney Houston". Aretha Franklin, who will sing at Whitney Houston's funeral Saturday, spoke to Al Roker on the "Today" show Friday morning about the first time she met Houston, as a wide-eyed 8- or 9-year-old.. The Detroit News. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120217/ENT09/202170397/1361/Aretha-Franklin-recalls-meeting-a-young-Whitney-Houston. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Singer Whitney Houston dies at 48 - CNN.com". CNN. February 12, 2012. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/11/showbiz/whitney-houston-dead/?hpt=hp_t1.
- ^ "At Houston funeral, stories of faith, courage and love - CNN.com". CNN. February 19, 2012. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/18/showbiz/whitney-houston-funeral/index.html?hpt=hp_c1.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin - Calls in Sick to Whitney Houston's Funeral, But Performs in NYC That Night". TMZ.com. 2012-02-19. http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/19/whitney-houston-funeral-aretha-frranklin/#.T0HXQnJSSkU. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin Sets The Record Straight On Her Health". Access Hollywood. January 13, 2011. http://www.accesshollywood.com/aretha-franklin-sets-the-record-straight-on-her-health-i-dont-know-where-pancreatic-cancer-came-from_article_42228.
- ^ Carroll, Jillian (2004). Aretha Franklin. Chicago: Raintree. ISBN 0-7398-7029-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=7nhDFoq_iQEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Carroll,+Jillian.+Aretha+Franklin.&hl=en&ei=xXbhTui5Ks-msQLMyt32BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Carroll%2C%20Jillian.%20Aretha%20Franklin.&f=false.
- ^ Dobkin, Matt (2006). I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You: Aretha Franklin, Respect, and the Making Of A Soul Music Masterpiece. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-31828-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=lHJC0ne4zbAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=I+Never+Loved+A+Man+The+Way+I+Love+You:+Aretha+Franklin,+Respect,+and+the+Making+Of+A+Soul+Music+Masterpiece&hl=en&ei=03jhTtbkCeK3sQKRvKGLBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=I%20Never%20Loved%20A%20Man%20The%20Way%20I%20Love%20You%3A%20Aretha%20Franklin%2C%20Respect%2C%20and%20the%20Making%20Of%20A%20Soul%20Music%20Masterpiece&f=false.
- ^ Luther King, Jr., Martin. "I Have A Dream". I Have A Dream. http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/3504.html. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
- ^ On an ABC promo aired on July 27, 2010 announcing Franklin and Rice's appearing together in concert there was a segment in which Franklin was being interviewed and she said herself, "I am a Democrat".
- ^ "TIME Magazine Cover: Aretha Franklin". Time. June 28, 1968. http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19680628,00.html. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin Biography". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. undated. Archived from the original on November 27, 2010. http://rockhall.com/inductees/aretha-franklin/bio/.
- ^ "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone Issue 946. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939214/the_immortals_the_first_fifty.
- ^ Category: Inductees. "Aretha Franklin". Michigan Rock and Roll Legends. http://www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com/mrrl-hall-of-fame/70-aretha-franklin. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ a b Category: Uncategorised. "Legendary Michigan Songs". Michigan Rock and Roll Legends. http://www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com/legendary-michigan-songs-inductees. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists. Billboard.com. Retrieved on July 8, 2011.
- ^ Aretha Franklin greatest singer in rock era: poll. Music.yahoo.com (2008-11-11). Retrieved on July 8, 2011.
- ^ Franklin receives honorary doctorate from Yale. Newsone.com (2010-05-24). Retrieved on July 8, 2011.
- ^ Grammay Awards tribute to Aretha Franklin
- ^ According to NARAS rules,[where?] Special Grammy Awards (such as Lifetime Achievement) are not counted in a performer's tally.
- ^ "Past Winners Search: Aretha Franklin". Grammy.com. http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=Aretha+Franklin&title=&year=All&genre=All. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
- ^ Nechvatal, Zack (February 10, 2011). "Grammy Awards To Honor Aretha Franklin". Chicago, Illinois: WXRT/CBS Radio. Archived from the original on January 2, 2012. http://wxrt.radio.com/2011/02/10/grammy-awards-to-honor-aretha-franklin/. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ a b "Aretha Franklin: Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 3, 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090503075231/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/arethafranklin/biography. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
External links[link]
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Book: Aretha Franklin |
| Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. | |
- Aretha Franklin at Legacy Recordings
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Aretha Franklin at the Internet Movie Database
- Aretha Franklin at NPR Music
- Aretha Franklin collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Works by or about Aretha Franklin in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Aretha Franklin at Answers.com
- Aretha Franklin discography at Discogs
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Franklin, Aretha Louise |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | American singer |
| Date of birth | March 25, 1942 |
| Place of birth | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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This article is about the person. For her 1985 eponymous album, see Whitney Houston (album).
| Whitney Houston | |
|---|---|
 Whitney Houston performing at Good Morning America in Central Park on September 1, 2009 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Whitney Elizabeth Houston |
| Born | (1963-08-09)August 9, 1963 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | February 11, 2012(2012-02-11) (aged 48) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, soul, pop, dance, gospel |
| Occupations | Singer, actress, model, film producer, record producer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 1977–2012 |
| Labels | Arista, RCA |
| Associated acts | Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick, Dee Dee Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Jermaine Jackson, Mariah Carey, Enrique Iglesias, Bobby Brown |
| Website |
 Whitney Houston's autograph |
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all-time.[1] Houston was one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide.[2][3] She released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know",[4] influenced several African American female artists to follow in her footsteps.[5][6]
Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits.[7] She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only female artist to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly "Top Pop Album") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts.[8] Houston's 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a female act at the time of its release. The album was named Rolling Stone's best album of 1986, and was ranked at number 254 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[9] Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.[9]
Houston's first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992). The film's original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Its lead single "I Will Always Love You", became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history. With the album, Houston became the first act (solo or group, male or female) to sell more than a million copies of an album within a single week period under Nielsen SoundScan system.[9] The album makes her the top female act in the top 10 list of the best-selling albums of all time, at number four. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996). The Preacher's Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history.[10]
Contents
|
Life and career[link]
1963–1976: Early life[link]
Whitney Houston was born in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, the second child of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. (September 13, 1920 – February 2, 2003), and gospel singer Cissy Houston (née Emily Drinkard).[11] She was of African American, Native American and Dutch descent.[12] Her mother, along with cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, godmother Darlene Love[13] and honorary aunt Aretha Franklin[14] were all notable figures in the gospel, rhythm and blues, pop, and soul genres.[15] She met her honorary aunt at age 8, or 9, when her mother took her to a recording studio.[16] Houston was raised a Baptist, but was also exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1967 Newark riots, the family moved to a middle-class area in East Orange, New Jersey, when she was four.[17]
At the age of 11, Houston began to follow in her mother's footsteps and started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where she also learned to play the piano.[18] Her first solo performance in the church was "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah".[19] When Houston was a teenager, she attended Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a Catholic girls' high school in Caldwell, New Jersey, where she met her best friend Robyn Crawford, whom she described as the "sister she never had".[20] While Houston was still in school, her mother continued to teach her how to sing.[5] In addition to her mother, Franklin, and Warwick, Houston was also exposed to the music of Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Roberta Flack, most of whom would have an impact on her as a singer and performer.[21]
1977–1984: Early career[link]
Houston spent some of her teenage years touring nightclubs where her mother Cissy was performing, and she would occasionally get on stage and perform with her. In 1977, at age 14, she became a backup singer on the Michael Zager Band's single "Life's a Party".[22] In 1978, at age 15, Houston sang background vocals on Chaka Khan's hit single "I'm Every Woman", a song she would later turn into a larger hit for herself on her monster-selling The Bodyguard soundtrack album.[23][24] She also sang back-up on albums by Lou Rawls and Jermaine Jackson.[23]
In the early 1980s, Houston started working as a fashion model after a photographer saw her at Carnegie Hall singing with her mother. She appeared in Seventeen[25] and became one of the first women of color to grace the cover of the magazine.[26] She was also featured in layouts in the pages of Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Young Miss, and appeared in a Canada Dry soft drink TV commercial.[27] Her striking looks and girl-next-door charm made her one of the most sought after teen models of that time.[27] While modeling, she continued her burgeoning recording career by working with producers Michael Beinhorn, Bill Laswell and Martin Bisi on an album they were spearheading called One Down, which was credited to the group Material. For that project, Houston contributed the ballad "Memories", a cover of a song by Hugh Hopper of Soft Machine. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called her contribution "one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard".[28] She also appeared as a lead vocalist on one track on a Paul Jabara album, entitled Paul Jabara and Friends, released by Columbia Records in 1983.[29]
Houston had previously been offered several recording agencies (Michael Zager in 1980, and Elektra Records in 1981), however her mother declined the offers stating her daughter must first complete high school.[22][30] In 1983, Gerry Griffith, an A&R representative from Arista Records, saw her performing with her mother in a New York City nightclub and was impressed. He convinced Arista's head Clive Davis to make time to see Houston perform. Davis too was impressed and offered a worldwide recording contract which Houston signed. Later that year, she made her national televised debut alongside Davis on The Merv Griffin Show.[31]
Houston signed with Arista in 1983, but did not begin work on her album immediately.[1] The label wanted to make sure no other label signed the singer away. Davis wanted to ensure he had the right material and producers for Houston's debut album. Some producers had to pass on the project due to prior commitments.[32] Houston first recorded a duet with Teddy Pendergrass entitled "Hold Me" which appeared on his album, Love Language.[33] The single was released in 1984 and gave Houston her first taste of success, becoming a Top 5 R&B hit.[34] It would also appear on her debut album in 1985.
1985–1986: Rise to international prominence[link]
With production from Michael Masser, Kashif, Jermaine Jackson, and Narada Michael Walden, Houston's debut album Whitney Houston was released in February 1985. Rolling Stone magazine praised Houston, calling her "one of the most exciting new voices in years" while The New York Times called the album "an impressive, musically conservative showcase for an exceptional vocal talent".[35][36] Arista Records promoted Houston's album with three different singles from the album in the US, UK and other European countries. In the UK, the dance-funk "Someone for Me", which failed to chart in the country, was the first single while "All at Once" was in such European countries as the Netherlands and Belgium, where the song reached the top 5 on the singles charts, respectively.[37]
In the US, the soulful ballad "You Give Good Love" was chosen as the lead single from Houston's debut to establish her in the black marketplace first.[38] Outside the US, the song failed to get enough attention to become a hit, but in the US, it gave the album its first major hit as it peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 1 on the Hot R&B chart.[32] As a result, the album began to sell strongly, and Houston continued promotion by touring nightclubs in the US. She also began performing on late-night television talk shows, which were not usually accessible to unestablished black acts. The jazzy ballad "Saving All My Love for You" was released next and it would become Houston's first No. 1 single in both the US and the UK. She was then an opening act for singer Jeffrey Osborne on his nationwide tour. "Thinking About You" was released as the promo single only to R&B-oriented radio stations, which peaked at number ten on the US R&B Chart. At the time, MTV had received harsh criticism for not playing enough videos by black, Latino, and other racial minorities while favoring white acts.[39] The third US single, "How Will I Know", peaked at No. 1 and introduced Houston to the MTV audience thanks to its video. Houston's subsequent singles from this, and future albums, would make her the first African-American female artist to receive consistent heavy rotation on MTV.[26]
By 1986, a year after its initial release, Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 albums chart and stayed there for 14 non-consecutive weeks.[40] The final single, "Greatest Love of All", became Houston's biggest hit at the time after peaking No. 1 and remaining there for three weeks on the Hot 100 chart, which made her debut the first album by a female artist to yield three No. 1 hits. Houston was No. 1 artist of the year and Whitney Houston was the No. 1 album of the year on the 1986 Billboard year-end charts, making her the first female artist to earn that distinction.[40] At the time, Houston released the best-selling debut album by a solo artist.[41] Houston then embarked on her world tour, Greatest Love Tour. The album had become an international success, and was certified 13× platinum (diamond) in the United States alone, and has sold a total of 25 million copies worldwide.[42]
At the 1986 Grammy Awards, Houston was nominated for three awards including Album of the Year.[43] She was not eligible for the Best New Artist category due to her previous hit R&B duet recording with Teddy Pendergrass in 1984.[44] She won her first Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for "Saving All My Love for You".[45] Houston's performance of the song during the Grammy telecast later earned her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.[46]
Houston won seven American Music Awards in total in 1986 and 1987, and an MTV Video Music Award.[47][48] The album's popularity would also carry over to the 1987 Grammy Awards when "Greatest Love of All" would receive a Record of the Year nomination. Houston's debut album is listed as one of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and on The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200 list.[49][50] Houston's grand entrance into the music industry is considered one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years, according to USA Today.[51] Following Houston's breakthrough, doors were opened for other African-American female artists such as Janet Jackson and Anita Baker to find notable success in popular music and on MTV.[52][53]
[edit] 1987–1991: Whitney, I'm Your Baby Tonight and "The Star Spangled Banner"
With many expectations, Houston's second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987. The album again featured production from Masser, Kashif and Walden as well as Jellybean Benitez. Many critics complained that the material was too similar to her previous album. Rolling Stone said, "the narrow channel through which this talent has been directed is frustrating".[54] Still, the album enjoyed commercial success. Houston became the first female artist in music history to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and the first artist to enter the albums chart at number one in both the US and UK, while also hitting number one or top ten in dozens of other countries around the world. The album's first single, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)", was also a massive hit worldwide, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and topping the singles chart in many countries such as Australia, Germany and the UK. The next three singles, "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional", and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" all peaked at number one on the US Hot 100 chart, which gave her a total of seven consecutive number one hits, breaking the record of six previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees.[55][56] Houston became the first female artist to generate four number-one singles from one album. Whitney has been certified 9× Platinum in the US for shipments of over 9 million copies, and has sold a total of 20 million copies worldwide.[57]
At the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, Houston was nominated for three awards, including Album of the Year, winning her second Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)".[58][59] Houston also won two American Music Awards in 1988 and 1989, respectively, and a Soul Train Music Award.[60][61][62] Following the release of the album, Houston embarked on the Moment of Truth World Tour, which was one of the ten highest grossing concert tours of 1987.[63] The success of the tours during 1986–87 and her two studio albums ranked Houston No. 8 for the highest earning entertainers list according to Forbes magazine.[64] She was the highest earning African-American woman overall and the third highest entertainer after Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy.[64]
Houston was a supporter of Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement. During her modeling days, the singer refused to work with any agencies who did business with the then-apartheid South Africa.[65][66] On June 11, 1988, during the European leg of her tour, Houston joined other musicians to perform a set at Wembley Stadium in London to celebrate a then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday.[65] Over 72,000 people attended Wembley Stadium, and over a billion people tuned in worldwide as the rock concert raised over $1 million for charities while bringing awareness to apartheid.[67] Houston then flew back to the US for a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City in August. The show was a benefit concert that raised a quarter of a million dollars for the United Negro College Fund.[68] In the same year, she recorded a song for NBC's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, "One Moment in Time", which became a Top 5 hit in the US, while reaching number one in the UK and Germany.[69][70][71] With her world tour continuing overseas, Houston was still one of the top 20 highest earning entertainers for 1987–88 according to Forbes magazine.[72][73]
In 1989, Houston formed The Whitney Houston Foundation For Children, a non-profit organization that has raised funds for the needs of children around the world. The organization cares for homelessness, children with cancer or AIDS, and other issues of self-empowerment.[74] With the success of her first two albums, Houston was undoubtedly an international crossover superstar, the most prominent since Michael Jackson, appealing to all demographics. However, some black critics believed she was "selling out".[6] They felt her singing on record lacked the soul that was present during her live concerts.[25]
At the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, when Houston's name was called out for a nomination, a few in the audience jeered.[75][76] Houston defended herself against the criticism, stating, "If you're gonna have a long career, there's a certain way to do it, and I did it that way. I'm not ashamed of it".[25] Houston took a more urban direction with her third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight, released in November 1990. She produced and chose producers for this album and as a result, it featured production and collaborations with L.A. Reid and Babyface, Luther Vandross, and Stevie Wonder. The album showed Houston's versatility on a new batch of tough rhythmic grooves, soulful ballads and up-tempo dance tracks. Reviews were mixed. Rolling Stone felt it was her "best and most integrated album".[77] while Entertainment Weekly, at the time thought Houston's shift towards an urban direction was "superficial".[78]
The album contained several hits: the first two singles, "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All the Man That I Need" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; "Miracle" peaked at number nine; "My Name Is Not Susan" peaked in the top twenty; "I Belong to You" reached the top ten of the US R&B chart and garnered Houston a Grammy nomination; and the sixth single, the Stevie Wonder duet "We Didn't Know", reached the R&B top twenty. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified 4× platinum in the US while selling twelve million total worldwide.
File:W. Houston & G. Bush at White house.jpg
Houston met with President George H. W. Bush in the Oval Office in 1990, while in Washington, D.C., to participate in the Youth Leadership Forum
In 1990, Houston was the spokesperson for a youth leadership conference hosted in Washington, D.C. She had a private audience with President George H. W. Bush in the Oval Office to discuss the associated challenges.
With America entangled in the Persian Gulf War, Houston performed "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV at Tampa Stadium on January 27, 1991.[79] Due to overwhelming response to her rendition, it was released as a commercial single and video of her performance, and reached the Top 20 on the US Hot 100, making her the only act to turn the national anthem into a pop hit of that magnitude (Jose Feliciano's version reached No. 50 in November 1968).[80][81] Houston donated all her share of the proceeds to the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund. As a result, the singer was named to the Red Cross Board of Governors.[79][82][83]
Her rendition was considered the benchmark for singers and critically acclaimed.[84] Rolling Stone commented that "her singing stirs such strong patriotism. Unforgettable", and the performance ranked No. 1 on the 25 most memorable music moments in NFL history list. VH1 listed the performance as one of the greatest moments that rocked TV.[85][86] Following the attacks on 9/11, it was released again by Arista Records, all profits going towards the firefighters and victims of the attacks. This time it peaked at No. 6 in the Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.[87]
Later in 1991, Houston put together her Welcome Home Heroes concert with HBO for the soldiers fighting in the Persian Gulf War and their families. The free concert took place at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia in front of 3,500 servicemen and women. HBO descrambled the concert so that it was free for everyone to watch.[88] Houston's concert gave HBO its highest ratings ever.[89] She then embarked on the I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour.
[edit] 1992–1994: Marriage to Bobby Brown and The Bodyguard
Throughout the 1980s, Houston was romantically linked to American football star Randall Cunningham and actor Eddie Murphy, whom she dated.[90] She then met R&B singer Bobby Brown at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards. After a three-year courtship, the two were married on July 18, 1992.[91] On March 4, 1993, Houston gave birth to their daughter Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown, her only child, and his fourth. Brown would go on to have several run-ins with the law, including some jail time.[91]
With the commercial success of her albums, movie offers poured in, including offers to work with Robert De Niro, Quincy Jones, and Spike Lee; but Houston felt the time wasn't right.[90] Houston's first film role was in The Bodyguard, released in 1992 and co-starring Kevin Costner. Houston played Rachel Marron, a star who is stalked by a crazed fan and hires a bodyguard to protect her. USA Today listed it as one of the 25 most memorable movie moments of the last 25 years in 2007.[92] Houston's mainstream appeal allowed people to look at the movie color-blind.[93]
Still, controversy arose as some felt the film's advertising intentionally hid Houston's face to hide the film's interracial relationship. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1993, the singer commented that "people know who Whitney Houston is – I'm black. You can't hide that fact."[21] Houston received a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress. The Washington Post said Houston is "doing nothing more than playing Houston, comes out largely unscathed if that is possible in so cockamamie an undertaking",[94] and The New York Times commented that she lacked passion with her co-star.[95] Despite the film's mixed reviews, it was hugely successful at the box office, grossing more than $121 million in the U.S. and $410 million worldwide, making it one of the top 100 grossing films in film history at its time of release, though it is no longer in the top 100 due to rising ticket prices since the time the film was released.[96]
The film's soundtrack also enjoyed big success. Houston executive produced and contributed six songs for the motion picture's adjoining soundtrack album. Rolling Stone said it is "nothing more than pleasant, tasteful and urbane".[97] The soundtrack's lead single was "I Will Always Love You", written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton in 1974. Houston's version of the song was acclaimed by many critics, regarding it as her "signature song" or "iconic performance". Rolling Stone and USA Today called her rendition "the tour-de-force".[98][99] The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-breaking 14 weeks, number one on the R&B chart for a then-record-breaking 11 weeks, and number one on the Adult Contemporary charts for five weeks, thus becoming the first single to top those three charts simultaneously for five weeks.[100]
The single was certified 4× platinum by the RIAA, making Houston the first female artist with a single to reach that level in the RIAA history and becoming the best-selling single by a female artist in the US.[101][102][103] The song also became a global success, hitting number-one in almost all countries, and one of the best-selling singles of all time with 12 million copies sold.[104] The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 chart and remained there for 20 non-consecutive weeks, the longest tenure by any album on the chart in the Nielsen SoundScan era, and became one of the fastest selling albums ever.[105] During Christmas week of 1992, the soundtrack sold over a million copies within a week, becoming the first album to achieve that feat under Nielsen SoundScan system.[106][107] With the follow-up singles "I'm Every Woman", a Chaka Khan cover, and "I Have Nothing" both reaching the top five, Houston became the first female artist to ever have three singles in the Top 11 simultaneously.[108][109][110] The album was certified 17× platinum in the US alone,[111] with worldwide sales of 44 million,[112] making The Bodyguard the biggest-selling album by a female act on the list of the world's Top 10 best-selling albums, topping Shania Twain's 40 million sold for Come On Over.[113]
Houston won three Grammys for the album in 1994, including two of the Academy's highest honors, Album of the Year and Record of the Year. In addition, she won a record 8 American Music Awards at that year's ceremony including the Award of Merit,[114] 11 Billboard Music Awards, 3 Soul Train Music Awards in 1993–94 including Sammy Davis, Jr. Award as Entertainer of the Year,[115] 5 NAACP Image Awards including Entertainer of the Year,[116][117][118] a record 5 World Music Awards,[119] and a BRIT award.[120] Following the success of the project, Houston embarked on another expansive global tour, The Bodyguard World Tour, in 1993–94. Her concerts, movie, and recording grosses made her the third highest earning female entertainer of 1993–94, just behind Oprah Winfrey and Barbra Streisand according to Forbes magazine.[121] Houston placed in the top five of Entertainment Weekly's annual "Entertainer of the Year" ranking[122] and was labeled by Premiere magazine as one of the 100 most powerful people in Hollywood.[123]
In October 1994, Houston attended and performed at a state dinner in the White House honoring newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela.[124][125] At the end of her world tour, Houston performed three concerts in South Africa to honor President Mandela, playing to over 200,000 people. This would make the singer the first major musician to visit the newly unified and apartheid free nation following Mandela's winning election.[126] The concert was broadcast live on HBO with funds of the concerts being donated to various charities in South Africa. The event was considered the nation's "biggest media event since the inauguration of Nelson Mandela".[127]
[edit] 1995–1997: Waiting to Exhale, The Preacher's Wife, and Cinderella
In 1995, Houston starred alongside Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon in her second film Waiting to Exhale, a motion picture about four African-American women struggling with relationships. Houston played the lead character Savannah Jackson, a TV producer in love with a married man. She chose the role because she saw the film as "a breakthrough for the image of black women because it presents them both as professionals and as caring mothers".[128] After opening at number one and grossing $67 million in the US at the box office and $81 million worldwide,[129] it proved that a movie primarily targeting a black audience can cross over to success, while paving the way for other all-black movies such as How Stella Got Her Groove Back and the Tyler Perry movies that have become popular in the 2000s.[130][131][132] The film is also notable for its portrayal of black women as strong middle class citizens as opposed to stereotypes.[133] The reviews were mainly positive for the ensemble cast. The New York Times said "Ms. Houston has shed the defensive hauteur that made her portrayal of a pop star in 'The Bodyguard' seem so distant."[134] Houston was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Actress In A Motion Picture", but lost to her co-star Bassett.
The film's accompanying soundtrack, Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album, was produced by Houston and Babyface. Though Babyface originally wanted Houston to record the entire album, she declined. Instead, she "wanted it to be an album of women with vocal distinction", and thus gathered several African-American female artists for the soundtrack, to go along with the film's strong women message.[128] As a result, the album featured a range of contemporary R&B female recording artists along with Houston, such as Mary J Blige, Aretha Franklin, Toni Braxton, Patti Labelle, and Brandy. Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" peaked at No. 1, and then spent a record eleven weeks at the No. 2 spot and eight weeks on top of the R&B Charts. "Count On Me", a duet with CeCe Winans, hit the US Top 10; and Houston's third contribution, "Why Does It Hurt So Bad", made the Top 30. The album debuted at No. 1, and was certified 7× Platinum in the United States, denoting shipments of seven million copies.[57] The soundtrack received strong reviews as Entertainment Weekly said "the album goes down easy, just as you'd expect from a package framed by Whitney Houston tracks.... the soundtrack waits to exhale, hovering in sensuous suspense"[135] and has since ranked it as one of the 100 Best Movie Soundtracks.[136] Later that year, Houston's children's charity organization was awarded a VH1 Honor for all the charitable work.[137]
In 1996, Houston starred in the holiday comedy The Preacher's Wife, with Denzel Washington. She plays a gospel-singing wife of a pastor (Courtney B. Vance). It was largely an updated remake of the 1948 film "The Bishop's Wife" which starred Loretta Young, David Niven and Cary Grant. Houston earned $10 million for the role, making her one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood at the time and the highest earning African American actress in Hollywood.[138] The movie, with its all African-American cast, was a moderate success, earning approximately $50 million at the U.S. box offices.[139] The movie gave Houston her strongest reviews so far. The San Francisco Chronicle said Houston "is rather angelic herself, displaying a divine talent for being virtuous and flirtatious at the same time" and that she "exudes gentle yet spirited warmth, especially when praising the Lord in her gorgeous singing voice".[140] Houston was again nominated for an NAACP Image Award and won for Outstanding Actress In A Motion Picture.
Houston recorded and co-produced, with Mervyn Warren, the film's accompanying gospel soundtrack. The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album included six gospel songs with Georgia Mass Choir that were recorded at the Great Star Rising Baptist Church in Atlanta. Houston also duetted with gospel legend Shirley Caesar. The album sold six million copies worldwide and scored hit singles with "I Believe in You and Me" and "Step by Step", becoming the largest selling gospel album of all time. The album received mainly positive reviews. Some critics, such as that of USA Today, noted the presence of her emotional depth,[141] while The Times said "To hear Houston going at full throttle with the 35 piece Georgia Mass Choir struggling to keep up is to realise what her phenomenal voice was made for".[142]
In 1997, Houston's production company changed its name to BrownHouse Productions and was joined by Debra Martin Chase. Their goal was "to show aspects of the lives of African-Americans that have not been brought to the screen before" while improving how African-Americans are portrayed in film and television.[143] Their first project was a made-for-television remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. In addition to co-producing, Houston starred in the movie as the Fairy Godmother along with Brandy, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bernadette Peters. Houston was initially offered the role of Cinderella in 1993, but other projects intervened.[144] The film is notable for its multi-racial cast and nonstereotypical message.[145] An estimated 60 million viewers tuned into the special giving ABC its highest TV ratings in 16 years.[146] The movie received seven Emmy nominations including Outstanding Variety, Musical or Comedy, while winning Outstanding Art Direction in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Special.[147]
Houston and Chase then obtained the rights to the story of Dorothy Dandridge. Houston was to play Dandridge, who was the first African American actress to be nominated for an Oscar. She wanted the story told with dignity and honor.[143] However, Halle Berry also had rights to the project and she got her version going first.[148] Later that year, Houston paid tribute to her idols such as Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, and Dionne Warwick by performing their hits during the three-night HBO Concert Classic Whitney, live from Washington, D.C. The special raised over $300,000 for the Children's Defense Fund.[149] Houston received The Quincy Jones Award for outstanding career achievements in the field of entertainment at the 12th Soul Train Music Awards.[150][151]
[edit] 1998–2000: My Love Is Your Love and Whitney: The Greatest Hits
After spending much of the early and mid 1990s working on motion pictures and their soundtrack albums, Houston's first studio album in eight years, the critically acclaimed My Love Is Your Love, was released in November 1998. Though originally slated to be a greatest hits album with a handful of new songs, recording sessions were so fruitful that a new full-length studio album was released. Recorded and mixed in only six weeks, it featured production from Rodney Jerkins, Wyclef Jean and Missy Elliott. The album debuted at number thirteen, its peak position, on the Billboard 200 chart.[152] It had a funkier and edgier sound than past releases and saw Houston handling urban dance, hip hop, mid-tempo R&B, reggae, torch songs, and ballads all with great dexterity.[153]
From late 1998 to early 2000, the album spawned several hit singles: "When You Believe" (US No. 15, UK No. 4), a duet with Mariah Carey for 1998's The Prince of Egypt soundtrack, which also became an international hit as it peaked in the Top 10 in several countries and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song;[154] "Heartbreak Hotel" (US No. 2, UK No. 25) featured Faith Evans and Kelly Price, received a 1999 MTV VMA nomination for Best R&B Video,[155] and number one on the US R&B chart for seven weeks; "It's Not Right But It's Okay" (US No. 4, UK No. 3) won Houston her sixth Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance;[156] "My Love Is Your Love" (US No. 4, UK No. 2) with 3 million copies sold worldwide;[157] and "I Learned from the Best" (US No. 27, UK No. 19).[158][159] These singles became international hits as well, and all the singles, except "When You Believe", became number one hits on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart. The album sold four million copies in America, making it certified 4× platinum, and a total of eleven million copies worldwide.[42]
The album gave Houston some of her strongest reviews ever. Rolling Stone said Houston was singing "with a bite in her voice"[160] and The Village Voice called it "Whitney's sharpest and most satisfying so far".[161] In 1999, Houston participated in VH-1's Divas Live '99, alongside Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Tina Turner, and Cher. The same year, Houston hit the road with her 70 date My Love Is Your Love World Tour. The European leg of the tour was Europe's highest grossing arena tour of the year.[162] In November 1999, Houston was named Top-selling R&B Female Artist of the Century with certified US sales of 51 million copies at the time and The Bodyguard Soundtrack was named the Top-selling Soundtrack Album of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[163] She also won The Artist of the Decade, Female award for extraordinary artistic contributions during the 1990s at the 14th Soul Train Music Awards, and an MTV Europe Music Award for Best R&B.[164][165][166][167][168]
In May 2000, Whitney: The Greatest Hits was released worldwide. The double disc set peaked at number five in the United States, reaching number one in the United Kingdom.[159][169] In addition, the album reached the Top 10 in many other countries.[170] While ballad songs were left unchanged, the album features house/club remixes of many of Houston's up-tempo hits. Included on the album were four new songs: "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" (a duet with Enrique Iglesias), "Same Script, Different Cast" (a duet with Deborah Cox), "If I Told You That" (a duet with George Michael), and "Fine", and three hits that had never appeared on a Houston album: "One Moment in Time", "The Star Spangled Banner", and "If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful", a duet with Jermaine Jackson from his 1986 Precious Moments album.[171] Along with the album, an accompanying VHS and DVD was released featuring the music videos to Houston's greatest hits, as well as several hard-to-find live performances including her 1983 debut on The Merv Griffin Show, and interviews.[172] The greatest hits album was certified 3× platinum in the US, with worldwide sales of 10 million.[173][174]
[edit] 2000–2005: Just Whitney, and personal struggles
Though Houston was seen as a "good girl" with a perfect image in the 1980s and early 1990s, by the late 1990s, her behavior changed. She was often hours late for interviews, photo shoots and rehearsals, and canceling concerts and talk-show appearances.[175][176] With the missed performances and weight loss, rumors about Houston using drugs with her husband circulated. On January 11, 2000, airport security guards discovered marijuana in both Houston's and husband Bobby Brown's luggage at a Hawaii airport, but the two boarded the plane and departed before authorities could arrive. Charges were later dropped against them,[177] but rumors of drug usage between the couple would continue to surface. Two months later, Clive Davis was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Houston had been scheduled to perform at the event, but failed to show up.[178]
Shortly thereafter, Houston was scheduled to perform at the Academy Awards but was fired from the event by musical director and longtime friend Burt Bacharach. Her publicist cited throat problems as the reason for the cancellation. In his book The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards, author Steve Pond revealed that "Houston's voice was shaky, she seemed distracted and jittery, and her attitude was casual, almost defiant", and that while Houston was to sing "Over the Rainbow", she would start singing a different song.[179] Houston later admitted to having been fired.[180] Later that year, Houston's long-time executive assistant and friend, Robyn Crawford, resigned from Houston's management company.[178]
In August 2001, Houston signed the biggest record deal in music history with Arista/BMG. She renewed her contract for $100 million to deliver six new albums, on which she would also earn royalties.[181][182][183] She later made an appearance on Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special. Her extremely thin frame further spurred rumors of drug use. Houston's publicist said, "Whitney has been under stress due to family matters, and when she is under stress she doesn't eat."[184] The singer was scheduled for a second performance the following night but canceled.[185] Within weeks, Houston's rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" would be re-released after the September 11 attacks, with the proceeds donated to the New York Firefighters 9/11 Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Fraternal Order of Police.[186] The song peaked at No. 6 this time on the US Hot 100, topping its previous position.[158]
In 2002, Houston became involved in a legal dispute with John Houston Enterprise. Although the company was started by her father to manage her career, it was actually run by company president Kevin Skinner. Skinner filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit and sued for $100 million (but lost), stating that Houston owed the company previously unpaid compensation for helping to negotiate her $100 million contract with Arista Records and for sorting out legal matters.[187] Houston stated that her 81-year-old father had nothing to do with the lawsuit. Although Skinner tried to claim otherwise, John Houston never appeared in court.[188] Houston's father later died in February 2003.[189] The lawsuit was dismissed on April 5, 2004, and Skinner was awarded nothing.[190]
Also in 2002, Houston did an interview with Diane Sawyer to promote her then-upcoming album. The interview was the highest-rated television interview in history.[citation needed] During the prime-time special, Houston spoke on topics including rumored drug use and marriage. She was asked about the ongoing drug rumors and replied, "First of all, let's get one thing straight. Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let's get that straight. Okay? We don't do crack. We don't do that. Crack is wack."[180] The line was from Keith Haring's mural which was painted in 1986 on the handball court at 128th Street and 2nd Avenue.[191] Houston did, however, admit to using other substances at times, including cocaine.[180]
In December 2002, Houston released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney.... The album included productions from then-husband Bobby Brown, as well as Missy Elliott and Babyface, and marked the first time that Houston did not produce with Clive Davis as Davis had been released by top management at BMG. Upon its release, Just Whitney... received mixed reviews.[192] The album debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 chart and it had the highest first week sales of any album Houston had ever released.[193] The four singles released from the album, didn't fare well on the Billboard Hot 100, but became Hot Dance Club Play hits. Just Whitney... was certified platinum in the United States, and sold approximately three million worldwide.[194]
On a June 2003 trip to Israel, Houston said of her visit, "I've never felt like this in any other country. I feel at home, I feel wonderful."[195]
In late 2003, Houston released her first Christmas album One Wish: The Holiday Album, with a collection of traditional holiday songs. Houston produced the album with Mervyn Warren and Gordon Chambers. A single titled "One Wish (for Christmas)" reached the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and the album was certified gold in the US. Having always been a touring artist, Houston spent most of 2004 touring and performing in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Russia. In September 2004, she gave a surprise performance at the World Music Awards in a tribute to long time friend Clive Davis. After the show, Davis and Houston announced plans to go into studio to work on her new album.[196]
In early 2004, husband Bobby Brown starred in his own reality TV program, Being Bobby Brown (on the Bravo network), which provided a view into the domestic goings-on in the Brown household. Though it was Brown's vehicle, Houston was a prominent figure throughout the show, receiving as much screen time as Brown. The series aired in 2005 and featured Houston in, what some would say, not her most flattering moments. The Hollywood Reporter said it was "undoubtedly the most disgusting and execrable series ever to ooze its way onto television."[197] Despite the perceived train-wreck nature of the show, the series gave Bravo its highest ratings in its time slot and continued Houston's successful forays into film and television.[198] The show was not renewed for a second season after Houston stated that she would no longer appear in it, and Brown and Bravo could not come to an agreement for another season.[199]
[edit] 2006–2012: Return to music, I Look to You, tour and film comeback
After years of controversy and turmoil, Houston separated from Bobby Brown in September 2006, filing for divorce the following month.[200] On February 1, 2007, Houston asked the court to fast track their divorce.[201] The divorce was finalized on April 24, 2007, with Houston granted custody of the couple's daughter.[202] On May 4, Houston sold the suburban Atlanta home featured in Being Bobby Brown for $1.19 million.[203] A few days later, Brown sued Houston in Orange County, California court in an attempt to change the terms of their custody agreement. Brown also sought child and spousal support from Houston. In the lawsuit, Brown claimed that financial and emotional problems prevented him from properly responding to Houston's divorce petition.[204] Brown lost at his court hearing as the judge dismissed his appeal to overrule the custody terms, leaving Houston with full custody and Brown with no spousal support.[205] In March 2007, Clive Davis of Arista Records announced that Houston would begin recording a new album.[206] In October 2007, Arista released another compilation The Ultimate Collection outside the United States.[207]
Houston gave her first interview in seven years in September 2009, appearing on Oprah Winfrey's season premiere. The interview was billed as "the most anticipated music interview of the decade".[208] Whitney admitted on the show to using drugs with former husband Bobby Brown, who "laced marijuana with rock cocaine".[209] By 1996, she told Oprah, "[doing drugs] was an everyday thing... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."[210]
Houston released her new album, I Look to You, in August 2009.[211] The album's first two singles are "I Look to You" and "Million Dollar Bill". The album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1, with Houston's best opening-week sales of 305,000 copies, marking Houston's first number one album since The Bodyguard, and Houston's first studio album to reach number one since 1987's Whitney. Houston also appeared on European television programs to promote the album. She performed the song "I Look to You" on the German television show Wetten, dass..?. Three days later, she performed the worldwide first single from I Look To You, Million Dollar Bill, on the French television show Le Grand Journal. Houston appeared as guest mentor on The X Factor in the United Kingdom. She performed "Million Dollar Bill" on the following day's results show, completing the song even as a strap in the back of her dress popped open two minutes into the performance. She later commented that she "sang [herself] out of [her] clothes".
The performance was poorly received by the British media, and was variously described as "weird" and "ungracious",[212] "shambolic"[213] and a "flop". Despite this reception, "Million Dollar Bill" jumped to its peak from 14 to number 5 (her first UK top 5 for over a decade), and three weeks after release "I Look to You" went gold. Houston appeared on the Italian version of The X Factor, performing the same song "Million Dollar Bill" to excellent reviews.[214] She was awarded the Gold Certificate for achieving over 50,000 CD sales of "I Look To You" in Italy.[215] In November, Houston performed "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" at the 2009 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California. Two days later, Houston performed both songs on the Dancing With The Stars season 9 finale. As of December 2009, "I Look to You" has been certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of more than one million copies in the United States.[216] On January 26, 2010, her debut album was re-released in a special edition entitled Whitney Houston – The Deluxe Anniversary Edition.[217]
Houston later embarked on a world tour, entitled the Nothing but Love World Tour. It was her first world tour in over ten years and was announced as a triumphant comeback. However, some poor reviews and rescheduled concerts brought some negative media attention.[218][219] Houston canceled some concerts due to illness and received widespread negative reviews from fans who were disappointed in the quality of her voice and performance. Some fans reportedly walked out of her concerts.[220]
In January 2010, Houston was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards, one for Best Female Artist and one for Best Music Video. She won the award for Best Music Video for her single "I Look to You". On January 16, she received The BET Honors Award for Entertainer citing her lifetime achievements spanning over 25 years in the industry. The 2010 BET Honors award was held at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. and aired on February 1, 2010. Jennifer Hudson and Kim Burrell performed in honor of her, garnering positive reviews. Houston also received a nomination from the Echo Awards, Germany's version of the Grammys, for Best International Artist. In April 2010, the UK newspaper The Mirror reported that Houston was thinking about recording her eighth studio album and wanted to collaborate with will.i.am (of The Black Eyed Peas), her first choice for a collaboration.[221]
Houston also performed the song "I Look to You" on the 2011 BET Celebration of Gospel, with gospel–jazz singer Kim Burrell, held at the Staples Center, Los Angeles. The performance aired on January 30, 2011. Early in 2011, she gave an uneven performance in tribute to cousin Dionne Warwick at music mogul Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy gala. In May 2011, Houston enrolled in a rehabilitation center again, as an out-patient, citing drug and alcohol problems. A representative for Houston said that it was a part of Houston's "longstanding recovery process".[222]
In September 2011, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Houston would produce and star alongside Jordin Sparks and Mike Epps in the remake of the 1976 film Sparkle. In the film, Houston portrays Sparks' "not-so encouraging mother". Houston would have executive producer credits on top of acting credits according to Debra Martin Chase, producer of Sparkle. She stated that Houston deserved the title considering she had been there from the beginning in 2001, when Houston obtained Sparkle production rights. R&B singer Aaliyah – originally tapped to star as Sparkle – died in a 2001 plane crash. Her death derailed production, which would have begun in 2002.[223][224][225] Houston's remake of Sparkle was filmed in the fall of 2011,[226] and is set for release by TriStar Pictures in August 2012.[227]
Death[link]
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Wikinews has related news: American pop star Whitney Houston dies at 48 |
On February 9, 2012, Houston visited singers Brandy and Monica, together with Clive Davis, at their rehearsals for Davis' pre-Grammy Awards party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.[228][229] That same day, she made her last public performance, when she joined Kelly Price on stage in Hollywood, California, and sang "Jesus Loves Me".[230][231]
On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead in suite 434 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, submerged in the bathtub.[232][233] The cause of death was not immediately known.[234][235] It was later ruled by the coroner to have been an "accidental drowning".[236] Beverly Hills paramedics arrived at approximately 3:30 p.m. and found the singer unresponsive and performed CPR. Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. PST.[234][237] Local police said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent."[238] On March 22, 2012, the Los Angeles County coroner's office reported the cause of Houston's death was drowning and the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use".[239] The office stated the amount of cocaine found in Houston's body indicated that she used the substance shortly before her death.[240] Toxicology results revealed additional drugs in her system: Benadryl, Xanax, marijuana and Flexiril.[241] The manner of death was listed as an "accident".[242]
Houston had an invitation-only memorial on Saturday, February 18, 2012, at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. The service was scheduled for two hours, but lasted for four hours.[243] Among those who performed at the funeral were Stevie Wonder (rewritten version of "Ribbon in the Sky," and "Love's in Need of Love Today"), CeCe Winans ("Don't Cry" and "Jesus Loves Me"), Alicia Keys ("Send Me an Angel"), Kim Burrell (rewritten version of "A Change Is Gonna Come") and R. Kelly ("I Look to You"), interspersed with hymns by the church choir and remarks by Clive Davis, Houston’s record producer; Kevin Costner; Ricky Minor her music director; her cousin Dionne Warwick and Ray Watson, her security guard for the past 11 years. Aretha Franklin was listed on the program and was expected to sing, but was unable to attend the service.[244][245] Bobby Brown, Houston's ex-husband, was also invited to the funeral but he left before the service began.[246] Houston was buried on Sunday, February 19, 2012, in Fairview Cemetery, in Westfield, New Jersey next to her father, John Russell Houston, who died in 2003.[247]
Reaction[link]
The Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party that Houston was expected to attend, and that featured many of the biggest names in music and movies, went on as scheduled although it was quickly turned into a tribute to Houston. Davis spoke about Houston's death at the evening's start: "By now you have all learned of the unspeakably tragic news of our beloved Whitney's passing. I don't have to mask my emotion in front of a room full of so many dear friends. I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me for so many years. Whitney was so full of life. She was so looking forward to tonight even though she wasn't scheduled to perform. Whitney was a beautiful person and a talent beyond compare. She graced this stage with her regal presence and gave so many memorable performances here over the years. Simply put, Whitney would have wanted the music to go on and her family asked that we carry on."[248]
Tony Bennett spoke of Houston's death before performing at Davis' party. He said, "First, it was Michael Jackson, then Amy Winehouse, now, the magnificent Whitney Houston". Bennett sang "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" and said of Houston, "When I first heard her, I called Clive Davis and said, 'You finally found the greatest singer I've ever heard in my life.'"[249]
Some celebrities opposed Davis' decision to continue on the party while a police investigation was being conducted in Houston's hotel room and her body was still in the building. Chaka Khan, in an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan on February 13, 2012, shared that she felt the party should have been canceled, saying "I thought that was complete insanity. And knowing Whitney I don't believe that she would have said 'the show must go on.' She's the kind of woman that would've said 'Stop everything! Un-unh. I'm not going to be there.' [...] I don't know what could motivate a person to have a party in a building where the person whose life he had influenced so enormously and whose life had been affected by hers. They were like... I don't understand how that party went on."[250] Sharon Osbourne condemned the Davis party, declaring "I think it was disgraceful that the party went on. I don't want to be in a hotel room when there's someone you admire who's tragically lost their life four floors up. I'm not interested in being in that environment and I think when you grieve someone, you do it privately, you do it with people who understand you. I thought it was so wrong."[251]
Several other celebrities released statements responding to Houston's death. Dolly Parton, whose song "I Will Always Love You" was covered by Houston, said, "I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed'." Aretha Franklin said, "It's so stunning and unbelievable. I couldn't believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen."[252] Mariah Carey said, "Heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend ... She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth."[253] Oprah Winfrey, who did an in-depth interview with Houston in 2009, wrote on Twitter "To me Whitney was THE VOICE. We got to hear a part of God every time she sang. Heart is heavy, spirit grateful for the GIFT of her."[254] Quincy Jones said, "I am absolutely heartbroken at the news of Whitney’s passing. Ashford & Simpson first made me aware of Whitney when she was just sixteen, and I always regretted not having had the opportunity to work with her. She was a true original and a talent beyond compare. I will miss her terribly."[253]
Moments after news of her death emerged, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News all broke from their regularly scheduled programming to dedicate time to non-stop coverage of Houston's death. All three featured live interviews with people who knew Houston including those that have worked with her, interviewed her along with some of her peers in the music industry. Saturday Night Live displayed a photo of a smiling Houston, alongside Molly Shannon, from her 1996 appearance.[255][256] MTV and VH-1 interrupted their regularly scheduled programming on Sunday February 12 to air many of Houston's classic videos with MTV often airing news segments in between and featuring various reactions from fans and celebrities.
Houston's former husband, Bobby Brown, was reported to be "in and out of crying fits" since receiving the news. He did not cancel a scheduled performance and within hours of his ex-wife's sudden death, an audience in Mississippi observed as Brown blew kisses skyward, tearfully saying: "I love you, Whitney".[257]
Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the 54th Grammy Awards, announced that Jennifer Hudson would perform a tribute to Houston at the February 12, 2012, awards. He said "event organizers believed Hudson – an Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award-winning artist – could perform a respectful musical tribute to Houston". Ehrlich went on to say: "It's too fresh in everyone's memory to do more at this time, but we would be remiss if we didn't recognize Whitney's remarkable contribution to music fans in general, and in particular her close ties with the Grammy telecast and her Grammy wins and nominations over the years".[258] At the start of the awards ceremony, a footage of Houston performing "I Will Always Love You" from 1994 Grammys was shown following a prayer read by host, LL Cool J. Later in the program following a montage of photos of musicians who died in 2011 with Houston singing "Saving All My Love for You" at the 1986 Grammys, Hudson paid tribute to Houston and the other artists by performing "I Will Always Love You".[259][260]
Houston was honored in the form of various tributes at the 43rd NAACP Image Awards, held on February 17. A image montage of Houston and important black figures who died in 2011 was followed by video footage from the 1994 ceremony, which depicted her accepting two Image Awards for outstanding female artist and entertainer of the year. Following the video tribute, Yolanda Adams delivered a rendition of "I Love the Lord" from The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack. In the finale of the ceremony, Kirk Franklin and The Family started their performance with "Greatest Love of All."[261] The 2012 BRIT Awards, which took place at London's O2 Arena on February 21, also paid tribute to Houston by playing a 30-second-video montage of her music videos with a snippet of "One Moment in Time" as the background music in the ceremony's first segment.[262] New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said that all New Jersey state flags would be flown at half-staff on Tuesday, February 21 to honor Houston.[263] Accompanied by Esperanza Spalding belting out "What a Wonderful World" along with the Southern California Children's Choir, Houston was featured in the In Memoriam montage alongside other cinema greats at the 84th Academy Awards, held at the Hollywood and Highland Center on February 26, 2012.[264][265]
Artistry and legacy[link]
Voice[link]
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One of Houston's best selling singles worldwide and recognized songs, "I Will Always Love You" prominently uses melismas.
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Houston was a mezzo-soprano,[266][267] and was commonly referred to as "The Voice" in reference to her exceptional vocal talent.[268] Her vocal range extended from G below middle C (G3) to high B-flat (B♭5); she could belt out to treble F (F5).[269] She was third in MTV's list of 22 Greatest Voices,[270] and sixth on Online Magazine COVE's list of the 100 Best Pop Vocalists with a score of 48.5/50.[271] In 2008, Rolling Stone listed Houston as the thirty-fourth of the 100 greatest singers of all time, stating, "Her voice is a mammoth, coruscating cry: Few vocalists could get away with opening a song with 45 unaccompanied seconds of singing, but Houston's powerhouse version of Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' is a tour de force."[98] Matthew Perpetua from Rolling Stone also eulogized Houston's vocal, enumerating ten performances, including "How Will I Know" from the 1986 MTV VMAs and "The Star Spangled Banner" at the 1991 Super Bowl. "Whitney Houston was blessed with an astonishing vocal range and extraordinary technical skill, but what truly made her a great singer was her ability to connect with a song and drive home its drama and emotion with incredible precision," he stated. "She was a brilliant performer, and her live shows often eclipsed her studio recordings."[272]
Jon Caramanica of The New York Times commented, "Her voice was clean and strong, with barely any grit, well suited to the songs of love and aspiration. [...] Hers was a voice of triumph and achievement, and it made for any number of stunning, time-stopping vocal performances."[273] Mariah Carey stated, "She [Whitney] has a really rich, strong mid-belt that very few people have. She sounds really good, really strong."[274] While in her review of I Look to You, music critic Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times writes, "[Houston's voice] stands like monuments upon the landscape of 20th century pop, defining the architecture of their times, sheltering the dreams of millions and inspiring the climbing careers of countless imitators", adding "When she was at her best, nothing could match her huge, clean, cool mezzo-soprano".[267]
Lauren Everitt from BBC News Magazine commented on melisma used in Houston's recording and its influence. "An early 'I' in Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' takes nearly six seconds to sing. In those seconds the former gospel singer-turned-pop star packs a series of different notes into the single syllable," stated Everitt. "The technique is repeated throughout the song, most pronouncedly on every 'I' and 'you'. The vocal technique is called melisma, and it has inspired a host of imitators. Other artists may have used it before Houston, but it was her rendition of Dolly Parton's love song that pushed the technique into the mainstream in the 90s. [...] But perhaps what Houston nailed best was moderation." Everitt said that "[i]n a climate of reality shows ripe with 'oversinging', it's easy to appreciate Houston's ability to save melisma for just the right moment".[275]
Houston's vocal stylings have had a significant impact on the music industry. She has been called the "Queen of Pop" for her influence during the 1990s, commercially rivaling Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.[276] Stephen Holden from The New York Times, in his review of Houston's Radio City Music Hall concert on July 20, 1993, praised her attitude as a singer, writing, "Whitney Houston is one of the few contemporary pop stars of whom it might be said: the voice suffices. While almost every performer whose albums sell in the millions calls upon an entertainer's bag of tricks, from telling jokes to dancing to circus pyrotechnics, Ms. Houston would rather just stand there and sing." With regard to her singing style, he added: "Her [Houston's] stylistic trademarks – shivery melismas that ripple up in the middle of a song, twirling embellishments at the ends of phrases that suggest an almost breathless exhilaration – infuse her interpretations with flashes of musical and emotional lightning."[277]
Elysa Gardner of the Los Angeles Times in her review for The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack praised Houston's vocal ability highly, commenting, "She is first and foremost a pop diva – at that, the best one we have. No other female pop star – not Mariah Carey, not Celine Dion, not Barbra Streisand – quite rivals Houston in her exquisite vocal fluidity and purity of tone, and her ability to infuse a lyric with mesmerizing melodrama."[278]
Influence[link]
During the 1980s, MTV was coming into its own and received criticism for not playing enough videos by black artists. With Michael Jackson breaking down the color barrier for black male artists, Houston did the same for black female artists. She became the first black female artist to receive heavy rotation on the network following the success of the "How Will I Know" video.[279] Following Houston's breakthrough, other African-American female artists, such as Janet Jackson and Anita Baker, were successful in popular music.[52][53] Baker commented that "Because of what Whitney and Sade did, there was an opening for me... For radio stations, black women singers aren't taboo anymore."[280]
Allmusic noted her contribution to the success of black artists on the pop scene, commenting, "Houston was able to handle big adult contemporary ballads, effervescent, stylish dance-pop, and slick urban contemporary soul with equal dexterity" and that "the result was an across-the-board appeal that was matched by scant few artists of her era, and helped her become one of the first black artists to find success on MTV in Michael Jackson's wake".[281] The New York Times stated that "Houston was a major catalyst for a movement within black music that recognized the continuity of soul, pop, jazz and gospel vocal traditions".[282] Richard Corliss of Time magazine commented on her initial success breaking various barriers:
Of her first album's ten cuts, six were ballads. This chanteuse [Houston] had to fight for air play with hard rockers. The young lady had to stand uncowed in the locker room of macho rock. The soul strutter had to seduce a music audience that anointed few black artists with superstardom. [...] She was a phenomenon waiting to happen, a canny tapping of the listener's yen for a return to the musical middle. And because every new star creates her own genre, her success has helped other blacks, other women, other smooth singers find an avid reception in the pop marketplace.[283]
Stephen Holden of The New York Times said that Houston "revitalized the tradition of strong gospel-oriented pop-soul singing".[284] Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times referred to the singer as a "national treasure".[267] Jon Caramanica, other music critic of The New York Times, called Houston "R&B's great modernizer," adding "slowly but surely reconciling the ambition and praise of the church with the movements and needs of the body and the glow of the mainstream".[273] He also drew comparisons between Houston's influence and other big names' on 1980s pop:
She was, alongside Michael Jackson and Madonna, one of the crucial figures to hybridize pop in the 1980s, though her strategy was far less radical than that of her peers. Jackson and Madonna were by turns lascivious and brutish and, crucially, willing to let their production speak more loudly than their voices, an option Ms. Houston never went for. Also, she was less prolific than either of them, achieving most of her renown on the strength of her first three solo albums and one soundtrack, released from 1985 to 1992. If she was less influential than they were in the years since, it was only because her gift was so rare, so impossible to mimic. Jackson and Madonna built worldviews around their voices; Ms. Houston’s voice was the worldview. She was someone more to be admired, like a museum piece, than to be emulated.[273]
The Independent's music critic Andy Gill also wrote about Houston's influence on modern R&B and singing competitions, comparing it to Michael Jackson's. "Because Whitney, more than any other single artist ― Michael Jackson included ― effectively mapped out the course of modern R&B, setting the bar for standards of soul vocalese, and creating the original template for what we now routinely refer to as the 'soul diva'," stated Gill. "Jackson was a hugely talented icon, certainly, but he will be as well remembered (probably more so) for his presentational skills, his dazzling dance moves, as for his musical innovations. Whitney, on the other hand, just sang, and the ripples from her voice continue to dominate the pop landscape." Gill said that there "are few, if any, Jackson imitators on today's TV talent shows, but every other contestant is a Whitney wannabe, desperately attempting to emulate that wondrous combination of vocal effects – the flowing melisma, the soaring mezzo-soprano confidence, the tremulous fluttering that carried the ends of lines into realms of higher yearning".[285]
Houston was considered by many to be a "singer's singer", who had an influence on countless other vocalists, both female and male.[98][286] Similarly, Steve Huey from Allmusic wrote that the shadow of Houston's prodigious technique still looms large over nearly every pop diva and smooth urban soul singer – male or female – in her wake, and spawned a legion of imitators.[281] Rolling Stone, on her biography, stated that Houston "redefined the image of a female soul icon and inspired singers ranging from Mariah Carey to Rihanna".[287] Essence ranked Houston the fifth on their list of 50 Most Influential R&B Stars of all time, calling her "the diva to end all divas".[288]
A number of artists have acknowledged Houston as an influence, including Celine Dion,[289] Mariah Carey,[98] Toni Braxton,[290] Christina Aguilera,[291] LeAnn Rimes,[292] Jessica Simpson,[293] Nelly Furtado,[294][295] Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears,[296] Ciara,[297] P!nk,[296] Ashanti,[298] Robin Thicke,[299] Jennifer Hudson, Stacie Orrico, Amerie,[300] and Destiny's Child.[296][301] Mariah Carey, who was often compared to Houston, said, "She [Houston] has been a big influence on me."[302] She later told USA Today that "none of us would sound the same if Aretha Franklin hadn't ever put out a record, or Whitney Houston hadn't."[303] Celine Dion who was the third member of the troika that dominated female pop singing in the 1990s, did a telephone interview with Good Morning America on February 13, 2012, telling "Whitney's been an amazing inspiration for me. I've been singing with her my whole career, actually. I wanted to have a career like hers, sing like her, look beautiful like her."[304] Beyoncé told the Globe and Mail that Houston "inspired [her] to get up there and do what [she] did".[305] She also wrote on her website on the day after Houston's death, "I, like every singer, always wanted to be just like [Houston]. Her voice was perfect. Strong but soothing. Soulful and classic. Her vibrato, her cadence, her control. So many of my life's memories are attached to a Whitney Houston song. She is our queen and she opened doors and provided a blueprint for all of us."[306]
Mary J. Blige said that Houston inviting her onstage during VH1's Divas Live show in 1999 "opened doors for [her] all over the world".[307] Brandy stated, "The first Whitney Houston CD was genius. That CD introduced the world to her angelic yet powerful voice. Without Whitney, half of this generation of singers wouldn't be singing."[308] Kelly Rowland, in an Ebony's feature article celebrating black music in June 2006, recalled that "[I] wanted to be a singer after I saw Whitney Houston on TV singing 'Greatest Love of All'. I wanted to sing like Whitney Houston in that red dress." She added that "And I have never, ever forgotten that song [Greatest Love of All]. I learned it backward, forward, sideways. The video still brings chills to me. When you wish and pray for something as a kid, you never know what blessings God will give you."[309]
Alicia Keys said "Whitney is an artist who inspired me from [the time I was] a little girl".[310] Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson cites Houston as her biggest musical influence. She told Newsday that she learned from Houston the "difference between being able to sing and knowing how to sing".[311] Leona Lewis, who has been called "the new Whitney Houston", also cites her as an influence. Lewis stated that she idolized her as a little girl.[312][313]
Awards and achievements[link]
Further information: List of awards and nominations received by Whitney Houston and Whitney Houston chart records and achievements
Houston was the most awarded female artist of all time, according to Guinness World Records,[1] with two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. She held the all-time record for the most American Music Awards of any female solo artist and shared the record with Michael Jackson for the most AMAs ever won in a single year with eight wins in 1994.[314] Houston won a record 11 Billboard Music Awards at its fourth ceremony in 1993.[315] She also had the record for the most WMAs won in a single year, winning five awards at the 6th World Music Awards in 1994.[316]
In May 2003, Houston placed at number three on VH1's list of "50 Greatest Women of the Video Era", behind Madonna and Janet Jackson.[317] She was also ranked at number 116 on their list of the "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time".[318] In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart's 50th anniversary, ranking Houston at number nine.[319][320] Similarly, she was ranked as one of the "Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time" by VH1 in September 2010.[321] In November 2010, Billboard released its "Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years" list and ranked Houston at number three whom not only went on to earn eight number one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but also landed five number ones on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[322]
Houston's debut album is listed as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine[49] and is on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200 list.[50] In 2004, Billboard picked the success of her first release on the charts as one of 110 Musical Milestones in its history.[323] Houston's entrance into the music industry is considered one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years, according to USA Today in 2007. It stated that she paved the way for Mariah Carey's chart-topping vocal gymnastics.[51] In 1997, the Franklin School in East Orange, New Jersey was renamed to The Whitney E. Houston Academy School of Creative and Performing Arts. In 2001, Houston was the first artist to be given a BET Lifetime Achievement Award.[324]
Houston was one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 200 million albums and singles worldwide.[2][3] She was ranked as the fourth best-selling female artist in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 55 million certified albums sold in the US.[216][325]
She held an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Grambling State University, Louisiana.[326]
Discography[link]
Main articles: Whitney Houston discography and Whitney Houston videography
- Studio Albums
- 1985: Whitney Houston
- 1987: Whitney
- 1990: I'm Your Baby Tonight
- 1998: My Love Is Your Love
- 2002: Just Whitney
- 2009: I Look to You
- Holiday Albums
Filmography[link]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes and awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | The Bodyguard | Rachel Marron | Feature film
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| 1995 | Waiting to Exhale | Savannah Jackson | Feature film
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| 1996 | The Preacher's Wife | Julia Biggs | Feature film
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| 1997 | Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella | Fairy Godmother | Made-for-television film, part of a revival of the Wonderful World of Disney.[335]
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| 2012 | Sparkle | Emma | Posthumous release |
| Year | Title | Network | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Gimme a Break! | NBC | Rita | "Katie's College" (Season 3, Episode 20, air date: March 15, 1984)[338] |
| As the World Turns | CBS | Herself | Houston appeared on the soap on August 1–2, 1984, with Jermaine Jackson singing two duets off a new album he was releasing at the time: "Take Good Care of My Heart" and "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do." They taped their appearance on July 25 at CBS Studios in New York City. | |
| 1985 | Silver Spoons | NBC | Herself | "Head Over Heels" (Season 4, Episode 1, air date: September 15, 1985)[338] She performed the edited version of "Saving All My Love for You", changing some of the words. |
| 2002 | Boston Public | Fox | Herself | She performed "Try It On My Own" from the 2002 studio album Just Whitney. |
| Year | Company | Promoting | Country | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Dr Pepper/Seven Up | Canada Dry (soft drink beverage) |
United States |
|
| 1986 | Coca-Cola | Diet Coke (soft drink beverage) |
United States | |
| 1988 | Coca-Cola | Diet Coke (soft drink beverage) |
United States |
|
| 1989 | Sanyo | Electronics (the stereo, TV) |
Japan |
|
| 1994/ 1995 |
AT&T | Telephone services | United States | |
| 1999 | Nissin | Consumer credit business | Japan |
|
| Year | Title | Director | Notes and awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella | Robert Iscove | Executive producer[350]
|
| 2001 | The Princess Diaries | Garry Marshall | Producer[351]
|
| 2003 | The Cheetah Girls | Oz Scott | Producer[356] |
| 2004 | The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement | Garry Marshall | Producer[357] |
| 2006 | The Cheetah Girls 2: When in Spain | Kenny Ortega | Co-executive producer[358] |
Tours[link]
Main article: List of Whitney Houston tours and concerts
See also[link]
References[link]
Further reading[link]
External links[link]
|
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
