Bunny Hull | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Jeri Keever Hull |
Born | New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. | October 9, 1951
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1975–present |
Labels | |
Website | bunnyhull |
Jeri Keever "Bunny" Hull (born October 9, 1951) is an American songwriter, musician, and author. Her catalog includes music, film and television projects. [1] She is a recipient of 20 Gold and Platinum Certifications, a Grammy Award and two nominations, [2] an Emmy nomination, [3] a GMA Dove Award, a BMI Performance Award, and multiple Parents' Choice Awards. [4] In 2021, Hull was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame. [5]
Hull studied piano, dance, and trained as a pianist from the age of 7 with Muriel Adler [6] and Hal Stesch. [7] She trained as a dancer with Christina Carson of Sadler Wells Ballet and began writing music at age 15 in Las Vegas. Hull performed in Las Vegas stage shows with Gene Kelly, Jimmy Durante, Sergio Franchi, and Dick Jensen.
Her first professional recordings as a vocalist were on Mason's 1979 Groovin’ You album, [8] and a duet written and sung with violinist, orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist and singer, Charles Veal Jr. [9] [10]
Hull's work as a songwriter and backing vocalist gained momentum during this period, including tours to Japan with Christopher Cross and the East Coast with Boz Scaggs.
Hull has worked with a broad range of top-tier recording artists in different genres, including Anita Baker, [11] Angela Bofill, Peabo Bryson, Christopher Cross, George Duke, Michael Franks, Thelma Houston, Billy Idol, Michael Jackson, The Judds, Wynonna Judd, KC & the Sunshine Band, B.B. King, Patti LaBelle, Ricky Martin, Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Bob Welch, Quincy Jones, and Vanessa Williams. [12]
The song Breakdance was co-written by Hull with Giorgio Moroder and Irene Cara in 1983 for Cara's What a Feelin' album. It was released as a single and reached #8 on the Billboard pop chart, #13 on the US dance chart, and #23 on the US R&B chart in 1984.
Hull co-wrote the Patti Labelle song New Attitude [13] with Sharon Robinson and Jon Gilutin in 1984. [14] The song was included on the soundtrack for the 1984 Paramount film Beverly Hills Cop. It won a Grammy Award for Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or Television Special at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards. A cover version of the song, produced by Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudakoff, was released as a single by Patti LaBelle in December 1984 and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1986.
In 1992, the song, Ready For A Miracle, was composed by Hull and Art Reynolds, was originally recorded by Patti LaBelle and Edwin Hawkins for the Leap of Faith film soundtrack and recorded by LeAnn Rimes for the 2007 Evan Almighty film soundtrack. Rimes' version of the song won a GMA Dove Award at the 39th Annual Dove Awards for Traditional Gospel Recorded Song of the Year in 2008.
In 1995, Hull composed and arranged music with Brenda Russell for the song Let Somebody Know on Diana Ross' Take Me Higher album. She also contributed keyboard programming, keyboards, vocal arrangement, and backing vocals. [15]
Partial list:
Truth and Tenderness, an album of 10 original songs by Hull, was released on vinyl LP through the Sampony record label in South Korea on November 12, 1991. It includes backing vocals by Thelma Houston. The album was released on CD through the Pony Canyon record label (aka P.C.H, or Pacific Coast Highway) the same year. [20]
Hull is the founder of the publishing imprint Young Masters Little Wisdom in 2009. Its Dream A World website include hardbound books, Kids Creative Classics activity kits illustrated by Synthia Saint James, and Young Masters Little Wisdom books illustrated by Kye Fleming. The series is designed for students from 3 to 6 years of age and is a foundation for curriculum development currently used in public schools, private schools, and Montessori Schools. [21] [22]
Young Masters Little Wisdom: Secrets Of The Heart is part of the series and is a recipient of the 2008 Parents’ Choice Recommended Award.
Hull's film credits include:
Her television credits include work for NBC, PBS, ABC, CBS, cable networks and programs such as The Today Show, The Nanny, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Charmed, Sesame Street, and The Simpsons.
Hull directed a documentary short film about Dream A World Education's mission in 2017, entitled The Ripple Effect, [24] the film was co-produced with Cinema Verde Productions, Inc. in 2018. It won a Global Impact Film Festival award for Best Sound Design that year [25] and was nominated for an Emmy Award in the Independent Programming category of the 71st Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards in July, 2019. [26]
Patricia Louise Holte, known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Godmother of Soul".
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Kenneth Brian Edmonds, better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 13 Grammy Awards. He was ranked number 20 on NME's 50 of The Greatest Producers Ever list.
Sheena Shirley Easton is a Scottish singer and actress who achieved recognition in an episode of the reality television series The Big Time: Pop Singer, which recorded her attempts to gain a record deal and her eventual signing with the EMI label. Her first two singles, "Modern Girl" and "9 to 5", both entered the top ten of the UK singles chart simultaneously. She became one of the most successful British female recording artists of the 1980s. Easton became the first and only recording artist in Billboard history to have a top five hit on each of Billboard's primary singles charts: "Morning Train ", "We've Got Tonight" with Kenny Rogers and "Sugar Walls".
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with various artists, most extensively Janet Jackson. They have written 31 top ten hits in the UK and 41 in the US. In 2022, the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category.
Sharon Robinson is an American singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known as a frequent writing collaborator with Leonard Cohen, although she has written songs for a number of other artists as well, including The Pointer Sisters, Aaron Neville, Brenda Russell, Diana Ross, Don Henley, Michael Bolton, Randy Crawford, Patti LaBelle, Roberta Flack, The Temptations, Bettye LaVette and others.
Patti Austin is an American Grammy Award-winning R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter best known for "Baby, Come to Me", her 1982 duet with James Ingram, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 after its re-release that same year.
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Ann Nesby is an American R&B, gospel and dance music singer and actress. She is the former lead singer of Sounds of Blackness; a songwriter with credits including hits sung by Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight; and an actress who co-starred in the 2003 romance musical The Fighting Temptations with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles.
Winner in You is the eighth studio album by American R&B singer Patti LaBelle. It was released by MCA Records on April 28, 1986, in the United States. Recording sessions took place during 1985–1986. Production was handled by several record producers, including Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Nickolas Ashford, among others.
"If You Asked Me To" is a song written by American songwriter Diane Warren and produced by Stewart Levine and Aaron Zigman. It was originally recorded by American singer Patti LaBelle for her ninth studio album, Be Yourself (1989), and also for the soundtrack to the James Bond film Licence to Kill. The song was released as the soundtrack's second single on June 12, 1989 by MCA Records. The lyrics are from the point of view of a woman who pleads to her significant other: "If you asked me to, I just might change my mind, and let you in my life forever". Three years later, Canadian singer Celine Dion covered the song for her 1992 self-titled second English-language studio album. Released as the album's second single, Dion's version topped the Canadian charts and peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"New Attitude" is a song by American singer Patti LaBelle. It was written by Sharon Robinson, Jon Gilutin, and Bunny Hull and recorded by LaBelle for the motion picture soundtrack album to the 1984 action comedy film Beverly Hills Cop, while production was helmed by Rick Chudacoff, Howie Rice, and Peter Burnetta. Released as a single in December 1984, it helped launch LaBelle's solo career as a pop music singer after the singer had spent seven years without a crossover pop hit following the break-up of her band Labelle.
Burnin' is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Patti LaBelle. It was released by MCA Records on October 1, 1991, in the United States to mixed reviews. The album features several collaborations, including duets with Gladys Knight and Michael Bolton, and a reunion track with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash from Labelle. It yielded three Billboard R&B chart hits: "Feels Like Another One", "Somebody Loves You Baby " and "When You've Been Blessed ".
Táta Vega is an American vocalist, whose career spans theater, film, and a variety of musical genres.
Be Yourself is the ninth solo album by American singer-songwriter Patti LaBelle. It was released by MCA Records on June 26, 1989 in the United States. Her second album with the company following her 1986 platinum album Winner in You, it features the single, "If You Asked Me To" which was also featured on the soundtrack to the James Bond movie, Licence to Kill (1989), and the R&B top ten Prince-written hit "Yo Mister." The album marked LaBelle's foray into new jack swing music with the tracks "I Got It Like That", produced by Full Force, and "Love 89", another Prince contribution.
Antonia Christina Basilotta, better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her cover of the song "Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Australia and hit the top ten in several other countries.
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Beverly Hills Cop: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1984 action comedy film Beverly Hills Cop. It was released in December 1984 by MCA Records. The soundtrack was mastered by Greg Fulginiti and features various artists whose tracks were included in the movie plus some other tracks not included in the movie but are similar in electronic style. The instrumental title tune, "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer, became a worldwide hit single and has since been covered by numerous artists.
Michael Hodges is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, executive music producer and music executive best known for his work in music for film and television most notably on The Garfield Movie (2024), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Point Break (2015), The Expanse (2015–2020) and Pete the Cat (2017–present). He has received three Grammy nominations for his work as a songwriter and producer. In 2017, Hodges was an executive music producer on Blade Runner 2049, produced the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack and co-wrote and produced the only original song on the album "Almost Human" performed by Lauren Daigle. In October 2017, Hodges signed on as executive music producer and co-composer of the Amazon Original Series Pete the Cat. In 2018, The Blade Runner 2049 Soundtrack, co-produced by Hodges, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. The album debuted at No. 1 in the "Billboard" Soundtrack Sales Charts and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music at the 71st British Academy Film Awards. In 2023, it was announced that Hodges would be an Executive Producer of "Hey AJ", a new Disney series expected to release in 2025. In 2023-2024, Hodges was the Executive Music Producer for The Garfield Movie. He co-wrote and produced the 10 song soundtrack album which include his works with Jon Batiste, Keith Urban, Snoop Dogg and Calum Scott.
Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me is the soundtrack to the 2014 American documentary film of the same name based on the life of country music singer Glen Campbell. An extended play consisted of five songs was released by Big Machine Records was released on October 17, 2014, in anticipation of the film's theatrical release, and was followed by a full soundtrack featuring 10 songs, which also includes tracks from the extended play, released on October 31.