Jevetta Steele | |
|---|---|
 Jevetta and Jearlyn Steele at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair | |
| Background information | |
| Born | November 11, 1963 Gary, Indiana, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1985–present |
Jevetta Steele (born November 11, 1963) is an American R&B and gospel music singer. [1] [2]
Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, Steele eventually moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to become a criminal lawyer. [1] Steele later embarked upon a solo career within music and the stage. She also went on to be a member of gospel group The Steeles along with her sister Jearlyn and three brothers. [1] [3]
In 1983, Steele landed the lead role of Ismene in the touring show, The Gospel at Colonus . [3] [4] [5] She went on to appear in productions of Smokey Joe's Cafe , Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope , Ain't Misbehavin' , Crowns, and Double Infidelities. She later composed the musical Two Queens, One Castle, which opened to critical acclaim. [1]
Bob Telson, the composer of The Gospel at Colonus, used Jevetta Steele as a singer for different soundtracks he worked on. A collaboration with Telson has become her most well-known lead vocal performance, on the 1988 Telson-penned song "Calling You" from the movie soundtrack of Bagdad Café . The song was nominated for an Academy Award. The song was released as Steele's debut single and became a big airplay hit around Europe, as well as achieving top 10 positions in Sweden and in France, where she was especially successful. The success in France led to a recording contract there and in 1989 she released a follow-up single, again produced by Telson, titled "I Will Remember", which failed to chart.
Starting in 1988, Steele, on her own or with her singing family group The Steeles, became a very much in-demand session singer. It was through those sessions that she met Prince and his associates, and worked closely with him providing vocals on his records and the artists he produced from the period 1989–1995.
At the same time as these sessions, Steele worked on her debut album, Here It Is. Primarily recorded at Paisley Park and produced by Tommy LiPuma, Ricky Peterson and Maurice White, the album was first issued only in France during 1991 and was later reissued in 1993. [6] [7]
Steele's debut album reached No. 15 on the Blues & Soul UK Hiplist chart. [8] The LP also included her hit "Calling You", and featured a cover of Dionne Warwick's "Say A Little Prayer For You". [7] [6] That same year, Steele's group The Steeles released their debut album Heaven Help Us All.
Steele can also be heard on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Corrina, Corrina singing "Over the Rainbow".
She has recorded and toured with Prince, George Clinton, 10,000 Maniacs, and Mavis Staples. She appeared on the album Memorial Beach , recorded by the Norwegian group a-ha, performing backing vocals on the songs "Lie Down in Darkness" and "Move to Memphis". Her most recent album is a 2006 collection of original and classic jazz selections called My Heart.
SWV is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) George, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B groups of the 1990s. They had a series of hits, including "Weak", "Right Here ", "I'm So into You", and "You're the One". The group disbanded in 1998 to pursue solo projects and reunited in 2005.
Emily Drinkard, known professionally as Cissy Houston, was an American soul and gospel singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Houston began singing with three of her siblings in the family gospel group, The Drinkard Singers. By the early 1960s, Houston began a career as a session vocalist for several secular musicians in the rhythm and blues, soul, rock and roll, pop and rock genres. After initially joining her nieces' group the Gospelaires for a session with Ronnie Hawkins in 1961, Houston gradually took control of the group, which revamped into "The Group" with Houston, niece Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith and teenager Estelle Brown. She eventually founded the girl group The Sweet Inspirations with Shemwell, Smith and Brown in 1967 and that year signed a contract with Atlantic Records where, with Houston as lead singer, they would record four albums before Houston departed for a solo career in 1970. Her best known solo singles include the top 20 R&B chart single, "I'll Be There" and the top 5 dance single, "Think It Over". Her solo career culminated with two Grammy Award wins, both in the Traditional Gospel Album category.
Kelly Cherelle Price is an American R&B and gospel singer. Beginning her career in 1992, Price originally performed backing vocals for Mariah Carey on multiple songs, including her Billboard Hot 100-number one singles "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and "Fantasy." She rose to wider prominence in 1997 following her uncredited performances on the number-one single "Mo Money Mo Problems" by the Notorious B.I.G. and the top-five single "Feel So Good" by Mase, prompting her to record as a lead artist. Her debut studio album, Soul of a Woman (1998) received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); its lead single, "Friend of Mine" peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Sarah Dash was an American singer. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles. Dash was later a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, session musician, and sidewoman for The Rolling Stones, and Keith Richards.
Cynthia Johnson is an American singer, songwriter and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the band Lipps Inc. with the worldwide smash hit "Funkytown".
Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving member. During her time in the group, she recorded the hit singles "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again". In 1969, Staples released her self-titled debut solo album.
"Corrine, Corrina" is a 12-bar country blues song in the AAB form. "Corrine, Corrina" was first recorded by Bo Carter. However, it was not copyrighted until 1932 by Bo Carter, along with his publishers Mitchell Parish and J. Mayo Williams.
Esser Leopold "Lee" Breuer was an Obie Award-winning and Pulitzer-, Grammy-, Emmy- and Tony-nominated American playwright, theater director, academic, educator, filmmaker, poet, and lyricist. Breuer taught and directed on six continents.
"Calling You" is a song from the 1987 film, Bagdad Cafe. It was originally recorded by American R&B and gospel music singer Jevetta Steele. Bob Telson, the songwriter, also recorded his version. Both versions appeared on the movie soundtrack. The song was critically acclaimed and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 61st Academy Awards.
The Gospel at Colonus is an African-American musical version of Sophocles's tragedy, Oedipus at Colonus. The show was created in 1983 by the experimental-theatre director Lee Breuer, one of the founders of the seminal American avant-garde theatre company Mabou Mines, and composer Bob Telson. The musical was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The show had a brief run on Broadway in 1988.
"What a Diff'rence a Day Made", also recorded as "What a Difference a Day Makes", is a popular song originally written in Spanish by María Grever, a Mexican songwriter, in 1934 with the title "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" and first recorded by Orquesta Pedro Vía that same year. A popular version in Spanish was later recorded by trio Los Panchos with Eydie Gormé in 1964.
"A Fool in Love" is the debut single by Ike & Tina Turner. It was released on Sue Records in 1960. The song is Tina Turner's first release with the stage name "Tina Turner" although she had been singing with Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm since 1956. It was the first national hit record for bandleader Ike Turner since the number-one R&B hit "Rocket 88" in 1951, for which he did not receive proper credit.
Táta Vega is an American vocalist, whose career spans theater, film, and a variety of musical genres.
Robert Eria Telson is an American composer, songwriter, and pianist best known for his work in musical theater and film, for which he has received Tony, Pulitzer, and Academy Award nominations.
Lisa Taylor is an American R&B singer. She is best known for her solo album Secrets of the Heart, including the R&B singles "Did You Pray Today?" (#40) and "Secrets of the Heart" (#41), "Don’t Waste My Time" from The Meteor Man soundtrack, and for singing as a featured and background vocalist for artists including Burt Bacharach, Janet Jackson, Philip Bailey, Patti LaBelle, and Elvis Costello, among others.
Crystal Johnson is an American singer and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. She has performed in a variety of stage productions and has collaborated with a wide array of well-known artists including Anthony Hamilton, Dr. Dre, Heavy D, Mobb Deep, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Angie Stone, Usher and many others.
The Institutional Radio Choir was a gospel choir that recorded between 1962 and 2003. The choir began in 1954 at the Institutional COGIC in Brooklyn, NY, under Bishop Carl E Williams Sr. After recording an album entitled: "Well Done," the choir backed up Shirley Caesar on her two albums, I'll Go and My Testimony. Caesar allotted the choir's director two songs on the album, one of which was entitled (When Trouble Comes) Stretch Out. The song went on to become a gospel standard, especially in Pentecostal circles. The choir went on to record over 20 albums, most of which charted in the Top 10 on the Gospel Billboard charts.
Barbara Weathers is the debut album by R&B singer Barbara Weathers, released through Reprise Records in 1990. The LP got to No. 18 on the UK Blues & Soul Hiplist chart.
J.D. Steele is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and choir director best known for his work with Prince, as the J.D. Steele Singers in "The Gospel at Colonus", in musical theatre, and as a member of the vocal group The Steeles.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
