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10/13/2024

Happy Birthday to Cheryl Anne Norton (born October 13, 1958), better known by her stage name Cherrelle, is an American R&B singer and songwriter who gained fame in the mid-1980s. Her signature hits include "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", "Where Do I Run To", "Everything I Miss at Home", and duets with R&B singer Alexander O'Neal such as "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This", as well as "Always" with her cousin Pebbles.

Cherrelle began her career working with jazz/R&B artists Norman Connors and Michael Henderson, as well as touring with Luther Vandross. After Tabu Records founder Clarence Avant heard her demo, he signed her to Tabu Records in 1983. Cherrelle decided on her stage name after a boss from a previous job hollered "Cher-relle, you're late again!"

In 1984, under the production of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Cherrelle released her debut album, Fragile. It featured her first R&B top 10 single, "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On". That song (with a music video homage to the film King Kong, featuring Cherrelle as the beast's love interest) was covered about a year later by pop singer Robert Palmer on his 1985 album Riptide. It was also covered by Mariah Carey for her 2001 soundtrack album Glitter using the same instrumental track.

Cherrelle's follow-up album, High Priority, was certified gold and produced the top 40 hit and the #2 R&B hit "Saturday Love"; a duet with Alexander O'Neal, it would also land in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 6. Cherrelle and O'Neal would have another top 40 single with "Never Knew Love Like This", which peaked at #28 US pop in 1988, and #2 R&B. A remixed version of "Saturday Love" on Tabu Records reached #55 in the UK Singles Chart in early 1990. Her third album, 1988's Affair, included the Number 1 R&B single, "Everything I Miss at Home". The album's title track became another R&B hit, peaking at number 4 on the R&B charts.

Cherrelle's cousin is pop singer Perri "Pebbles" Reid, and she is the aunt of Brandi of the girl group Blaque. Cherrelle is also a first cousin of Musica Monica Feaster, Music Producer/Gospel Artist. In addition to Cherrelle's musical background, she and Johnny Gill were featured on Pebbles' 1991 single "Always", which made the R&B top 20. That same year, Cherrelle released the album The Woman I Am, a first-time departure from using Jam and Lewis productions. The singer linked with producer Narada Michael Walden (known for working with Whitney Houston). Cherrelle reunited with the producers eight years later with her independent album The Right Time, released in 1999, and featuring a guest appearance from rapper Keith Murray.

Cherrelle has a light-lyric soprano vocal range. Her voice has been called a "light, wispy and occasionally whiny soprano" which influenced the urban contemporary music markets by Ron Wynn of AllMusic. Cherrelle's "light and airy soprano" were considered the inspiration as to why Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wanted to produce her and showcase her gift to the world. Other critics gave her praise for being able to convey emotions.

08/20/2024

Earth, Wind, & Fire from 1977. Front, from left: Verdine White, Al McKay, Philip Bailey, Maurice White, Andrew Woolfolk, Ralph Johnson. Back, from left: Larry Dunn, Fred White, Johnny Graham.

08/20/2024

Yvette Marie Stevens A.K.A. Chaka Khan waiting for the bus on Vine Street in Los Angeles. Circa 1970s. The old Capitol Records building can be seen in the background.

05/21/2024

Happy Birthday to Rachelle Ferrell born: on May 21, 1964, in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Berwyn is located in Tredyffrin and Easttown townships. The area is part of the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs. is an American vocalist and musician. Although she has had some success in the mainstream R&B, pop, gospel and classical music scenes, she is noted for her talents as a contemporary jazz singer. In contemporary jazz she is noted for her delivery, control, range, improvisational vocal percussion, scatting ability and access to the whistle register.

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Ferrell began singing at age six, and developed a six-octave range by adulthood. Her range also includes the ability to sing in the whistle register. Ferrell's highest notes in "It Only Took A Minute" (1992) have been described as "Minnie Riperton-like wailing." She received classical training in violin and the piano at an early age and was performing professionally on both instruments and as a vocalist as a teenager. After enrolling in the Berklee College of Music, and graduating a year later, having learned arrangement and developing her abilities in singing and songwriting, she secured a position teaching music for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts alongside Dizzy Gillespie.

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From 1975 until 1990, Ferrell sang backup for Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, and George Duke. Ferrell's debut, First Instrument, was released in 1990 in Japan, five years prior to its US release. Recorded with bassist Tyrone Brown, pianist Eddie Green and drummer Doug Nally, several famed jazz accompanists also recorded on her album. They include trumpeter Terence Blanchard, pianists Gil Goldstein and Michel Petrucciani, bassists Kenny Davis and Stanley Clarke, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter and keyboardist Pete Levin. Her take on standards like Sam Cooke's "You Send Me", Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?", and Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine", gained her a substantial Japanese jazz audience.

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In 2014, Rachelle Ferrell appeared on a new web series called "Now What with Kevin E. Taylor", where she was the series' season premiere. Ferrell decided, moved by Spirit, to sing her entire interview and at one point, she reduced the host to tears.

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"Some people sing songs like they wear clothing, they put it on and take it off", she explains in the biographical notes accompanying First Instrument. "But when one performs four sets a night, six nights a week, that experience affords you the opportunity to present the song from the inside out, to express its essence. In this way, a singer expresses the song in the spirit in which it was written. The songwriter translates emotion into words. The singer's job is to translate the words back into emotion"

05/19/2024

Yesterday a Street here in the Germantown section of Philadelphia was renamed in honor of Philadelphia musical icon Frankie Beverly.

Frankie Beverly is in the middle of his farewell tour. He'll be performing at the Dell Music Center on July 6.

05/19/2024

Happy Birthday to Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modeling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves St. Laurent and Kenzo, and appearing on the covers of Elle and Vogue. She notably worked with photographers such as Jean-Paul Goude, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, and Hans Feurer, and became known for her distinctive androgynous appearance and bold features.

Beginning in 1977, Jones embarked on a music career, securing a record deal with Island Records and initially becoming a high-profile figure of New York City's Studio 54-centered disco scene. In the early 1980s, she moved toward a new wave style that drew on reggae, funk, post-punk, and pop music, frequently collaborating with both the graphic designer Jean-Paul Goude and the musical duo Sly & Robbie. She scored Top 40 entries on the UK Singles Chart with "Private Life", "Pull Up to the Bumper", "I've Seen That Face Before", and "Slave to the Rhythm". In 1982, she released the music video collection A One Man Show, directed by Goude, which earned her a nomination for Best Video Album at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards. Her most popular albums include Warm Leatherette (1980), Nightclubbing (1981), and Slave to the Rhythm (1985).

As an actress, Jones appeared in several indie films prior to landing her first mainstream appearance as Zula in the fantasy-action film Conan the Destroyer (1984) alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sarah Douglas, and subsequently appeared in the James Bond movie A View to a Kill (1985) as May Day, and starred as a vampire in Vamp (1986); all of which earned her nominations for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1992, Jones acted in the Eddie Murphy film Boomerang and contributed to the soundtrack. She also appeared alongside Tim Curry in the 2001 film Wolf Girl.

Jones was ranked 82nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll (1999). In 2008, she was honored with a Q Idol Award. Jones influenced the cross-dressing movement of the 1980s and has been cited as an inspiration for multiple artists, including Annie Lennox, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Solange, Lorde, Róisín Murphy, Brazilian Girls, Nile Rodgers, Santigold, and Basement Jaxx. In 2016, Billboard ranked her as the 40th greatest dance club artist of all time

05/18/2024

Happy Birthday to Rob Base was born Robert Ginyard on May 18, 1967. He was 1/2 of the Rap Duo Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock.

In the fourth grade, he relocated in New York City from the Bronx to Harlem in Manhattan, where he became a classmate of DJ E-Z Rock. He attended Harlem public schools and loved music. Influenced by rap, he performed in talent shows and at as many open mic or hip-hop events as possible. His first child, De'Jené Ginyard, was born in 1989 to his then-girlfriend Rhonda Dunbar, with whom he was in a relationship from 1986 to 1990. In 1991, Base met April, and in 1992, they had a son, Robert Ginyard Jr. They subsequently took guardianship of April's cousin Dysell. Base and April married and remained together until her death in September 2013.

Rob Base Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock were an American hip-hop duo from Harlem, New York City. Rob Base is the stage name of Robert Ginyard (May 18, 1967) and DJ E-Z Rock was Rodney "Skip" Bryce (1967–2014). They are best known for the 1988 single "It Takes Two", a "hip-hop staple" that was a top 40 hit and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. That song was a part of the duo's album of the same name, which also has been certified platinum. They are known for being pioneers of the crossover success that rap music would have in the popular music mainstream.

The duo's first U.S. single and release was "DJ Interview", appearing on World to World, which later got them a recording contract with Profile Records in 1987. The duo was assisted by a long-time friend from New Jersey, producer David Wynn. David Wynn produced three songs on their debut album and five on their sophomore album.

The first Profile release was "It Takes Two". It used multiple samples from James Brown and Lyn Collins's 1972 song "Think (About It)". The track first became a regional hit and then slowly climbed the Billboard Hot 100, picking up a multi-platinum single certification. The song also peaked at No. 3 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

Their album It Takes Two was quickly assembled. It produced a notable follow-up hit, "Joy and Pain", which sampled a song of the same name by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, as well as "Put the Music Where Your Mouth Is" by the Olympic Runners. It reached the top 10 on the dance chart and climbed to No. 58 on the Hot 100. "Get On the Dance Floor", which sampled "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" by The Jacksons, produced by David Wynn, was a track released to clubs in between the two singles. It hit No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989. Boosted by those singles, the It Takes Two album went platinum seven times over.

Base responded in 1989 with The Incredible Base, his debut solo album. It did not sell as well as It Takes Two. One song from the album hit the dance chart in late 1989: "Turn It Out (Go Base)", credited only to Rob Base.

In 2008, their song "It Takes Two" was ranked number 37 on VH1's 100 greatest songs of hip-hop.

Rob Base performing as a solo artist in October, 2023
The duo's first U.S. single and release was "DJ Interview", appearing on World to World, which later got them a recording contract with Profile Records in 1987. The duo was assisted by a long-time friend from New Jersey, producer David Wynn. David Wynn produced three songs on their debut album and five on their sophomore album.

The first Profile release was "It Takes Two". It used multiple samples from James Brown and Lyn Collins 1972 song "Think (About It)". The track first became a regional hit and then slowly climbed the Billboard Hot 100, picking up a multi-platinum single certification. The song also peaked at No. 3 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

Their album It Takes Two was quickly assembled. It produced a notable follow-up hit, "Joy and Pain", which sampled a song of the same name by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, as well as "Put the Music Where Your Mouth Is" by the Olympic Runners. It reached the top 10 on the dance chart and climbed to No. 58 on the Hot 100. "Get On the Dance Floor", which sampled "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" by The Jacksons, produced by David Wynn, was a track released to clubs in between the two singles. It hit No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989. Boosted by those singles, the It Takes Two album went platinum seven times over.

Base responded in 1989 with The Incredible Base, his debut solo album. It did not sell as well as It Takes Two. One song from the album hit the dance chart in late 1989: "Turn It Out (Go Base)", credited only to Rob Base.

In 2008, their song "It Takes Two" was ranked number 37 on VH1's 100 greatest songs of hip hop.

Rob Base was born Robert Ginyard on May 18, 1967. In the fourth grade, he relocated in New York City from the Bronx to Harlem in Manhattan, where he became a classmate of DJ E-Z Rock. He attended Harlem public schools and loved music. Influenced by rap, he performed in talent shows and at as many open mic or hip-hop events as possible. His first child, De'Jené Ginyard, was born in 1989 to his then-girlfriend Rhonda Dunbar, with whom he was in a relationship from 1986 to 1990. In 1991, Base met April, and in 1992, they had a son, Robert Ginyard Jr. They subsequently took guardianship of April's cousin Dysell. Base and April married and remained together until her death in September 2013.

DJ E-Z Rock died on April 27, 2014, at age 46 after complications from diabetes.

05/18/2024

Happy Birthday to Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. Jackson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.

Jackson was nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the Athletics and the Yankees. He helped Oakland win five consecutive American League West divisional titles, three straight American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles from 1972 to 1974. Jackson helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and back-to-back World Series titles, in 1977 and 1978. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional titles in 1982 and 1986. Jackson hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series.

Jackson hit 563 career home runs and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees retired his uniform number in 1993, and the Athletics retired it in 2004. Jackson currently serves as a special advisor to the Houston Astros, and a sixth championship associated with Jackson came with Houston's win in the 2022 World Series.

Jackson led his teams to first place eleven times over his 21-year baseball career and had only two losing seasons.

Jackson was born in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia. His father, Martinez Jackson, who was half Puerto Rican, worked as a tailor and was a former second baseman with the Newark Eagles of Negro league baseball. He was the youngest of his mother Clara's four children. He also had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage. His parents divorced when he was six; his mother took three of his siblings with her, while his father took two of Jackson's siblings from his first marriage, though one sibling later returned to Wyncote. Martinez Jackson was a single father, and theirs was one of the few black families in Wyncote.

Jackson graduated from Cheltenham High School in 1964, where he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. A tailback in football, he injured his knee in an early season game in his junior year in the fall of 1962. He was told by the doctors he was never to play football again, but Jackson returned for the final game of the season. In that game, Jackson fractured five cervical vertebrae, which caused him to spend six weeks in the hospital and another month in a neck cast. Doctors told Jackson that he might never walk again, let alone play football, but Jackson defied the odds again. On the baseball team, he batted .550 and threw several no-hitters.

05/18/2024

Happy Birthday to Thomas "Nephew Tommy" Miles. Born: May 18, 1967 Place of Birth: Houston, TX. He's an American comedian, actor and producer. He currently co-hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show during which he frequently makes prank phone calls. He is the nephew of comedian Steve Harvey, which is where his stage name comes from. Thomas married Jacqueline Miles in 2016 and has 3 children.

Nephew Tommy studied theatre at Texas A&M University.

05/16/2024

Happy Birthday to Ralph Edward Tresvant (born May 16, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the lead singer of R&B group New Edition. As a solo artist, Tresvant released his double platinum-selling debut album Ralph Tresvant (1990). In 2008, he began touring with Bobby Brown and Johnny Gill in a new group named Heads of State. October 13 is Ralph Tresvant Day in Boston, MA and Little Rock, AR. In 2019 and 2020, Gill and Tresvant released two new singles, Perfect and All Mine. On February 3, 2023, Urban One Inc's Reach Media and Radio One announced that Ralph Tresvant, lead singer of famed supergroup New Edition, is now the new host of the network's long-running syndicated show "Love and R&B," heard nightly on all affiliate stations, effective February 13. Tresvant shares the same birthday as Janet Jackson, May 16.

Tresvant was born on May 16, 1968, in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Patricia Tresvant and Ralph Hall. Tresvant grew up enjoying music with his younger siblings, sister LaTonya and brother Andre. When some junior high school friends got the idea to put a group together, Tresvant and three others – Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell and Michael Bivins – started performing at local talent shows. They were spotted by a local up-and-coming producer and songwriter, Brooke Payne, a local manager and choreographer, who encountered the boys at a local talent show in Roxbury.

After an audition for Payne, he gave them the name New Edition to signify they were a new edition of the Jackson 5. Maurice Starr, who wanted to create a "newer edition" of the pop act The Jackson 5, signed them to his independent Streetwise Records label and a fifth member, Ronnie DeVoe (Payne's nephew), was added to the group. Releasing their debut album, Candy Girl, in 1983. The album was a successful launching pad for the group, spawning the teen-oriented hit singles "Popcorn Love," "Is This the End," "Jealous Girl" and the title track.

After a dispute over money, New Edition left Starr's management and record label and signed with major label MCA Records, which released the group's self-titled second album. Tresvant's smooth, approachable vocal style had become a signature for the group, and the hits continued, including the Top Five smash single "Cool It Now."

Quiet and shy, Tresvant was initially apprehensive about the idea of recording a solo project. Tresvant felt as if the members of the group were not showing him the acknowledgment that he thought he deserved. However, after witnessing the huge success of Bobby Brown's solo albums and of Ronnie DeVoe, Ricky Bell and Michael Bivins' Bell Biv Devoe side project "BBD, Tresvant eventually relented. His self-titled debut was released in 1990. The lead single "Sensitivity" spent 20 weeks on the U.S. R&B Singles chart, including two weeks at Number One. The album also included the Top 5 hit singles "Do What I Gotta Do" and "Stone Cold Gentleman", the latter of which features guest vocals from former band member Bobby Brown. Tresvant's self-titled debut album sold two million copies, achieving double-platinum status. Tresvant won the Billboard Music Award for " #1 New Pop Male Artist" in 1991.

Tresvant's vocals were also featured on songs on the soundtracks for the films Mo' Money ("Money Can't Buy You Love") and The Preacher's Wife ("Somebody Bigger Than You and I"). He made a cameo appearance in the popular urban comedy House Party 2 which featured his two singles for the film's soundtrack, "Rated-R" and "Yo Baby Yo".

Tresvant is a radio show DJ on The BASS of Boston WZBR 1410 AM. The show "Inside the Ride with Ralph Tresvant" premiered on Monday, September 5, 2016. In 2023, he took over hosting duties of Radio One’s “Love and R&B” radio show from former label mate, Al B. Sure!

05/06/2024

Gloria Richardson Dandridge (born Gloria St. Clair Hayes; May 6, 1922 – July 15, 2021) was an American civil rights activist best known as the leader of the Cambridge movement, a civil rights action in the early 1960s in Cambridge, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Recognized as a major figure in the Civil Rights Movement, she was one of the signatories to "The Treaty of Cambridge", signed in July 1963 with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and state and local officials. It was an effort at reconciliation and commitment to change after a riot the month before.

At the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Richardson and five other women were honored by being seated on the stage at the Lincoln Memorial, but none of the women were invited to speak to the crowd. The next year Richardson moved to New York City, where she worked locally in Harlem on civil rights and economic development.

Gloria St. Clair Hayes was born in 1922 to John and Mable (née St. Clair) Hayes in Baltimore, Maryland, the largest city in the state. Her mother was part of the affluent St. Clair family of Cambridge, Maryland, which owned and operated a successful grocery store and funeral home. Her ancestors had been free people of color since before the Civil War and also owned extensive rental property. During the constraints of the Great Depression, the Hayes family moved to Cambridge, where Mable had grown up. One of Mable's uncles was a lawyer in the state of Maryland. Her family was also involved in politics. Gloria's wealthy maternal St. Clair grandfather was elected to the Cambridge City Council, serving from 1912 to 1946.

From a young age, Gloria had a strong personality nurtured by her parents and maternal grandparents. She developed a strong sense of community and started to form her own views on such human rights issues as racism. She attended a neighborhood public school. Her parents encouraged her to speak up and to be comfortable in front of large groups, such as performing at Sunday school programs. The young Hayes pushed against what her parents considered to be respectable behavior for girls from well-to-do families. Her independence and persistence were later displayed also in her civil rights work. While aware of her family privileges, she realized that her college degree, her family's social position, and their navigation of the color line in Cambridge did not provide her or her family with true protection. Her grandparents always taught her to value people for their actions and not for their socioeconomic status

05/06/2024

Happy Birthday to Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe (born May 6, 1983) she's an American Actor, Director, Producer, and Writer. She made her acting debut in the 2009 film Precious, a role that earned her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, in addition to nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other film roles include Tower Heist (2011), White Bird in a Blizzard (2014), Grimsby (2016), and Antebellum (2020).

From 2010 to 2013, she was a main cast member of the Showtime series The Big C. Sidibe co-starred in the television series American Horror Story arcs Coven (2013–2014) as Queenie and Freak Show (2014–2015) as Regina Ross and later reprised her role as Queenie in Hotel (2015–2016) and Apocalypse (2018). From 2015 to 2020, she starred in the Fox musical drama series Empire as Becky Williams.

Sidibe was born in New York City in the Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn neighborhood, and was raised in Harlem. Her mother, Alice Tan Ridley, is an American R&B and gospel singer who appeared on the fifth season of America's Got Talent, on June 15, 2010. Her father, Ibnou Sidibe, is from Senegal and is a cab driver. Growing up, Sidibe lived with her aunt, feminist activist Dorothy Pitman Hughes. She holds an associate degree from Borough of Manhattan Community College and attended but did not graduate from City College of New York and Mercy College. She worked at The Fresh Air Fund's office as a receptionist before pursuing an acting career.

In Precious, Sidibe played the main character, Claireece "Precious" Jones, a 16-year-old mother of two (the result of Precious being r***d by her father) who tries to escape abuse at the hands of her mother. The film won numerous awards, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award. On December 15, 2009, she was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her performance in Precious. The next month she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

In March 2017, Sidibe revealed that she had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and underwent laparoscopic bariatric surgery in an effort to manage her weight.

In November 2020, Sidibe announced her engagement to Brandon Frankel, a talent manager with Cameo. The couple married in March 2021.

In February 2024, Sidibe and her husband announced that she was pregnant with twins