July 6, 2010 Harvey Fuqua, singer, songwriter, record producer, and executive, died. Fuqua was born July 27, 1929 in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1951, he formed a vocal group called the Crazy Sounds. Later they moved to Cleveland, Ohio and were renamed The Moonglows. The group recorded their first single in 1953 and their 1954 single […]
Tag Archives | singer
July 4th in African American History – Barry White
July 4, 2003 Barry White, singer, songwriter, and record producer, died. White was born Barrence Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944 in Galveston, Texas. He began his musical career in the early 1960s in singing groups before going out on his own in the mid-1960s. He got his big break producing a female group he […]
June 21st in African American History – John Lee Hooker
June 21, 2001 John Lee Hooker, singer, songwriter and blues guitarist, died. Hooker was born August 22, 1917 in Coahoma County near Clarksdale, Mississippi. At the age of 15, Hooker ran away from home and in 1948 landed in Detroit, Michigan, working at the Ford Motor Company and playing in the blues venues and saloons […]
June 20th in African American History – Lionel Brockman Richie
June 20, 1949 Lionel Brockman Richie, singer, songwriter and record producer, was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Richie went to Tuskegee Institute on a tennis scholarship and graduated in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. In 1968, he became a singer and saxophonist with the Commodores who became popular with albums such as “Natural High” […]
June 19th in African American History – Phylicia Ayers-Allen (Phylicia Rashad)
June 19, 1948 Phylicia Ayers-Allen (Phylicia Rashad), stage, television and screen actress and singer, was born in Houston, Texas. Rashad earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Howard University in the early 1970s. She initially gained recognition on the stage with a string of Broadway credits. From 1981 to 1983, she […]
June 13th in African American History – Clyde McPhatter
June 13, 1972 Clyde McPhatter, rhythm and blues singer, died. McPhatter was born November 15, 1932 in Durham, North Carolina. From 1950 to 1953, he performed with Billy Ward & the Dominoes who recorded “Sixty Minute Man” (1951) and “Have Mercy Baby” (1952). In 1953, McPhatter quit that group and formed the Drifters who released […]
June 7th in African American History – Prince Rogers Nelson (Prince)
June 7, 1958 Prince Rogers Nelson (Prince), singer, songwriter, and musician, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prince’s first album, “For You,” was released in 1978. He composed, produced, arranged, and played all 27 instruments on the recording. In 1979, he had his first major hit album, “Prince,” which contained the single “I Wanna Be Your […]