Women of Soul
Black Divas Who Rocked!
Happy Wednesday, Golden Divas!
Today is all about the ‘Women of Soul’ these notable women have made history and made us proud with their soulful voices breaking the charts with their beautiful music.
Golden Divas this past Sunday I had the chance to review ‘Women of Soul’ with a special tribute to Aretha. Although, I saw it when it came out in 2018; I couldn’t resist seeing those lovely ladies belting out all of our favorite songs again. I must say this musical was very entertaining, it was like being at a two-hour concert with all of your favorite Divas!
Let’s Play ‘Highly Recommend’ this musical for you and your girlfriends to go see. Playing now until March 6, 2022.
You can read our review here at: https://www.chicagonow.com/…/women-of-soul-at-the…/
Women of Soul is the brainchild of Director Daryl Brooks; in 2018, the musical premiered at Black Ensemble Theater and ran for three months to sell-out audiences. Then it was picked to go to the National Black Theater Festival in 2019, again to sold-out audiences. It is now playing at Mercury Theater and is brought back to life!
Kudos, to the writer and director Daryl Brooks for showcasing these beautiful, talented singers and their great work, with a special tribute to Aretha Franklin, just in time for Black History Month!
The leading ladies include Aretha, Gladys, Whitney, Dionne, Tina, Janet, Donna, Etta, Diana, Mahalia, Chaka, Mariah, and Natalie!
Here is a little of their backstory and their accolades!!
Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Referred to as the “Queen of Soul,” she has twice been placed ninth in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. With global sales of over 75 million records, Franklin has been one of the best-selling music artists from the second half of the 20th century to the present. With commercial hits such as “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” “Respect,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Chain of Fools,” “Think,” and “I Say a Little Prayer.”
Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), dubbed the “Empress of Soul,” is an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and author. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight is known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her group The Pips, including her brother Merald “Bubba” Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten.
Knight has recorded two number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles (“Midnight Train to Georgia” and “That’s What Friends Are For”), eleven number-one R&B singles, and six number-one R&B albums. She has won seven Grammy Awards (four as a solo artist and three with the Pips) and is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Vocal Group Hall of Fame along with The Pips. Two of her songs (“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia”). Rolling Stone magazine ranked Knight among the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. She was dubbed the voice! She is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Her singing style, which was strongly inspired by gospel music, had an innovative influence on popular music. Houston is known for her powerful, soulful vocals and vocal improvisation skills. She also enhanced her popularity by entering the movie industry. Her works, including recordings and films, have generated great success and controversy.
She is the only artist to have had seven consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, from “Saving All My Love for You” in 1985 to “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” in 1988. Houston’s third studio album, I’m Your Baby Tonight (1990), continued to yield two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: “I’m Your Baby Tonight” and “All the Man That I Need.” My personal favorite, “I Will Always Love You!”
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss singer, songwriter, and actress. Widely referred to as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer.
Turner began her career with Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm in 1957. Under the name Little Ann, she appeared on her first record, “Boxtop,” in 1958. In 1960, she was introduced as Tina Turner with the hit duet single “A Fool in Love.” The duo Ike & Tina Turner became “one of the most formidable live acts in history” They released hits such as “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine,” “River Deep – Mountain High,” “Proud Mary,” and “Nutbush City Limits” before disbanding in 1976.
In the 1980s, Turner launched “one of the greatest comebacks in music history.” Her 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer contained the hit song “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became her first and only No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. At age 44, she was the oldest female solo artist to top the Hot 100. Her chart success continued with “Better Be Good to Me,” “Private Dancer,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome),” “Typical Male,” “The Beast,” “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” and “GoldenEye.”
Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, Turner is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She has received 12 Grammy Awards, including eight competitive awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the first black artist and first female to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious, sexually provocative records and elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreography became a catalyst in the growth of MTV, enabling her to rise to prominence while breaking gender and racial barriers in the process. In addition, lyrical content focused on social issues set her reputation as a role model for youth.
Having sold over 100 million records, Jackson is one of the world’s best-selling music artists. She has amassed an extensive catalog, with singles such as “Nasty,” “Rhythm Nation,” “That’s the Way Love Goes,” “Together Again,” and “All for You”; she holds the record for the most consecutive top-ten entries on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with 18.
LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the “Queen of Disco,” while her music gained a global following. With memorable songs such as “Love to Love You Baby” and “I Feel Love,” “Last Dance,” her version of “MacArthur Park,” “Heaven Knows,” “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls,” “Dim All the Lights,” “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” with Barbra Streisand, and “On the Radio” followed.
She sold over 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She won five Grammy Awards. In her obituary in The Times, she was described as the “undisputed queen of the Seventies disco boom” who reached the status of “one of the world’s leading female singers.
Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross, March 26, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress born in Detroit, Michigan. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown’s most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world’s best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in history, with a total of twelve number-one hit singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, including “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” and “Love Child.”
Following her departure from the Supremes in 1970, Ross embarked on a successful solo career in music, film, television, and stage. Some of her greatest hits were “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand).” Touch Me in the Morning, “Love Hangover,” respectively, and “I’m Coming Out. “Upside Down” (1980) and “Endless Love. Ross was named the “Female Entertainer of the Century” by Billboard in 1976.
As a solo performer beginning in 1970, Ross has released 25 studio albums, numerous singles, and compilations that have sold more than 75 million records worldwide. She is the only female artist to have number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist, as the other half of a duet, as a trio member, and as an ensemble member. Billboard ranks her as the 30th most extraordinary Hot 100 artist of all time. Ross ranks among the Top 5 artists on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart from 1955 to 2018 when combining her solo and Supremes’ hits.
Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including blues, R&B, soul, rock and roll, jazz, and gospel. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as “The Wallflower,” “At Last,” “Tell Mama,” “Something’s Got a Hold on Me,” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” However, she faced several personal problems, including heroin addiction, severe physical abuse, and incarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch.
James’s deep and earthy voice bridged the gap between rhythm, blues, and rock and roll. She won six Grammy Awards and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. Rolling Stone magazine ranked James number 22 on its list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time; she was also ranked number 62 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In addition, Billboard’s 2015 list of the 35 Greatest R&B Artists of All Time includes James, whose “bold, take-no-prisoners vocals colorfully interpreted everything from blues and R&B/soul to rock ‘n’roll, jazz, and gospel.
Mahalia Jackson (born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to the development and spread of gospel blues in black churches throughout the U.S. During a time when racial segregation was pervasive in American society, she met considerable and unexpected success in a recording career, selling an estimated 22 million records and performing in front of integrated and secular audiences in concert halls around the world.
Jackson was heavily influenced by blues singer Bessie Smith, adapting her style to traditional Protestant hymns and contemporary songs. After making an impression in Chicago churches, she was hired to sing at funerals, political rallies, and revivals. For 15 years, she functioned as a “fish and bread singer,” working odd jobs between performances to make a living.
Nationwide recognition came for Jackson in 1947 with the release of “Move On Up a Little Higher,” selling two million copies and hitting the number two spot on Billboard charts, both firsts for gospel music. Jackson’s recordings captured the attention of jazz fans in the U.S. and France, and she became the first gospel recording artist to tour Europe. She regularly appeared on television and radio and performed for many presidents and heads of state, including singing the national anthem at John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Ball in 1961. Motivated by her experiences living and touring in the South and integrating a Chicago neighborhood, she participated in the civil rights movement, singing for fundraisers and at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. She was a vocal and loyal supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a personal family friend.
Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her career has spanned over five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of Rufus’s funk band. Known as the “Queen of Funk,” Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with “I Feel for You” in 1984. Khan has won ten Grammy Awards and has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.
In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 65th most successful dance artist of all time. In addition, she was ranked at No. 17 in VH1’s original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. She has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times as a solo artist and four times as a member of Rufus featuring Chaka Khan; the first time in 2012 as a member of Rufus.
Mary Jane Blige (born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul,” Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards. In addition, she has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, including one for her supporting role in the film Mudbound (2017) and another for its original song “Mighty River,” becoming the first person nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year.
Renowned as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Blige is undeniably one of her generation’s great singers and artists. She has sold over 50 million albums and, as of 2015, has won nine Grammy Awards. In addition to music, Blige has branched out into acting.
Her career began in 1991 when she was signed to Uptown Records. In 1992, Blige released her debut album, What’s the 411?, which is credited for introducing the mix of R&B and hip hop into mainstream pop culture, and her 1993 “What’s the 411? Remix” popularized rap as a featuring act, it is the first album by a singer to have a rapper on every song. Both What’s the 411? and her 1994 album My Life are featured on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and the latter on Time magazine’s All-Time 100 Albums. Throughout her career, Blige released 13 studio albums, all of which have reached the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart, including four number-one albums. Her biggest hits include “Real Love,” “Not Gon’ Cry,” “Be Without You,” and the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single “Family Affair.”
Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Known for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style, and signature use of the whistle register, she is referred to as the “Songbird Supreme” and the “Queen of Christmas.” Carey rose to fame in 1990 with her eponymous debut album. She was the first artist to have her first five singles reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, from “Vision of Love” to “Emotions.”
Carey achieved worldwide success with the albums Music Box (1993), Merry Christmas (1994), and Daydream (1995), with singles including “Hero,” “Without You,” “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “Fantasy,” “Always Be My Baby,” and “One Sweet Day,” which topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 decade-end chart (the 1990s). With sales of over 220 million records worldwide, Carey is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Nineteen of her songs have topped the Billboard Hot 100. She holds the record for the most number-one singles by a solo artist, a female songwriter (eighteen), and a female producer (fifteen). She is the highest certified female artist in the United States, with 68.5 million accredited album units, tying with Barbra Streisand. Carey was ranked second on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music, and in 2019, Billboard named her the all-time top female artist in the United States, based on both album and song chart performances. Carey has won five Grammy Awards, nineteen World Music Awards, ten American Music Awards, and fifteen Billboard Music Awards. An inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, she inspired other artists in R&B and was one of the first artists to popularize hip hop into popular music.
Marie Dionne Warwick (born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, television host, and former Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on Billboard’s Hot 100 pop singles chart. She is the second-most charted female vocalist during the rock era (1955-1999). She is also one of the most-charted vocalists of all time, with 56 of her singles making the Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998 (12 of the Top Ten), and 80 singles in total – either solo or collaboratively – making the Hot 100, R&B and/or adult contemporary charts. Dionne ranks #74 of Billboard Hot 100’s “Greatest Artists of all time.”
She has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. Warwick has been inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the R&B Music Hall of Fame, and the Apollo Theater Walk of Fame. In 2019 she won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, three of her songs (“Walk on by,” “Alfie,” and “Don’t Make Me Over”) have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the hits “This Will Be,” “Inseparable” (1975), and “Our Love” (1977). She returned as a pop singer o the 1987 album Everlasting and her cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac.” In the 1990s, she sang traditional pop by her father, resulting in her most significant success, Unforgettable… with Love, which sold over seven million copies and won her seven Grammy Awards. She sold over 30 million records worldwide.
There you have Golden Divas the beautifully talented ‘Women of Soul!