FREDA PAYNE

Freda Charcelia Payne was born in 1942 in Detroit and is a great jazz and soul singer.

Unfortunately there is not much to read about her life but the music speaks for itslef.

In the beginning of her career she has worked with jazz stars like Pearl Bailey, Quincy Jones or Duke Ellington. That’s what you can hear on her first album and productions: Jazz. Later she teamed up with Tom Wilson who brought her more into Soul and Pop music.

In 1969 she signed to Invictus records which was formed by the Motown producer power team Holland-Dozier-Holland.With “Band of Gold” she reached the charts in top position worldwide and the golden disc in the US. This was followed up by a few hits before she became gold again with her anti war song “Bring the Boys Home” in 1971.

In 1974 she changed labels and went to ABC for two albums and later in 1977 to Capitol Records. The style went disco and the success was missing. She gained another Hit with “Love Magnet”.

After that it became a bit quiet around Freda Payne. She had a TV show, several movie acts and shows she played. From the 90s she released a few albums where she went back to Jazz and kept going strong with concerts and shows. Her latest album was released in 2014.

She is still alive and we would like to send out much respect and love to this great voice.