Brenda Lee Eager
Encyclopedia
Brenda Lee Eager is an American soul
singer, songwriter and musical theatre
performer who has written and performed several hits, including "Ain't Understanding Mellow", "Close to You
", and "Somebody's Somebody
".
, and brought up in the small town of Lower Peach Tree
, where she began singing in church as a child. She also started writing songs, and by the tenth grade
led her own vocal group. She first sang professionally at the age of 17 at the Kings Club in Prichard, Alabama
.
She later relocated to Chicago, Illinois, and by 1971 was the lead singer in Jerry Butler
's backup group. She recorded several singles with Butler, the first of which, "Ain't Understanding Mellow", was her biggest chart success, reaching # 3 on the Billboard
R&B chart and # 21 on the Hot 100. Their duet version of "(They Long To Be) Close To You
" reached # 6 on the R&B chart and # 91 on the pop chart in 1972. She also sang regularly in Rev. Jesse Jackson's Operation Breadbasket
Choir in Chicago in the early 1970s.
As a solo singer, she had two minor R&B chart hits, "Good Old Fashioned Lovin'" (Playboy Records
, 1975) and "Watch My Body Talk" (Private-I Records, 1984). She worked as a backup singer for such artists as Ray Charles
, Mavis Staples
, Diana Ross
, Stevie Wonder
and Graham Nash
. She has also written songs recorded by Bobby Womack
, the Staples Singers, Aretha Franklin
, Cliff Richard
, Gladys Knight
, Shirley Brown
, Prince
, and others. She released an album, Startin' Over, in 2000.
She performed in the musicals The Message is in the Music, alongside Della Reese
, and Wild Woman Blues, in Europe with blues
singer Maine Weldon. Since 2006, she has directed The Heaven on Earth (T.H.E.) Choir at the City of Angels Church in Culver City, California
. She has also written and performed in a one woman musical theatre show based on her own life, Grace, which premiered in Los Angeles
in 2010.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer, songwriter and musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
performer who has written and performed several hits, including "Ain't Understanding Mellow", "Close to You
(They Long to Be) Close to You
" Close to You" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was first recorded by Richard Chamberlain and released as a single in 1963 as "They Long to Be Close to You," without parentheses. However, it was the single's flip side, "Blue Guitar," that became a hit...
", and "Somebody's Somebody
Somebody's Somebody
"Somebody's Somebody" is a song from Prince's 1996 album Emancipation....
".
Life and career
She was born in Mobile, AlabamaMobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, and brought up in the small town of Lower Peach Tree
Lower Peach Tree, Alabama
Lower Peach Tree is an unincorporated community in Wilcox County, Alabama, United States. Lower Peach Tree is the oldest European settlement in the county. Due to its proximity to the Alabama River, Lower Peach Tree was a major cotton shipping port during the 19th century. As of 2010, only the...
, where she began singing in church as a child. She also started writing songs, and by the tenth grade
Tenth grade
In majority of the world,Tenth grade is the tenth year of school post-kindergarten. The variants of "10th grade" in various nations is described below.-Australia:...
led her own vocal group. She first sang professionally at the age of 17 at the Kings Club in Prichard, Alabama
Prichard, Alabama
Prichard is a city in Mobile County, Alabama, in the United States.Prichard borders the north side of Mobile, as well as the Mobile suburbs of Chickasaw, Alabama, Saraland, Alabama, and the unincorporated sections of Eight Mile, Alabama. As of 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the...
.
She later relocated to Chicago, Illinois, and by 1971 was the lead singer in Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
's backup group. She recorded several singles with Butler, the first of which, "Ain't Understanding Mellow", was her biggest chart success, reaching # 3 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B chart and # 21 on the Hot 100. Their duet version of "(They Long To Be) Close To You
(They Long to Be) Close to You
" Close to You" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was first recorded by Richard Chamberlain and released as a single in 1963 as "They Long to Be Close to You," without parentheses. However, it was the single's flip side, "Blue Guitar," that became a hit...
" reached # 6 on the R&B chart and # 91 on the pop chart in 1972. She also sang regularly in Rev. Jesse Jackson's Operation Breadbasket
Operation Breadbasket
Operation Breadbasket was an organization dedicated to improving the economic conditions of black communities across the United States of America....
Choir in Chicago in the early 1970s.
As a solo singer, she had two minor R&B chart hits, "Good Old Fashioned Lovin'" (Playboy Records
Playboy Records
Playboy Records was a record label in Los Angeles, California, and a unit of Playboy Enterprises. Artists recording for the label included Barbi Benton, Blue Ash, Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers, Brenda Patterson, Jeanne French , Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, Ivory, Wynn Stewart, Mickey Gilley...
, 1975) and "Watch My Body Talk" (Private-I Records, 1984). She worked as a backup singer for such artists as Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist who recorded with The Staple Singers, her family's band.-Biography:...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
and Graham Nash
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...
. She has also written songs recorded by Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
, the Staples Singers, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
, Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown is an American soul singer, best known for her million-selling single "Woman to Woman" which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.-Woman to Woman:...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, and others. She released an album, Startin' Over, in 2000.
She performed in the musicals The Message is in the Music, alongside Della Reese
Della Reese
Delloreese Patricia Early, known professionally as Della Reese , is an American actress, singer, game show panelist of the 1970s, one-time talk-show hostess and ordained minister. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You...
, and Wild Woman Blues, in Europe with blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singer Maine Weldon. Since 2006, she has directed The Heaven on Earth (T.H.E.) Choir at the City of Angels Church in Culver City, California
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
. She has also written and performed in a one woman musical theatre show based on her own life, Grace, which premiered in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 2010.