Cherrelle
Encyclopedia
Cheryl Anne Norton, better known by her stage name, Cherrelle (born October 11, 1958), is an American R&B singer who gained fame in the 1980s. Her signature hits include "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", "Where Do I Run To", and "Everything I Miss at Home
", and duets with R&B singer Alexander O'Neal
such as "Saturday Love
" and "Never Knew Love Like This
."
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 ten 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.
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. Cherrelle 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
.
Everything I Miss at Home
"Eveything I Miss at Home" is a 1988 single by Cherrelle. The single was one of the most successful on her career, peaking at number one on The Black Singles chart for one week. Unlike previous Cherrelle releases, "Everything I Miss at Home" did not chart on the Hot 100.-References:...
", and duets with R&B singer Alexander O'Neal
Alexander O'Neal
Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer. He is best-known for the songs "If You Were Here Tonight" and "Fake", and the duets with Cherrelle, "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This".-Biography:...
such as "Saturday Love
Saturday Love
"Saturday Love" was a top ten US R&B hit, and a top ten UK hit song duetted by American R&B singers Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal; released in 1985...
" and "Never Knew Love Like This
Never Knew Love Like This (Alexander O'Neal & Cherrelle song)
"Never Knew Love Like This" was a successful hit for Alexander O'Neal and Cherrelle in 1988, reaching #2 in the US R&B chart, #26 in the UK and #28 in the Billboard Hot 100....
."
Biography
Cherrelle began her career working with jazz/R&B artists Norman ConnorsNorman Connors
Norman Connors is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, producer, and headliner, who has led some influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads.-Biography:...
and Michael Henderson
Michael Henderson
Michael Henderson is an American bass guitarist and vocalist best known for his bass playing with Miles Davis in the early 1970s, on early fusion albums such as A Tribute to Jack Johnson, Pangaea, and Live-Evil.- Biography :He was one of the first notable bass guitarists of the fusion era as well...
, as well as touring with Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
. After Tabu Records
Tabu Records
Tabu Productions was an American record label founded by Clarence Avant in 1975. The label focused on R&B and funk.-Founding:Avant founded the label after Sussex Records went out of business in June 1975. Tabu's flagship release, “Stormin'” by Brainstorm, was released in 1977...
founder Clarence Avant
Clarence Avant
Clarence Avant is an American music executive, entrepreneur, and film producer. He was also known as the Godfather of Black Music.Avant's 75th birthday was celebrated by Billboard magazine, on its February 2006 issue....
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
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
, Cherrelle released her debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Fragile. It featured her first R&B top ten single, "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On". That song (with a music video homage to the film King Kong
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
, featuring Cherrelle as the beast's love interest) was covered about a year later by pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer Robert Palmer on his 1985 album Riptide
Riptide (album)
Riptide is the ninth solo album by the British singer Robert Palmer, released in November 1985. It featured his hit single "Addicted to Love" which reached #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1986, helped by a memorable music video...
. It was also covered by Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
for her 2001 soundtrack album Glitter
Glitter (Mariah Carey album)
Glitter is the soundtrack album to the film of the same name, and the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on September 11, 2001 by Virgin Records. The album was a complete musical departure from any of Carey's previous releases, focusing heavily on...
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
Alexander O'Neal
Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer. He is best-known for the songs "If You Were Here Tonight" and "Fake", and the duets with Cherrelle, "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This".-Biography:...
, it would also land in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, 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.
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. Cherrelle and Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...
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
Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the early 1970s and his musical career spans three decades, in which he was awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards...
(known for working with Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
). 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
Keith Murray (rapper)
Keith Murray is an American rapper and a member of the rap trio Def Squad, which includes fellow rappers Redman and Erick Sermon.-Music career:...
.
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions |
Record label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
|||
| 1984 | Fragile Fragile (Cherrelle album) Fragile is the debut by R&B/Pop singer Cherrelle. It was released in 1984 on Tabu, and was the first of four records for the label .... |
144 | 27 | — | Tabu Tabu Records Tabu Productions was an American record label founded by Clarence Avant in 1975. The label focused on R&B and funk.-Founding:Avant founded the label after Sussex Records went out of business in June 1975. Tabu's flagship release, “Stormin'” by Brainstorm, was released in 1977... |
| 1985 | High Priority | 36 | 9 | 17 | |
| 1988 | Affair | 106 | 15 | — | |
| 1991 | The Woman I Am The Woman I Am The Woman I Am is the eighth studio album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1992. It was Khan's first studio album since 1988's CK and due to artistic differences between Khan and Warner Bros. Records it was also to be her final full-length release for the... |
— | 43 | — | |
| 1999 | The Right Time | — | 55 | — | Power |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | |||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||
| 1995 | The Best of Cherrelle | — | — | Tabu Tabu Records Tabu Productions was an American record label founded by Clarence Avant in 1975. The label focused on R&B and funk.-Founding:Avant founded the label after Sussex Records went out of business in June 1975. Tabu's flagship release, “Stormin'” by Brainstorm, was released in 1977... |
| 2005 | Greatest Hits | — | — | |
| 2011 | Icon | — | — | |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US Dance Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 1984 | "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" | 79 | 8 | 6 | — | |
| "Fragile...Handle with Care" | — | 37 | — | — | ||
| 1985 | "You Look Good to Me" | — | 26 | — | — | |
| "Saturday Love Saturday Love "Saturday Love" was a top ten US R&B hit, and a top ten UK hit song duetted by American R&B singers Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal; released in 1985... " (with Alexander O'Neal Alexander O'Neal Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer. He is best-known for the songs "If You Were Here Tonight" and "Fake", and the duets with Cherrelle, "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This".-Biography:... ) |
26 | 2 | 13 | 6 | ||
| 1986 | "Will You Satisfy?" | — | — | — | 57 | |
| "Artificial Heart" | — | 18 | 5 | — | ||
| 1988 | "Never Knew Love Like This Never Knew Love Like This (Alexander O'Neal & Cherrelle song) "Never Knew Love Like This" was a successful hit for Alexander O'Neal and Cherrelle in 1988, reaching #2 in the US R&B chart, #26 in the UK and #28 in the Billboard Hot 100.... " (with Alexander O'Neal) |
28 | 2 | — | 26 | |
| "Everything I Miss at Home Everything I Miss at Home "Eveything I Miss at Home" is a 1988 single by Cherrelle. The single was one of the most successful on her career, peaking at number one on The Black Singles chart for one week. Unlike previous Cherrelle releases, "Everything I Miss at Home" did not chart on the Hot 100.-References:... " |
— | 1 | — | 83 | ||
| 1989 | "Affair" | — | 4 | 15 | 67 | |
| "What More Can I Do for You" | — | 58 | — | — | ||
| 1990 | "Saturday Love" (Feelin' Luv Mix) (with Alexander O'Neal) | — | — | — | 55 | |
| 1991 | "Never in My Life" | — | 40 | — | — | |
| 1992 | "Tears of Joy" | — | 23 | — | — | |
| "Still in Love with You" | — | 86 | — | — | ||
| 1997 | "Baby Come to Me Baby, Come to Me "Baby, Come to Me" is an R&B song, written by Rod Temperton for a male-female duet. The original version, performed by Patti Austin and James Ingram , and produced by Quincy Jones, appeared on Austin's 1981 album, Every Home Should Have One. When first released as a single, it had minor chart... " (with Alexander O'Neal) |
— | — | — | 56 | |
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | ||||||