Cheryl Barnes

Cheryl Barnes, born around 1951 in Westfield, New Jersey, is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned stage, film, and recording work. She graduated from Westfield High School and began her professional performing experience while attending Union County College, where she joined the rock band Eve's Garden. With that group, she appeared as an opening act for bands including the Classics IV, The Vagrants featuring Leslie West, and Ten Wheel Drive.

Barnes built her stage career through a range of theatrical productions. She performed in Leonard Bernstein's Mass and appeared on Broadway between 1972 and 1974, with credits including The Last Sweet Days of Isaac, Godspell, Truckload, and Jesus Christ Superstar. In Doug Henning's Broadway musical The Magic Show, she portrayed Dina, the handmaiden. In 1976, she sang backing vocals alongside Laura Branigan for Leonard Cohen on a European tour.

Her most widely recognized work came through Miloš Forman's 1979 film adaptation of Hair, in which she played the mother of Hud's little son. Barnes had auditioned for the film at an open casting call without an agent, and at the time was employed as a chambermaid at a motel on Martha's Vineyard. Her performance of the song "Easy to Be Hard" was recorded in a single take, and that take appears in its entirety in the finished film. A later scene in the film was shot in Barstow, California, where Barnes remained following the conclusion of production. Forman encouraged her to spend time in New York City, but she returned to Barstow, where she worked as a piano teacher. She maintained a friendship with Forman and traveled with him to Prague in 1983 during the production of his film Amadeus.

Barnes also contributed to the soundtrack of the 1980 film American Gigolo, performing the song "Love and Passion," with music by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics by Paul Schrader.