Freda Payne

Freda Charcilia Payne was born on September 19, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan, where she grew up listening to jazz vocalists including Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. As a teenager she studied at the Detroit Institute of Musical Arts, sang radio commercial jingles, and won numerous local television and radio talent competitions. In 1963 she relocated to New York City, where she worked alongside entertainers including Quincy Jones, Pearl Bailey, and Bill Cosby. The following year, her debut album, After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!!!, a jazz recording arranged by Manny Albam, was released on the Impulse! label. A second American album in the jazz idiom, How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore, appeared on MGM Records in 1966. That same year she made guest appearances on television programs including The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. In 1965 she had traveled to Europe for the first time, recording an album in Sweden with Don Gardner and Bengt-Arne Wallin.

Payne added theatrical work to her career during the late 1960s, understudying Leslie Uggams in the Broadway production of Hallelujah Baby in 1967 and appearing with the Equity Theatre in a production of Lost in the Stars. Her Broadway career extended from 1974 to 1994, during which she starred in Sophisticated Ladies and appeared in both Jelly's Last Jam and Sammy. She also acted in the television series Living Single.

In 1969, Detroit songwriters Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland persuaded Payne to sign with their newly formed Invictus label. Her first Invictus single, "Unhooked Generation," was a minor R&B hit that same year. Shortly afterward, Eddie Holland presented her with "Band of Gold," co-written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Ronald Dunbar. Released in early 1970, the song reached number three in the United States and spent six consecutive weeks at number one in the United Kingdom, earning Payne her first gold record and estimated global sales of two million copies. Subsequent Invictus singles included "Deeper and Deeper," which reached number 24 in the United States and number 33 in the United Kingdom, and the Vietnam War protest song "Bring the Boys Home," which climbed to number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971 and became her second gold record. Her Invictus albums included Contact (1971), the compilation The Best of Freda Payne (1972), and Reaching Out (1973), after which she departed the label.

Following her time at Invictus, Payne recorded for ABC/Dunhill and Capitol without recapturing her earlier commercial success. For Capitol she released three disco albums between 1977 and 1979 — Stares and Whispers, Supernatural High, and Hot — with the first producing the disco hit "Love Magnet," produced by Frank Wilson. She also recorded a duet, "I Wanna See You Soon," with fellow Capitol artists Tavares. In 1981 she briefly hosted the talk show Today's Black Woman. Her musician Edmund Sylvers wrote and produced her 1982 single "In Motion" for the Sutra label. In 1986 she recorded a remake of "Band of Gold" with Belinda Carlisle, and in 1990 she recorded three tracks for Ian Levine's UK Motorcity label, including another version of the song.

In the mid-1990s Payne released several albums for Dove Music, including An Evening with Freda Payne: Live in Concert, which featured her younger sister Scherrie Payne — a former member of the Supremes — on background vocals, and a Christmas album, Christmas with Freda and Friends, which included a duet between the two sisters. Her film appearances during this period included Private Obsession (1995), Ragdoll (1999), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), and the television film Fire & Ice (2001). In early 2001 she released Come See About Me for Volt Records, and in early 2003 she performed in Love & Payne alongside Darlene Love at Feinstein's at the Regency in New York and at the Cinegrill in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.

In late 2002 Payne appeared on the "Rhythm, Love, and Soul" edition of the PBS series American Soundtrack alongside numerous R&B artists, and her performance of "Band of Gold" was included on the accompanying live album released in 2004. On April 22, 2009, she performed "Band of Gold" on American Idol. In February 2010 she contributed to the charity recording We Are the World for Haiti Relief alongside Kanye West, Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, and Barbra Streisand, among others. In 2011 she recorded the duet "Saving a Life" with Sir Cliff Richard for his Soulicious album and joined him on his "Soulicious" tour of the United Kingdom that October. In January 2018 she performed a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center in Hackettstown, New Jersey.

In her personal life, Payne was married to singer Gregory Abbott from 1976 until 1979, with their wedding taking place in Chicago. The couple had a son, Gregory Abbott Jr., born on September 19, 1977. She subsequently had a relationship with musician Edmund Sylvers from 1979 until January 1983. In 1974 she appeared on the cover of Jet magazine after being appointed a Dame of Justice of the Order of St John of Jerusalem by the Prince of Rumania. In 2017 Payne was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in her hometown of Detroit, and in 2023 the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame presented her with a Lifetime Achievement and Legacy Award.