Patti Austin

Patti Austin is an American R&B, pop, and jazz singer, songwriter, and Broadway performer born on August 10, 1950, in Harlem, New York. Her father, Gordon Austin, was a jazz trombonist, and her mother's heritage traced to Barbados and Sweden. Austin was raised in Bay Shore, New York, on Long Island. Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington both referred to themselves as her godparents.

Austin's performing life began remarkably early. At the age of four, she took the stage at the Apollo Theater. As a teenager, she recorded commercial jingles and worked as a session singer in soul and R&B, releasing an R&B hit, "Family Tree," in 1969. Her session work brought her into contact with major recording artists: she contributed backing vocals to Paul Simon's 1975 number-one hit "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and to Billy Joel's 1977 album The Stranger on the track "Everybody Has a Dream." She also sang prominent parts on Frankie Valli's solo hits "Swearin' to God" and "Our Day Will Come," recorded "The Closer I Get to You" for Tom Browne's album Browne Sugar, and appeared on duets with both Michael Jackson on his album Off the Wall and George Benson on "Moody's Mood for Love." The jazz label CTI released her debut album, End of a Rainbow, in 1976.

After contributing to Quincy Jones's album The Dude, Austin signed with his record label, Qwest. The label released Every Home Should Have One, which contained "Baby, Come to Me," a duet with James Ingram that reached number one on the Billboard pop chart. A second Ingram duet, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing," appeared on the soundtrack to the 1982 film Best Friends. Her final Qwest album, The Real Me, featured interpretations of jazz standards. Austin subsequently moved to GRP Records, releasing four albums including Love Is Gonna Getcha, which produced the singles "Good in Love" and "Through the Test of Time."

Austin's Grammy history spans seven nominations and one win. Recordings with the Germany-based WDR Big Band generated two of those nominations, including For Ella, a 2002 tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. Her 2007 collaboration with the ensemble and arranger Michael Abene, Avant Gershwin, earned her the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. In 2015, she appeared as vocalist on Patrick Williams's large jazz ensemble album Home Suite Home, contributing to Williams's composition "52nd & Broadway," which won the Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals.

In 2003, Austin collaborated with Frances Yip on Papillon III, performed in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall in support of the Jade Ribbon Campaign of Stanford University, with a companion CD/DVD released featuring the two singers performing duets in Mandarin. Her 2011 album Sound Advice included cover versions of songs by Bob Dylan, Brenda Russell, the Jackson Five, Bill Withers, and Don McLean, as well as an original composition, "The Grace of God," which Austin wrote after watching an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show. She appeared in the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on June 21, 2013. Austin was booked on United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, but cancelled her ticket after her mother suffered a stroke in the days prior. Berklee College of Music awarded her an honorary doctorate.

In 1988, Austin brought her talents to the Broadway stage, appearing in the musical Ain't Misbehavin'. A native of New York, New York, her Broadway credit added a stage dimension to a career built across recording studios, concert halls, and film.