Tenita Jordan

Tenita Lavern Jordan was born on October 8, 1960, in Monroe, North Carolina, to James Jordan, a United States Army Staff Sergeant who served in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and Ruth Jordan, a military bookkeeper who taught business classes to military personnel. Jordan attended CA Johnson High School, graduating in 1977. During her sophomore year, she won the fifth annual Miss Black Teenage World pageant in 1975. She subsequently enrolled at Hampton University but left in 1978 to pursue a career in theater.

Jordan's Broadway career spanned from 1978 to 1981. She made her Broadway debut in June 1978 in The Wiz, where she portrayed a Munchkin and one of the Field Mice. In December 1979, she appeared as a performer in Eubie!. In December 1981, she joined the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls as one of the Stepp Sisters, and her performance was captured on the Dreamgirls: Original Broadway Cast Album. She continued touring with the Dreamgirls production through 1985.

In 1982, Crown Heights Affair musicians Ron Dean Miller and Bert Reid formed a female vocal group called Raw Silk, comprising Jordan, Jessica Cleaves, and Sybil Thomas. Signed to West End Records, the group released their debut single "Do It to the Music" in late 1982. The song reached number five on the Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart and climbed into the Top 40 of the US Billboard Hot Black Singles chart. It also peaked in the Top 20 on the UK Singles chart, earning the group an appearance on Top of the Pops in October 1982. Their 1983 follow-up single, "Just in Time," reached the Top 40 on the US Dance chart and number 49 on the UK Singles chart, though the group disbanded shortly after its release.

Jordan began working with singer Teddy Pendergrass in 1984, contributing background vocals to his album Love Language. Pendergrass signed her to his newly formed label, Top Priority Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records, and took on management of her career. In 1986, Jordan released her debut solo album, Tenita. Its lead single, "I Don't Wanna Think About It," peaked at number 41 on the US Dance chart and number 89 on the US Hot Black Singles chart. Two additional singles followed: "You Got Me Dreamin'" and "Free Me." When Pendergrass departed from Asylum Records and Top Priority Records became defunct, Jordan lost her record deal. She nonetheless continued collaborating with Pendergrass, contributing to his 1988 album Joy.

Following a hiatus, Jordan resumed work as a session singer. In 1998, she worked with Lenny Kravitz on his album 5. She contributed background vocals to Angie Stone's albums Black Diamond in 1999 and Mahogany Soul in 2001, and toured as a background singer for Stone from 2000 to 2005.

In 1985, Jordan married a technician named Christopher Nightingale. The couple had a daughter, Jhena Ruth Nightengale, born in 1987. Tenita Jordan died on September 23, 2018, at the age of 57.