Early life and career

Payne was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up listening to different jazz singers, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. As a teenager, she attended the Detroit Institute of Musical Arts; she soon began singing radio commercial jingles, and took part in (and won many) local TV and radio talent shows.

In 1963, she moved to New York City and worked with many different entertainers, including Quincy Jones, Pearl Bailey, and Bill Cosby. The next year, her debut album, a jazz recording with arranger Manny Albam entitled After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!!!, was released on the Impulse! label. (This album was re-issued on CD in Japan in early 2002, and again in the United States in 2005.) In 1965 she toured Europe for the first time recording an album in Sweden with Don Gardner and Bengt-Arne Wallin. In 1966 she released her second American album, again in the jazz style, How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore, for MGM Records. She also made occasional guest appearances on different television shows including The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

She added theatrical credits to her repertoire: she understudied Leslie Uggams for the Broadway show Hallelujah Baby in 1967, and appeared with the Equity Theatre in a production of Lost in the Stars.

In 1969, her old friends back home in Detroit, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr., persuaded her to sign with their newly formed record label Invictus. During that same year, her first Invictus single, "Unhooked Generation" (a minor R&B hit), was released. Shortly thereafter, Eddie Holland offered her a song entitled "Band of Gold", which he along with Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier co-wrote (under the pen name Edythe Wayne) with Ronald Dunbar. In early 1970, the song became an instant pop smash reaching #3 in the US and #1 in the UK for six consecutive weeks; it also gave Payne her first gold record. Global sales were estimated at two million. An album of the same name proved to be fairly successful as well. Other Invictus singles included "Deeper and Deeper", "You Brought the Joy", and the Vietnam War protest song "Bring the Boys Home" (U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #12, 1971; her second gold record. Her other Invictus albums were Contact (1971), The Best of Freda Payne (1972, a compilation which included four new, unissued songs), and her last Invictus album Reaching Out (1973).

In 1973, she left Invictus and recorded albums for ABC/Dunhill and Capitol, but she never found the commercial success that she had enjoyed with Invictus. She recorded a duet "I Wanna See You Soon" with Capitol stablemates Tavares, which was a radio airplay hit in the UK in 1977.

She released three disco albums for Capitol from 1977 to 1979, Stares And Whispers, Supernatural High and Hot. The first one features the disco hit "Love Magnet" produced by Frank Wilson (1977).

In 1981, she briefly hosted her own talk show Today's Black Woman, and also found work acting in different movies, Broadway and other theatre productions throughout the 1980s. Although she was concentrating more on acting by that time, she never gave up music; in 1982, she recorded a single entitled "In Motion" for the Sutra label in New York, and in 1986, she recorded a remake of her old hit "Band of Gold" with Belinda Carlisle.

In 1990, she recorded three songs for Ian Levine's UK Motorcity label: another remake of "Band of Gold," "Memories and Souvenirs," and "Only Minutes Away." In the mid-1990s, she released three albums for Dove Music: Freda Payne Sings the (Unauthorized) I Hate Barney Songbook: A Parody (1995, a comedy album), An Evening With Freda Payne: Live in Concert which featured her sister Scherrie Payne on background vocals, and her first (and only) Christmas album Christmas With Freda and Friends, which featured a duet between Freda and Scherrie (both 1996). She also continued her acting career appearing in the films, Private Obsession (1995), Ragdoll (1999), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), and Fire & Ice (made-for-TV, 2001).

In early 2001, Payne released a new album entitled Come See About Me for the Volt Records label (the title track is a remake of The Supremes' hit).

In early 2003, she performed in a show called Love & Payne, with Darlene Love at Feinstein's at the Regency in New York, and at the Cinegrill in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, getting excellent reviews.

During the early 2000s, the following compilation albums of her music were released: Lost in Love (which includes nine of her post-Invictus recordings), Band of Gold: The Best of Freda Payne (both 2000), Unhooked Generation: The Complete Invictus Recordings (2001), and The Best of Freda Payne: Ten Best Series (2002).

In late 2002, Payne appeared with many R&B stars on the "Rhythm, Love, and Soul" edition of the PBS series American Soundtrack. Her performance of "Band Of Gold" was included on the accompanying live album that was released in 2004.

On April 22, 2009 Payne appeared on American Idol and sang "Band of Gold".

In February 2010, Payne joined Kanye West, Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, Barbra Streisand and many more on We Are The World for Haiti Relief.

In 2011 Payne recorded a duet, "Saving A Life", with British pop star Sir Cliff Richard for inclusion on his Soulicious album. She also joined Richard on his "Soulicious" tour of the UK in October of the same year. She sang the new duet with Richard along with her own hit "Band Of Gold".

Personal life

From 1976 until 1979 Payne was married to American singer Gregory Abbott (twelve years her junior) and They had a son; Gregory Abbott, Jr. (born 1978). She also had a relationship with musician Edmund Sylvers (lead singer of the Sylvers singing group). Edmund had written and produced her 1982 single 'In Motion'.

Honors

In 1974, she made the cover of Jet after she was made a Dame of Malta by the Knights of Malta.

Discography

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions
		US	US R&B	US Dance	UK
1962	"(Desafinado) Slightly Out of Tune"	—	—	—	—
1963	"Pretty Baby"	—	—	—	—
	"It's Time"	—	—	—	—
1966	"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"	—	—	—	—
1969	"The Unhooked Generation"	—	43	—	—
1970	"Band of Gold"	3	20	—	1
	"Deeper & Deeper"	24	9	—	33
1971	"Cherish What Is Dear to You (While It's Near To You)"	44	11	—	46
	"Bring the Boys Home"	12	3	—	—
	"You Brought the Joy"	52	21	—	—
1972	"The Road We Didn't Take"	100	—	—	—
	"Through the Memory of My Mind"	—	—	—	—
1973	"Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right"	—	75	—	—
	"For No Reason"	—	—	—	—
1974	"It's Yours to Have"	—	81	—	—
1975	"I Get Carried Away"	—	—	—	—
	"You"	—	—	—	—
1976	"I Get High (On Your Memory)"	—	—	—	—
1977	"Bring Back the Joy"	—	—	—	—
	"Love Magnet"	—	85	18	—
1978	"Feed Me Your Love"	—	—	—	—
	"Happy Days Are Here Again/Happy Music (Dance the Night Away)"	—	—	—	—
1979	"I'll Do Anything for You"	—	—	—	—
	"Red Hot"	—	—	—	—
	"Can't Wait"	—	—	—	—
1982	"In Motion"	—	63	—	—

Albums

• 1964: After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!!!
• 1965: Freda Payne in Stockholm' with Don Gardner Quintet with Dee Dee Ford and Jimmy Ricks (Swedish release 1965), USA release (1971)
• 1966: How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore
• 1970: Band of Gold (U.S. Pop #60, U.S. R&B #17)
• 1971: Contact (U.S. Pop #76, U.S. R&B #12)
• 1973: Reaching Out
• 1974: Payne & Pleasure (U.S. R&B #55)
• 1975: Out of Payne Comes Love
• 1977: Stares and Whispers
• 1978: Supernatural High
• 1979: Hot
• 1995: Freda Payne Sings the (Unauthorized) I Hate Barney Songbook: A Parody
• 1996: An Evening with Freda Payne: Live in Concert
• 1996: Christmas With Freda and Friends
• 1999: Live in Concert
• 2001: Come See About Me
• 2007: On the Inside
• 2014: Come Back To Me Love

Compilations

• 1972: The Best of Freda Payne (U.S. Pop #152, U.S. R&B #44)
• 1991: Greatest Hits
• 2000: Lost in Love
• 2000: Band of Gold: The Best of Freda Payne
• 2001: Unhooked Generation: The Complete Invictus Recordings
• 2002: The Best of Freda Payne: Ten Best Series

Filmography

Concerts

• 2006: Flashbacks: Soul Sensation - Compilation
• 2009: Freda Payne: High Standards with Stanley Turrentine and Jerome Richardson
• 2009: Live in Concert with The Stylistics

As an actress

• 1973: Book of Numbers
• 1997: Sprung
• 1999: Ragdoll
• 2000: Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
• 2001: Deadly Rhapsody
• 2007: Cordially Invited
• 2014: Ella: First Lady of Song
• 2014: The Divorce

[ Source: Wikipedia ]