Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best known for her career in music during the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. Her most notable record is her 1970 hit single "Band of Gold". Payne was also an actress in musicals and film as well as the host of a TV talk show. Payne is the older sister of Scherrie Payne, a former singer with the American vocal group the Supremes. She also acted on Living Single.
Biography
Early life and career
Payne was born in Detroit, Michigan, Shortly thereafter, Eddie Holland offered her a song titled "Band of Gold", which he wrote along with Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Ronald Dunbar. 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, In the mid-1990s, she released three albums for Dove Music: The (Unauthorized) I Hate Barney Songbook: A Parody (1994), 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). Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), and Fire & Ice (made-for-TV, 2001).
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 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 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".
In January 2018, she performed "A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald", in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center, in Hackettstown, New Jersey. They spent their honeymoon in Acapulco, Mexico. Payne and Abbott had a son, Gregory Abbott Jr., who was born on September 19, 1977, Payne's 35th birthday. Payne later had a relationship with American musician Edmund Sylvers (lead singer of the Sylvers) from 1979 until January 1983. Sylvers wrote and produced her 1982 single "In Motion".
In 1974, she made the cover of Jet after she was
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 2017 class of the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, in her hometown of Detroit.
In 2023, the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame awarded Payne a Lifetime Achievement and Legacy Award.
Discography
Studio albums
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Album
! colspan="2"| Chart positions
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="40"| US 200<br>
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|-
| 2021
| align="left"| Let There Be Love
|align="center"| —
|align="center"| —
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="4"| <small>"—" denotes the album failed to chart</small>
|}
Live albums
- 1965: Freda Payne in Stockholm' with Don Gardner Quintet with Dee Dee Ford and Jimmy Ricks (Swedish release 1965, USA release 1971)
- 1996: An Evening with Freda Payne: Live in Concert
- 1999: Live in Concert
Compilations albums
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Album
! colspan="2"| Chart positions
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="40"| US 200<br>
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US R&B<br>
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| UK<br>
|-
! scope="row"| "(Desafinado) Slightly Out of Tune"
||1962
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|
| rowspan="2"
|-
! scope="row"| "Pretty Baby"
| rowspan="2"|1963
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|
|-
! scope="row"| "It's Time"
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|
| After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!!!
|-
! scope="row"| "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"
||1966
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|
| How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore
|-
! scope="row"| "The Unhooked Generation"
||1969
| —
| 43
| —
| —
|
|
| rowspan="3"| Band of Gold
|-
! scope="row"| "Band of Gold"
| rowspan="2"|1970
| 3
| 20
| 5
| 1
|
- World: 2,000,000
- UK: 450,000
|
- RIAA: Gold
- BPI: Silver
|-
! scope="row"| "Deeper and Deeper"
| 24
| 9
| 64
| 33
|
|
|-
! scope="row"| "Cherish What Is Dear to You (While It's Near To You)"
| rowspan="3"|1971
| 44
| 11
| —
| 46
|
|
| rowspan="4"| Contact
|-
! scope="row"| "Bring the Boys Home"
| 12
| 3
| —
| —
|
- US: 1,008,000
|
- RIAA: Gold
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| CAN<br>
|-
! scope="row"| "I Wanna See You Soon"<br/>
| rowspan="1"|1977
| —
| —
| The Best Of Tavares
|-
! scope="row"| "L.A. Street Scene (It's A Jubilee)"<br/>
| rowspan="1"|1985
| —
| —
|
|-
! scope="row"| "Band of Gold"<br/>
| rowspan="1"|1986
| 26
| 91
| Belinda
|}
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
- 1993: Living Single
- 1997: Sprung
- 2014: The Divorce
- 2017: Kinky
- 2021: Family Reunion (Ursula) S4.E5 Remember My Funny Valentine? Netflix TV Show
See also
- List of soul musicians
- List of disco artists (F–K)
- List of people from Detroit
- List of acts who appeared on American Bandstand
- List of people who appeared on Soul Train
- List of performers on Top of the Pops
Notes
;Biography