Cheryl Lynn (born Lynda Cheryl Smith; March 11, 1957) is an American singer. She is best known for her songs during the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, including the 1978 R&B/disco song "

Got to Be Real "Got to Be Real" is a song by American singer Cheryl Lynn from her 1978 self-titled debut studio album. The song, which was Lynn's debut single, was written by Lynn, David Paich and David Foster. Recording For the recording, David Shields play ...

". Lynn's singing career began with her church

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

when she was a girl. Her professional singing career started in 1976 when she obtained a job as a backing vocalist for the national touring company of the musical drama ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

''. Eventually, she obtained the role of Evillene, the

Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...

, during the six-month national tour. Prior to her appearance in ''The Wiz'', Lynn appeared in an episode of ''

The Gong Show ''The Gong Show'' is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to 1 ...

'', a daytime entertainment show during June 1976, performing Joe Cocker's "

You Are So Beautiful "You Are So Beautiful" is a song written by Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher that was first released in 1974 on Preston's ninth studio album, '' The Kids & Me''. It was also the B-side of his single "Struttin'". Later that same year, English sing ...

Career

1976–85: Columbia Records years

After her performance on ''The Gong Show'', Ahmed Ertegun of Atlantic Records company could not come to an initial meeting with Lynn, with the result that she was contracted with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. She released her first and best-known song, "

," which was composed by Lynn along with keyboardist

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ba ...

(of the band Toto) and

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

. The song peaked at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...

and No. 1 on the Rhythm & Blues chart. The success of the single prompted her debut album, ''

Cheryl Lynn Cheryl Lynn (born Lynda Cheryl Smith; March 11, 1957) is an American singer. She is best known for her songs during the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, including the 1978 R&B/disco song " Got to Be Real". Lynn's singing career began with her ...

'', which was produced by Paich and

Marty Paich Martin Louis Paich (January 23, 1925 – August 12, 1995) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kento ...

. It sold more than a million copies and scored No. 5 on '' Billboard'' magazines R&B albums chart and No. 23 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

. The next single from the album, written by Judy Wieder and John Footman, "Star Love", also became a top selling success. Wieder and Footman joined songwriting forces with the artist for her second album, '' In Love''. The first single, "I've Got Just What You Need", was a moderate hit on the R&B chart. The follow-up single, "Keep It Hot", was a club hit. During this time, members of the rock music group Toto were producing their debut album. During the production Lynn was asked to provide the female backing vocal for one of the album's singles, " Georgy Porgy". The single scored No. 48 on ''Billboards popular music chart. Although Toto would go on to chart more than a dozen pop and rock songs throughout the years, Lynn's vocal was credited for the group's charting their only R&B (No. 18) and dance (No. 80) hit on the ''Billboard'' chart. In 1981,

Ray Parker Jr. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters''. Previously, Parker achieved a US top-10 h ...

was called in to produced Lynn's third album, ''In the Night''. It featured the major dance & R&B single, "Shake It Up, Tonight". The next year, Luther Vandross was asked to produce Lynn's fourth album, ''Instant Love''. The second single from the album, "

If This World Were Mine "If This World Were Mine" is a 1967 song by soul music duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell from their album '' United''. Written solely by Gaye, it was one of the few songs they recorded without Ashford & Simpson writing or producing. When it was r ...

", a 1982

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with Vandross that was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of a previous

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and

Tammi Terrell Tammi Terrell (born Thomasina Winifred Montgomery; April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably for a series of duets with singer Marvin Gaye. ...

song. For her fifth album, '' Preppie'', Lynn produced most of the tracks, with the exception of the single "

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pre ...

", which was written and produced by the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

music duo,

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

. It became Lynn's second No. 1 single on the R&B charts.

Soundtracks

Lynn also recorded soundtracks for a few feature films, including a song written by

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

entitled "At Last You're Mine" for the 1985 film '' Heavenly Bodies'', and the track "Steppin' Into the Night" for the 1986 feature film '' Armed and Dangerous''. The song and the film's soundtrack were produced by Maurice White.

1987–98: ''Whatever It Takes'', ''Good Time'' and ''The Real Thing''

In 1989, Lynn released the top 10 single "Every Time I Try to Say Goodbye", from her eighth album, ''Whatever It Takes''. She began the 1990s without a record contract. She did mostly session work for Richard Marx albums, '' Rush Street'' and ''

Paid Vacation Annual leave is a period of paid time off work granted by employers to employees to be used for whatever the employee wishes. Depending on the employer's policies, differing number of days may be offered, and the employee may be required to g ...

'' as well as Luther Vandross' ''

Your Secret Love ''Your Secret Love'' is the tenth studio album by American R&B recording artist Luther Vandross, released by Epic in October 1996. The album's title track won the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and was nominated for Best R&B Song at the 39t ...

'' album. During 1995, after a six-year hiatus from recording her own material, Lynn teamed with producer/songwriter

Teddy Riley Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer credited with the creation of the New Jack Swing genre. Riley credits Barry Michael Cooper with giving the genre its name.Hogan, Paul. "Tedd ...

(formerly of the new jack swing music group Guy), to record her ninth album, ''Good Time''. It was released in Japan and the United Kingdom, and later in the United States as an imported CD. It featured the nightclub favorite single album "Guarantee for My Heart". In 1996, Sony Records/Legacy released ''Got to Be Real – The Best of Cheryl Lynn'', which included Lynn's most successful recordings from her years with Columbia Records. This was followed soon by another compilation CD, ''The Real Thing'', which featured other recordings from Lynn's first six albums. Two years later she performed on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's ''Sinbad's Summer Soul Jam 4'' (1998), hosted by comedian Sinbad.

Later career

During the new millennium, Lynn toured Japan and did an occasional gig in the US, performing at charity events in her hometown of Los Angeles. In 2000 she worked with hip-hop musician Jay Supreme on his single "Your Love (Encore)", which was an update of "

." She performed on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''The Disco Ball... A 30-Year Celebration'', broadcast during January 2003. In 2004, she recorded the song "Sweet Kind of Life," which was also written and produced by Jam & Lewis, for the soundtrack to ''

Shark Tale ''Shark Tale'' is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, and Rob Letterman (in his feature directorial de ...

''. In 2005, Lynn's song "Got to Be Real" was inducted into the

Dance Music Hall of Fame The Dance Music Hall of Fame was an organization established in 2003 to honor and remember significant contributors to the genre of dance music. It had its first inductions in 2004 but went inactive after the 2005 induction ceremony. History The Da ...

. On May 23, 2006, Collectables Record Label re-released her 1981 album ''In the Night'' and 1982's ''Instant Love'', in twin CD package form. It was the first time ever that either album was released as a CD in the US. Lynn is considered an influence on some of today's R&B female singers, including

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

, who, along with

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

, covered Lynn's song ("Got to Be Real"). Japanese popular music singer

Kumi Koda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single " Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, " Real Emot ...

covered the song for her July 2010 single album ''

Gossip Candy ''Gossip Candy'' is an extended play by Japanese recording artist and songwriter Kumi Koda. It was released on July 7, 2010, by Koda's record label, Rhythm Zone. Koda's fifth extended play, ''Gossip Candy'' consists of five recordings; ''Lollipo ...

''. In April 2010, "Got to Be Real" charted for the first time in the UK, peaking at number 70.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

*''Got to Be Real: The Best of Cheryl Lynn'' (1996,

Legacy In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

/ Columbia)

Singles

As featured performer

References

External links

Cheryl Lynn at Soul Legends Cheryl Lynn at MySpace
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Cheryl 1957 births Living people 20th-century African-American women singers American expatriates in Japan American women pop singers American soul singers American disco singers American boogie musicians Singers from Los Angeles Virgin Records artists Columbia Records artists American rhythm and blues singers Contestants on American game shows 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women