Dionne Yvette Farris (born December 4, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer. Born and raised in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, she began singing in elementary school and competed in pageants as a teenager. In the early 1990s, she was featured on the
hip hop group
Arrested Development
The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...
(1992) hit single "
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
".
Farris rose to fame with the release of her debut album, ''
Wild Seed - Wild Flower
Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to:
Common meanings
* Wild animal
* Wilderness, a wild natural environment
* Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed
Art, media and entertainment Film and television
* ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...
'' (1994) on
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 ...
. The album featured the
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
single, "
I Know" (1995). That same year, the video earned Farris the Billboard Music Video Awards Best Pop/Rock New Artist Clip of the Year. She was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...
(1996).
Early life
Farris was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, the daughter of Larraine (Wall) and Richard Farris, both of whom had musical talents and aspirations, and named Dionne for their favorite singer
Dionne Warwick
Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host.
Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...
.
Farris was raised in Bordentown, New Jersey by her single mother, whose side of the family introduced her to the musical acts that shaped and influenced her. Farris was a huge fan of Diana Ross as a child – one of Farris’ fonder memories was attending a Ross concert in Manhattan at the age of eight, being lifted by her uncle onstage, and getting kissed by the superstar.
Farris began taking dance lessons at the age of three at Irene Parker Dance Studio in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. She danced ballet, jazz, tap, and toe for 10 years, opting at 13 to sing instead. She sang in her high school's choir.
After graduating from Bordentown Regional High in 1987, Farris attended Mercer County Community College, where she studied photography.
Farris entered into the Miss Hemisphere Pageant regional competitions, directly after high school and won her first and only pageant as 1987's Miss Hemisphere's Adult Talent, singing
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...
's "
Saving All My Love for You
"Saving All My Love for You" is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin, originally recorded by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. for their album ''Marilyn & Billy'' (1978). American singer Whitney Houston recorded a cover of the song f ...
" in Miami, Florida. She joined a band known as 2.0 and later as Breaking Ground. They began performing on the Manhattan's club circuit, and looked to sign a record deal. Farris decided to move to Atlanta with her then boyfriend Donald "Rasa Don" Jones (one of the early members of Arrested Development), where her father lived. After a short time, Farris met with Atlanta producer
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ.
Early life
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...
and began writing songs for Atlanta-based acts such as
TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
and singing backgrounds for acts such as
Xscape, and
El Debarge
Eldra Patrick "El" DeBarge (born June 4, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was the focal point and primary lead singer of the family group DeBarge. Popular songs led by El DeBarge include " Time Will Reveal", " Who's Hold ...
.
She signed a management contract with
Michael Mauldin's (father of Dupri) company as a solo artist, but later became a member of a girl group they were producing, known as Onyx (a name later co-opted by a semi-gangsta rap group).
Career
Arrested Development
Farris and
Arrested Development
The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...
were signed to the same management company.
The group wanted a female singer for their ''
3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of...'' album and Farris, although she was not interested in being in the group, agreed to sing with them and became an unofficial "extended family" member. Farris sang on three songs with the group: "Fishin' 4 Religion", "Give a Man a Fish" and "
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
". Farris performed the song with Arrested Development on the 1992
MTV Movie Awards
The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...
and ''
The Arsenio Hall Show
''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall.
There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...
'' as well as went on the group's first national tour. After the success of "Tennessee", she began to receive media attention, and Duff Marlo offered Farris a solo deal, contingent upon
Speech
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...
producing the project, but she rejected the offer in search of a deal where she would have artistic control. Farris began experiencing personal and business conflicts with the group's leader despite the success of "Tennessee" (the band's first and biggest hit in 1992). Farris was never an official member of the band, and she left the group in September 1992 before a show at the
Fox Theater Fox Theatre or Fox Theater or Fox Theater Building may refer to:
U.S.
* Fox Tucson Theatre (Tucson, Arizona)
*Fox Theater (Bakersfield, California)
* Fox Theatre (Fullerton, California)
* Fox Theater, Westwood Village (Los Angeles, California)
* Fo ...
after having a fight with Speech and co-leader Headliner.
''Wild Seed – Wild Flower''
Farris reached out to
Milton Davis
Milton Davis is an American musician, songwriter and producer from Birmingham, Alabama, who is based in the California Bay Area. He recalls being introduced to gospel music by his grandfather at the age of seven and playing and singing in gospel g ...
and
David Harris and began a collaboration. A demo sent to
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
was first reviewed by
Bobby Colomby
Robert Wayne Colomby (born 20 December 1944) is a jazz-rock fusion drummer, record producer and television presenter. He is best known as an original member of the group Blood, Sweat & Tears, which he co-founded in 1967. He has also played wit ...
, then by
Randy Jackson
Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013.
Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bas ...
(who became known as a judge on ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
''). Jackson signed Farris to a deal at
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 ...
.
Her debut album, ''
Wild Seed – Wild Flower'' (1994), featured the 1995 single "
I Know", which reached number four on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...
in 1996. In the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, "I Know" peaked (after a re-release) at No. 41 in May 1995.
''Wild Seed – Wild Flower'' reached No. 57 on the
''Billboard'' 200 chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
.
''
Radio & Records
''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...
'' magazine ranked "I Know" as the number-one most played song on mainstream Top 40/CHR radio stations for 1995 and spent 10 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart (April 1 – June 3, 1995).
On April 8, 1995, she was the musical guest on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'', performing "I Know" and a roots acoustic rendition of the
Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
song "
Blackbird."
Soundtracks
In 1995, her version of Billy Taylor's "
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" is a jazz song written by Billy Taylor. Taylor's original version (as "I Wish I Knew") was recorded on November 12, 1963, and released on his ''Right Here, Right Now!'' album (Capitol ST-2039) the foll ...
" appeared on the soundtrack to the documentary ''The Promised Land''. It appeared again as the opening song to the film ''
Ghosts of Mississippi
''Ghosts of Mississippi'' is a 1996 American biographical courtroom drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, and James Woods. The plot is based on the true story of the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, the ...
'', about the true story of the 1994 trial of
Byron De La Beckwith
Byron De La Beckwith Jr. (November 9, 1920 – January 21, 2001) was an American murderer, white supremacist and member of the Ku Klux Klan from Greenwood, Mississippi. He murdered the civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963. Two trial ...
, the white supremacist accused of the 1963 assassination of
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
activist of
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served i ...
. Farris' soundtrack work continued for the movie ''
The Truth About Cats & Dogs'', in which she contributed a version of the
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
classic "
For Once in My Life
"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.
It was written and first recorded as a slow ballad. There are differing accounts of ...
" as the closing song and the movie ''
The First Wives Club
''The First Wives Club'' is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson, based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Olivia Goldsmith. The film stars Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton as three divorcées who seek retribution ...
'' with a rendition of
Bill Withers
William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (1972) ...
' "Heartbreak Road". Her single "Hopeless" (written by
Van Hunt
Van Hunt (born March 8, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He released his debut album, ''Van Hunt'', in 2004, and a follow-up, ''On the Jungle Floor'', in 2006, both on Capitol Records. He won the ...
) appears on the ''
Love Jones''
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
(1997).
''For Truth If Not Love''
Farris recorded a second album ''For Truth if Not Love'' with Columbia, but she and the label parted ways before the project was released. It was released in 2007, issued on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
. It featured the track "Stuck in the Middle".
Independent releases
Farris released her official follow-up album ''Signs of Life'' in (2011), named Top 10 soul albums of 2011, a
mixtape
A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...
''Lady Dy, the Mixtape Pt 1'' (2011) and a live
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
album ''Dionne Get Your Gunn: Featuring the
Russell Gunn
Russell Gunn (born October 20, 1971 in Chicago) is an American contemporary jazz trumpeter.
He grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois playing trumpet. As a kid his musical interest was hip hop, with LL Cool J being his first music idol. His project ...
Quartet with Dionne Farris'' (2012) via
PledgeMusic
PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...
crowd funding on her own record label, Free & Clear Records.
Personal life
Farris has a daughter, rapper
Baby Tate, whose father is former
Follow for Now member
David Ryan Harris
David Ryan Harris (born April 19, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Harris moved to Atlanta at a young age. Harris has had a varied career as a musi ...
.
Discography
Albums
* ''
Wild Seed – Wild Flower'' (1994),
Columbia
* ''
For Truth If Not Love'' (2007), Music World
* ''
Signs of Life'', (2011), Free & Clear Records
* ''
Dionne Get Your Gunn Dionne may refer to:
*Dionne (name)
* Centre Marcel Dionne, a multi-purpose arena in Quebec, Canada
* Dionne Lake in Nunavut, Canada
* Dionne quintuplets, the first quintuplets known to have survived their infancy
* USS Dionne (DE-261), a destroyer ...
'' (2013), Free & Clear Records
*''
DionneDionne'' (2014), Free & Clear Records
Mixtapes
*''Lady Dy, The Mixtape pt. 1'' (2011), Free & Clear Records
Singles
*"
I Know" (1995), Sony
*"Don't Ever Touch Me Again" (1995), Sony
*"Passion" (1996), Sony
*"Food for Thought" (1996), Sony
romo
Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as Romo, was a musical and nightclubbing movement, of glam/style pop lineage, in the UK circa 1995–1997, centred on the twin homes of Camden-based clubnight Club Skinny and its West End clone Arcadia ...
*"
For Once in My Life
"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.
It was written and first recorded as a slow ballad. There are differing accounts of ...
" (1996), ''
The Truth About Cats & Dogs'' (movie soundtrack)
*"Hopeless" (1997), Sony
Soundtracks
*''The Promised Land'' (1994), Columbia
*''
The Truth About Cats & Dogs'' (1996), A&M
*''
First Wives Club'' (1996), Work Group
*''
Ghosts of Mississippi
''Ghosts of Mississippi'' is a 1996 American biographical courtroom drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, and James Woods. The plot is based on the true story of the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, the ...
'' (1996), Sony
*''
Love Jones'' (1997), Sony
References
External links
Dionne Farris Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farris, Dionne
1969 births
Living people
20th-century African-American women singers
American contemporary R&B singers
American soul musicians
American neo soul singers
Columbia Records artists
People from Bordentown, New Jersey
Musicians from Plainfield, New Jersey
Singers from New Jersey
21st-century American women singers
Arrested Development (group) members
21st-century American singers
African-American rock musicians
21st-century African-American women singers