Marcy Thomas (born December 8, 1950), also known as Lyrica Garrett is an American singer and actress. She started off her career as an Ikette in the

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocal ...

Revue in the 1970s. She also sang with

The Undisputed Truth The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe "Pep" Harris served as main lead singer, with ...

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

, and

Johnny "Guitar" Watson John Watson Jr. (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996), known professionally as Johnny "Guitar" Watson, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. A flamboyant showman and electric guitarist in the style of T-Bone Walker, his recording career ...

. As an actress, she toured with ''

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

'' production and was later featured on the VH1 reality show '' Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood'' with her daughter

Lyrica Anderson Lyrica Nasha Anderson is an American R&B singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of singer and former Ikette Lyrica Garrett. Anderson has appeared on the VH1 reality show '' Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood''. Career In 2009, Anderson co-wrote th ...

Life and career

Marcy Thomas was born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

on December 8, 1950. She became the musical director for a youth choir at twelve years old. By the age of fifteen she was writing lyrics and performing. Uniquely talented at such a young phase. Thomas successfully auditioned for bandleader

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1 ...

to become an Ikette in 1974. She toured with

internationally and appeared on various television shows, including ''

Musikladen ''Der Musikladen'' (german: The Music Shop) was a West German music television programme that ran from 13 December 1972 to 29 November 1984. The show continued the 1960s ''Beat-Club'' under a new name, and in turn was replaced by ''Extratour''. ...

'', ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...

'', '' The Midnight Special'', and ''Van Dyke and Company'' before leaving the Ikettes in 1975. In 1976, Thomas joined the touring musical production of ''

''. After two years, she left the production and joined the funk group

, replacing

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

's sister

Taka Boom Taka Boom (born Yvonne Stevens; October 8, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American R&B and dance music singer, and is the younger sister of singer Chaka Khan and Mark Stevens of Aurra. She sang background vocals for several Parliament albums ...

. Thomas was the lead female vocalist on the album ''Smokin released in 1979. Thomas was a background vocalist on

' album '' Street Songs'' which topped the R&B chart in 1981. As an actress, she had roles in the films ''

Penitentiary II ''Penitentiary II'' is a 1982 American Blaxploitation drama film directed by Jamaa Fanaka. Released on April 2, 1982, the film is the sequel to 1979's ''Penitentiary''. It was followed by another sequel, ''Penitentiary III'', which was released i ...

'' (1982) and ''Perfume'' (1991). Thomas rejoined Ike Turner as one of his Ikettes in 1988. Later going by the professional name Lyrica Garrett, she toured with Turner in 2006. They performed "

River Deep, Mountain High A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...

," "

Proud Mary "Proud Mary" is a song written by John Fogerty and first recorded by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was released by Fantasy Records as a single from the band's second studio album, ''Bayou Country'', which was issued by the same rec ...

," and "

Nutbush City Limits "Nutbush City Limits" is a semi-autobiographical song written by Tina Turner which commemorates her rural hometown of Nutbush in Haywood County, Tennessee, United States. Originally released as a single on United Artists Records in August 19 ...

" at the

Night of the Proms Night of the Proms is a series of concerts held annually in Belgium (since 1985), the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. Regularly there are also shows in France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, the United States and Sweden. The co ...

. She also performed with

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new wav ...

. In 2016, Garrett joined the supporting cast of '' Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood'', which stars her daughter

. The show chronicled Garrett's strained relationship with her son-in-law A1 Bentley and his mother Pam Bentley. In 2019, Garrett released a music video for her single "Summertime Love" from her album ''Ready''. The album was produced by

Dalvin DeGrate Dalvin Ertimus DeGrate (born July 23, 1971, in Hampton, Virginia) is an American R&B and soul musician, singer and rapper, best known for his days as Mr. Dalvin, one-quarter of the R&B group Jodeci. Career The rapper for the group, DeGrate ra ...

Discography

Singles

* 2014: "Seasons of Love" * 2017: "What Goes Around (Karma)" * 2018: "December Love" * 2019: "Summertime Love"

Studio albums

* 1979:

– ''Smokin (

Whitfield Records Whitfield Records was a record label, founded in 1975 by former Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield and active until 1982. Whitfield Records was distributed throughout its entire existence by Warner Bros. Records. Selected Discograph ...

) * 2019: ''Ready''

Album appearances

* 2006: ''The Night of the Proms 2006'' (

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

)

Backing vocal credits

* 1978:

– ''Giant'' * 1981:

– ''Street Songs'' * 1985: Dion Miál – "The Indian and the Outlaw" * 1986: Jesse Johnson – "She (I Can't Resist)" * 1988: Mark Anthony – ''Jumpin' Off'' * 1992: Sue Ann Carwell – "Painkiller" * 1992:

B Angie B Angela Roxanna Boyd (born March 9, 1968), known by the stage name B Angie B, is a rhythm and blues vocalist and dancer. Boyd was notable as a backing vocalist and protégé for MC Hammer, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1991, she recorde ...

– "A Class Act I" * 1993:

Penny Ford Penny Ford (also known as Pennye Ford, born June 11, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, she rose to fame in the 1980s after signing a recording contract with T ...

– "Daydreaming" * 2005: Johnny "Guitar" Watson – ''The Funk Anthology''

Writing credits

* 1979: The Undisputed Truth – "Misunderstood" * 1981: Side Effect – "I Need Your Lovin'" * 1990: Body – "Lie To Me" * 1997:

Titiyo Titiyo Yambalu Felicia Jah (born 23 July 1967) is a Swedish singer and songwriter who has won four Grammis. Biography Early life Titiyo was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Ahmadu Jah, a Sierra Leonean drummer, and Maylen Bergström. She is the ha ...

– "Misunderstood"

References

External links

*
Marcy Thomas
on

IBDB The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade assoc ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Lyrica 1950 births Musicians from Houston Singer-songwriters from Texas Actresses from Houston American rhythm and blues singers African-American women singer-songwriters American soul singers Ike & Tina Turner members Living people Participants in American reality television series 20th-century African-American women singers 21st-century African-American women singers