Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist and R&B singer. She is also a composer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director. Her 1982 single "

Forget Me Nots "Forget Me Nots" is a 1982 song co-written and performed by American R&B musician Patrice Rushen. It appears on her seventh album, '' Straight from the Heart''. Making a radical shift in her music, Rushen would continue to harness the particular ...

" received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The instrumental "Number One" from her album '' Straight from the Heart'' earned an additional Grammy nomination for best instrumental. Her 12th album ''

Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

'' also received a

Grammy nomination The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for best instrumental in 1998. Rushen also serves as an ambassador for artistry in education at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

and the chair of the popular music program at the USC Thornton School of Music.

Biography

Rushen is the elder of two daughters born to Allen and Ruth Rushen. Patrice was three years old when she began playing the piano, and by the time she was six, she was giving classical recitals. In her teens, she attended Locke High School and later earned a degree in music from the University of Southern California. After winning a competition at the age of 17 that enabled her to perform with her band at the

Monterey Jazz Festival The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jaz ...

, Rushen signed with the Prestige label, releasing three albums with them – ''

Prelusion ''Prelusion'' is the debut album from jazz musician and later R&B recording artist Patrice Rushen. The first of three albums she would record with Prestige Records, the album was mainly Instrumental jazz which was her main focus as an artist befo ...

'' (1974), '' Before the Dawn'' (1975), and '' Shout It Out'' (1977). In 1978, when she was 23, she began recording with Elektra. Rushen married Marc St. Louis, a concert tour manager and live show production specialist, in 1986. They have one son, Cameron and one daughter named Jadyn. The name of her publishing company, Baby fingers Inc., is pulled from her nickname Babyfingers for her tiny hands. In 2005, Rushen received an honorary doctorate of Music degree from Berklee College of Music. She is the chair of popular music at USC and the ambassador of artistry in Education at the Berklee College of Music. She has served as the film composer for numerous movies television shows and documentaries. She has been a member of

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

band CAB, The Meeting (GRP Records) with Ndugu Chancler,

Alphonso Johnson Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock and ...

and Ernie Watts. Rushen is also a music director, having worked on various television events as well as Janet Jackson's world tour ' Janet'. Her song "Hang It Up" was featured on the 2005 video game '' Fahrenheit''.

Cultural impact

Rushen's songs are sampled often in other artists music. The chorus from "

" was used as the music for the 1997 song "

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi-government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses t ...

". Rushen was credited as writer and composer, 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 ...

and Terri McFadden. The same chorus can be heard in

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

's song "

Fastlove "Fastlove" is a song by English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 22 April 1996 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom and DreamWorks Records in the United States as the second single from his third album, ''Older'' (1996). Written ...

". "Forget Me Nots" previously found its way into the trampolining scene in the film

Big Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

. Her song "

Haven't You Heard "Haven't You Heard" may refer to: * "Haven't You Heard" (Patrice Rushen song), a 1980 song by Patrice Rushen * "Haven't You Heard" (Shirley Myers song), a 1998 song by Shirley Myers * "Haven't You Heard", a 1998 song by Jeff Buckley from his post ...

" was sampled in Kirk Franklin's Looking For You from the Norbit soundtrack. In 2021 her song "

" was used in a dance challenge on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

. Rushen was the first woman to serve as music director for the 46th, 47th, and 48th Grammy Awards. She was the only woman music director/conductor/arranger for a late-night show titled ''The Midnight Hour'', which aired on CBS in 1990.

Awards

Grammy awards

Rushen has received three Grammy nominations.

Other awards

* Number One Record "Feels So Real", Radio & Records (R&R) National Chart - Writers: Patrice Rushen & Fred Washington, 1984 *

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Songwriter's Award, 1988 *

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

Black Student Assembly, Legacy of Excellence Award, 1992 *

Crystal Award The Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards—first presented in 1977 by the now–Los Angeles chapter of the Women in Film organization—were presented to honor women in communications and media. The awards include the Crystal Award, the Lucy Awar ...

, American Women in Film, 1994 * ASCAP Award, Most Performed Song in Motion Pictures for 1997 for "

," 1998 *

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

Nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Recording for “Signature”, 1998 * Honorary Doctorate

, 2005 * The California Jazz Foundation NICA award for lifetime achievement, 2019 * The Ramo Music Faculty Award, 2020 * Trailblazer Award, Salute Them Awards, 2021

Discography

Solo albums

Singles

Appearances

With

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

and

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Davi ...

* '' Live at the 1988 Montreux Jazz Festival'' (Liberation Entertainment, 2007) With The Meeting * ''The Meeting'' (GRP, 1990) * ''Update'' (Hip-Bop, 1995) With Kenny Burrell * ''

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

'' (AudioSource, 1980) With

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

* ''

Lite Me Up ''Lite Me Up'' is a pop album with a strong disco-funk feel by Herbie Hancock. It was Hancock's first release without producer David Rubinson since 1969. On this album, Hancock was influenced by his long-time friend, producer Quincy Jones and sess ...

'' (Columbia, 1982) With Eddie Henderson * ''

'' (Blue Note, 1976) * ''

Comin' Through ''Comin' Through'' is an album by the American jazz trumpeter Eddie Henderson (musician), Eddie Henderson recorded in 1977 and released on the Capitol Records, Capitol label. The album rose to No. 6 on the Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums chart ...

'' (Capitol, 1977) With Jean-Luc Ponty * '' Upon the Wings of Music'' (Atlantic, 1975) * '' Aurora'' (Atlantic, 1976) With

Letizia Gambi Letizia Gambi is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. Her music is a fusion between her Italian and Neapolitan heritage and Black Jazz American roots. Gambi performs and records in English, Italian, Neapolitan and Spanish and is best known f ...

* '' Introducing Letizia Gambi'' (Via Veneto Jazz, 2012) With

Wallace Roney Wallace Roney (May 25, 1960 – March 31, 2020) was an American jazz (hard bop and post-bop) trumpeter. He has won 1 Grammy award and has two nominations. Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from ...

* ''

A Place in Time ''A Place in Time'' is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Angelina Jolie in her directorial debut. Synopsis The film takes a look at the daily lives of people in more than two dozen countries around the world during the course of a wee ...

'' (HighNote, 2016) With

Cindy Blackman Cindy Blackman Santana (born November 18, 1959), sometimes known as Cindy Blackman, is an American jazz and rock drummer. Blackman has recorded several jazz albums as a bandleader and has performed with Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Simmons, Ron Carter ...

* '' Another Lifetime'' (4Q, 2010)

Filmography

* ''Agents of Change'' (2016) * ''Burning Sands'' (2008) * ''

For One Night ''For One Night'' is a 2006 American made-for-TV drama film directed by Ernest Dickerson, written by Denetria Harris-Lawrence, and starring Raven-Symoné as Brianna McCallister and Aisha Tyler as Desiree Howard. The film's premise is based on the ...

'' (2006, TV) * ''Just a Dream'' (2002) * '' Our America'' (2002, TV) * ''Baby of the Family'' (2002) * ''

Piano, Bass and Drums Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist and R&B singer. She is also a composer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director. Her 1982 single "Forget Me Nots" received a Grammy Awar ...

'' (2002 Aix Entertainment, DVD Audio) * ''The Killing Yard'' (2001, TV) * ''Fire & Ice'' (2001, TV) * '' Cora Unashamed'' (2000, TV) * '' Ruby Bridges'' (1998, TV) * ''America's Dream'' (1996, TV) * ''A. Philip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom'' (1996, TV) * '' The Steve Harvey Show'' (1996) TV series (unknown episodes) * ''The Midnight Hour'' (1990) TV series (unknown episodes) * ''Without You I'm Nothing'' (1990) * ''

Hollywood Shuffle ''Hollywood Shuffle'' is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadbl ...

'' (1987) * ''George Michael: I'm Your Man – A South Bank Show Special'' (2006, TV, writer: "Fastlove") * ''Fahrenheit'' (2005, performer: "Hang It Up") * ''

'' (1997, writer: "Men In Black") * '' Waiting to Exhale'' (1995, performer: "And I Gave My Love to You") * ''Big'' (1988, writer/performer: "Forget Me Nots") * ''Dominick and Eugene'' (1988, performer: "Somewhere") * ''TV in Black: The First Fifty Years'' (2004) Herself * ''VH-1 Where Are They Now?'' Herself (One episode, 2002) * ''100 Greatest Dance Songs of Rock & Roll'' (2000), TV series, Herself * ''Monterey Jazz Festival: 40 Legendary Years'' (1998), Herself * ''The Best of Robert Townsend & His Partners in Crime'' (1991) Herself * ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', Herself (One episode, 1982) * ''

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 ...

'', Herself (One episode, 1981) * ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'', Herself (One episode, 1980)

Musical directing

* The 48th Annual Grammy Awards (2006, musical director) * The 47th Annual Grammy Awards (2005, musical director) * The 46th Annual Grammy Awards (2004, musical director) * The 10th Annual Walk of Fame Honoring Smokey Robinson (2004, musical director) * The 9th Annual Walk of Fame Honoring Aretha Franklin (2003, musical director) * The 8th Annual Walk of Fame Honoring Stevie Wonder (2002, musical director) * People's Choice Awards (1993, musical director) * The Best of Robert Townsend & His Partners in Crime (1991, musical director) * "No Strings" by " Sheena Easton", Rushen as record producer (1993) * The Women of Brewster Place (1989, special musical consultant) * "The Midnight Hour" (unknown episodes, 1990) * ''Partners in Crime'' (1988, musical director)

References

Sources

External links

* * * *
Patrice Rushen 2012 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com

Patrice Rushen Interview
NAMM Oral History Program {{DEFAULTSORT:Rushen, Patrice 1954 births 20th-century African-American women singers African-American jazz pianists American boogie musicians American dance musicians American disco singers American funk keyboardists American funk singers American multi-instrumentalists American jazz keyboardists American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American sopranos American soul keyboardists American soul singers Jazz musicians from California Rhythm and blues pianists Living people Singers from Los Angeles USC Thornton School of Music alumni Women jazz pianists 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American pianists CAB (band) members 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American keyboardists Elektra Records artists 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American women Singer-songwriters from California 20th-century women pianists 21st-century women pianists