Thea Tereese Austin (born June 10, 1960) is an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

/ composer from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

. She is the lead vocalist and co-author of the German

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. Thi ...

hit song " Rhythm Is A Dancer" by

Snap! Snap! is a German Eurodance group formed in 1989 by producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, including American singers, songwriters and rappers Thea Austin, Turbo B, N ...

Early life and career

Austin was born on June 10, 1960, in

. She began singing with her older sister Vontelle at the age of four and by eight singing became her paying profession. In California, she was a music columnist for magazines including ''The R&B Report'', an industry trade publication. She has four sisters, one brother, and has been married once.

Musical career

Snap!

In the early 1990s Austin finished a tour in Japan and upon returning to Los Angeles began writing for a solo album with dance music producer Michael Eckart (

Stacey Q Stacey Lynn Swain (born November 30, 1958), known by her stage name Stacey Q, is an American pop singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. Her best-known single, John Mitchell's " Two of Hearts", released in 1986, reached number one in Canada, nu ...

). She was introduced through a mutual friend to Penny Ford who had just left the group Snap! to pursue a solo career after the success of " The Power." Austin met in Germany with the producers Michael Munzing and Luca Anzilotti. The result of that meeting was the

album '' The Madman's Return'' on which Austin wrote or co-wrote all of the songs including Snap!'s cross-Atlantic hit " Rhythm Is a Dancer." She received the BMI Pop Award in 2015 when

Jeremih Jeremy Phillip Felton (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Jeremih ( ), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2009, he signed a record deal with Def Jam Recordings. Jeremih's commercial debut single, " Birthday Sex" ...

's hit " Don't 'Tell 'Em" incorporated her lyrics. Originally, "Rhythm Is a Dancer" was going to be released as the lead single, but after objections from Turbo B, "Colour of Love", also co-written by Austin and featuring Austin's lead vocals, was released as the single. The song charted at number 6 in France and Sweden, number 9 in Germany and number 54 in the UK. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" fared better, charting at number 1 in the UK, France, Netherlands, Italy and Germany, and number 5 in the US. Other singles from the album co-written by Austin included "Do You See The Light" which would later be covered by Nikki Harris.

Soulsearcher

In 1999, Austin teamed with Marc Pomeroy to form Soulsearcher, which had a #8 hit on 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 ...

with "Can't Get Enough" which drew inspiration from and sampled Gary's Gang's "Let's Lovedance Tonight" and later on that year charted at #20 on the

Dance Music/Club Play Singles Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart. The duo performed at

The Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

Party in the Park all-star concert in London in 1999. Their second single, "Do It to Me Again", charted at #32 on the

(

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

's entry for Soulsearcher states that the song charted at #13) after which Austin and Pomeroy split up.

Pusaka

Austin joined Pusaka and wrote and sung lead vocals for their 2001 hit "You're the Worst Thing for Me", which was awarded the Best Underground 12" Award at Miami's

Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...

in March 2002 and charted at #34 on the

Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales In the issue dated March 16, 1985, ''Billboard'' magazine debuted its first chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales. The 50-position weekly ranking joined ''Billboard''s established Club Songs chart, reduced to the same 50 positions, ...

chart and #1 on the

chart.

Boombox!

A planned May 2022

concert residency A concert residency (also known as musical residency or simply residency) is a series of concerts, similar to a concert tour, but only performed at one location. ''Pollstar'' Awards defined residency as a run of 10 or more shows at a single ven ...

at the Westgate Las Vegas titled "Boombox!" will feature an alternating cast of hip hop artists, including Austin, accompanied by a live DJ and drummer.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Thea 20th-century African-American women singers American dance musicians American house musicians Living people Musicians from Pittsburgh Songwriters from Pennsylvania Singers from Pennsylvania American women in electronic music 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American women singers 1960 births Snap! members