Suzie "Sue" McCloskey, better known as Zenda Jacks, is an English singer. She is best known for being one of the members of the

Silver Convention Silver Convention were a German Euro disco recording act of the 1970s. The group was originally named Silver Bird Convention or Silver Bird. Career The group was initiated in Munich by producers and songwriters Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze ...

and Hard Rain group. She has also worked with artists such as

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

Career

Zenda Jacks trained in

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

from a very young age. As she grew older, she took singing and piano lessons, while also learning how to play the guitar. When she was 17 years old, she was discovered by 2 members of a Birmingham-based band, known as "Muscles". She was later invited to join the band as a singer. In 1974, she released her debut single, ''Rub My Tummy''. She was billed ''The Goddess of

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

'', and seen as the UK's answer to

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...

. She was invited to perform in TV shows, such as

TopPop ''TopPop'' is the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 22 September 1970, to 27 June 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted for its first fift ...

and

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''. ...

. After leaving the rock scene, she later played and sang in the Wakefield Theater Club. In the fall of 1977, she replaced

Penny McLean Gertrude Wirschinger, better known as Penny McLean (born 4 November 1948), is an Austrian vocalist who initially gained acclaim with the disco music act Silver Convention, but also had exposure as a single recording artist. As a solo singer, she i ...

and became a member of the

disco group. Along with Jerry Rix, she recorded a duet " Spend The Night With Me", which became a modest hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. While on tour with the group in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, she met a businessman who later became her first husband. Shortly after, she left the Silver Convention and went on a hiatus. In 1999, Jacks made a comeback by being one of the singers for Hard Rain. She recorded 2 albums and went on tour with the group. Today, she lives a private life in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England, and makes occasional appearances.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacks, Zenda 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Musicians from the West Midlands (county) People from Wednesbury Living people 1955 births Silver Convention members Hard Rain (band) members