Durga McBroom is an American singer who has performed backing vocals for

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

and is a member of the

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

band

Blue Pearl Blue Pearl are an English electronic music duo consisting of American female singer Durga McBroom and British musician Youth (Martin Glover). They charted six times on the UK singles chart and had two songs reach the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance ...

, best known for their hit single " Naked in the Rain". She works as an actress, dancer, and singer in the United States and internationally.

Career

After working as an actress (most notably playing "Heels" in the 1983 blockbuster ''

Flashdance ''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend ...

''), dancer, and singer, McBroom and her sister Lorelei McBroom worked with

as backing vocalists. She went on to have a long stint with them, being the only backing vocalist to appear consistently on all of their shows starting from the November 1987 concert at Omni Arena of

A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour was two consecutive concert tours by the British rock band Pink Floyd. The ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour'' ran from September 1987 to August 1988; the ''Another Lapse tour'' ran from May–July 1989. Both t ...

up to the final concert of The Division Bell Tour in October 1994. She also performed on their appearance at the 1990

Knebworth Knebworth is a village and civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England, immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Whitwell, St Paul's Walden ...

festival and has provided vocals for the Pink Floyd live albums ''

Delicate Sound of Thunder ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' is a live album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was recorded over five nights at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, in August 1988 and mixed at Abbey Road Studios in September 1988. It was ...

'', and ''

Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the n ...

'', and the Pink Floyd studio albums ''

The Division Bell ''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States. The second Pink Flo ...

'', and ''

The Endless River ''The Endless River'' is the fifteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released in November 2014 by Parlophone, Parlophone Records in Europe and Columbia Records in the rest of the world. It was the third Pink Floyd album rec ...

'', as well as

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

's 2001 solo tour.

Blue Pearl

Around 1989, McBroom formed the band

with record producer

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...

, singing, playing some keyboards and co-writing all of their material. As part of Blue Pearl, she had several hit songs in the early 1990s, including " Naked in the Rain" (UK #4 in July 1990), "Little Brother" (UK #31 in October 1990), and a cover version of

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

's "

Running Up That Hill "Running Up That Hill", titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" on some releases, is a song by the British singer and songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the United Kingdom as the lead single from Bush's album '' Hounds of Love'' o ...

", all taken from the album ''

Naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

'', released in 1990 on the

Big Life Big Life was a record label established in 1987 by Jazz Summers and Tim Parry. It featured hundreds of releases from artists such as The Orb, Stare, Yazz, Junior Reid, Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Mat ...

label. Subsequent singles included "

(Can You) Feel the Passion "(Can You) Feel the Passion" is a 1991 rave-theme House song recorded, written, and produced by the American/British group Blue Pearl. The single is to date the act's second best known song after Naked In The Rain. Can You Feel The Passion had bet ...

" (UK #14 in January 1992) Can You Feel The Passion had better success in the United States, hitting No. 1 on both Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart and the UK Dance Chart.

Other activities

She provided backing vocals to the song "Don't Wait That Long" featured on the James album '' Seven'' released in 1992. She also sang a duet on "Mother Dawn" with

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

for his ''

Cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and c ...

'' album, a self-penned song that was originally released as a Blue Pearl single. In addition, she sang backing vocals on several other songs on Cyberpunk, including a featured performance on "Heroin". In addition to her music career, McBroom performed as an actress in the movies ''

'', ''

The Rosebud Beach Hotel ''The Rosebud Beach Hotel'' is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Harry Hurwitz and starring Colleen Camp, Peter Scolari, Christopher Lee, and Fran Drescher. Plot After taking over a failing Miami hotel with her workaholic fiancé Ellio ...

'', the episode "Lullabye" of the TV show '' Hunter'' (with Gary Sinise), and several other less notable appearances. She also appears in many videos, including "California Girls", "Yankee Rose" and "Just a Gigolo" for David Lee Roth; "Would I Lie To You" for Eurythmics; "Day In, Day Out" for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and "When I Think of You" for Janet Jackson. In April 2010, she started to work with the Argentinian band "The End Pink Floyd" show in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, including some appearances with Guy Pratt and

Jon Carin Jon Carin (born October 21, 1964) is a musician, singer, songwriter and producer who has been a longtime collaborator with the bands Pink Floyd and The Who, and the solo careers of David Gilmour and Roger Waters, Pete Townshend, Eddie Vedder, ...

. In October 2011, McBroom joined her sister Lorelei to sing "

The Great Gig in the Sky "The Great Gig in the Sky" is the fifth track on '' The Dark Side of the Moon'', the 1973 album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. The song features music by Richard Wright and non-lexical vocals by Clare Torry, being one of only ...

" in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

with the Australian Pink Floyd Show. 2017 saw her reunite with

Gary Wallis Gary Wallis is a British drummer, percussionist, drum programmer, producer and musical director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands, including Nik Kershaw, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Il Divo, Westlife, Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten, Pau ...

, Scott Page, and Claudia Fontaine in several Italian shows. She tours the world singing with various bands (

Shpongle Shpongle is a psychedelic electronic music project from England that formed in 1996. The group includes Hallucinogen and Raja Ram (one of three in The Infinity Project). The duo are considered to be one of the progenitors of the psybient genr ...

Live / May 3–4, 2019). She also recorded a second Blue Pearl album with Youth. February 2020 saw her return to the big screen in the controversial film ''Sammy-Gate'', premiering in the Netherlands at IFFR (Rotterdam). She and her sister Lorelei are also featured on

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

's album ''

At the Edge of Light ''At the Edge of Light'' is the twenty-fifth studio album by English guitarist and songwriter Steve Hackett, released on 25 January 2019 by InsideOut Records. Release The album was announced on 25 October 2018. It will be available on CD, a two ...

'', being featured on the chart-topping single "Underground Railroad", as well as on the single "Wingbeats" from his subsequent album,"Surrender Of Silence".Durga McBroom
at

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 databa ...

. A single written with Graziano Regoli and Vittorio De Scalzi (New Trolls) called "American Big Top" came out in June 2020 on Supa Qween Records, a fiery protest song reflective of the times. Another album, ''Black Floyd'', was recorded with her sister Lorelei (co-produced by Dave Kerzner), and released in July 2020 as The McBroom Sisters. It includes some cover songs as well as original material.

Personal life

McBroom was married to Mark Hudson from May 10, 2008, until his death on July 5, 2015.

References

External links