La Forrest 'La La' Cope is an American singer and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

. She is best known for writing the hit song "

You Give Good Love "You Give Good Love" is the debut solo single by American singer Whitney Houston for her 1985 eponymous debut studio album. It was written by La Forrest 'La La' Cope and produced by Kashif. When La La sent Kashif a copy of the song, originally ...

", recorded by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

for her 1985 self-titled debut album, which went on to sell over 25 million units worldwide.

Biography

La La was raised in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York City, United States. She took up the piano at the age of five and gave a piano recital at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

at the age of nine. After leaving New York's High School of Music and Art, she formed a band called Jack Sass, which played top 40 cover versions on the club scene. As the group's reputation grew, La La began introducing more of her own songs into the repertoire before she went to

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...

to major in composition. In 1981, she was invited to tour with

Stacy Lattisaw Stacy Lattisaw Jackson (née Lattisaw; born November 25, 1966) is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C., United States. Career When she was 11 years old, singer/songwriter Frederick Knight attempted to sign Lattisaw to his production ...

who opened for

the Jacksons The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

on a national tour. Following this, she sang with the group

Change Change, Changed or Changing may refer to the below. Other forms are listed at Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of t ...

, along with

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

, where her voice was heard on their song "The Glow of Love", co-written by her childhood friend from East Elmhurst, Queens, Wayne K. Garfield. She played one of her songs, "Stone Love", to another neighborhood friend,

Kashif Kashif (also spelled Kaashif, Kaşif, Khasif , Kashef or Kawshif , ) is an Arabic word, commonly used as a male given name in the Muslim world. Its meaning is close to the "revealer", "discoverer", "uncoverer" or "pioneer", "explorer". When us ...

, who recorded it for his debut album in 1983.

Songwriting career

Throughout the 1980s, La La established herself as a songwriter, penning songs for many artists including

Lillo Thomas Lillo Thomas (born 1961) is an American sprint runner and soul musician. He reached the peak of his success as a recording artist in the 1980s. His most famous songs include "Sexy Girl" and "I'm in Love." Career Early in his life, Thomas was a c ...

("All of You"),

Melba Moore Beatrice Melba Smith (born October 29, 1945) known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress. Biography Early life and education Moore was born Beatrice Melba Smith on October 29, 1945, in New York City to Gertrude Melba ...

("Living for Your Love" and "It's Really Love"), Glenn Jones ("Show Me" and "Stay"), Giorge Pettus ("My Night for Love") and a solo release, "Into the Night" which was featured on the ''

Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American dance drama film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to vari ...

'' soundtrack album. Through Kashif, she had a couple of her songs recorded by new Arista signing

" and " Thinking About You") before signing to the label herself (both Kashif and Houston's label) as an artist. In 1987, she released her debut album ''La La'', including duets with Glenn Jones and

Bernard Wright Bernard Wright (November 16, 1963 – May 19, 2022) was an American funk and jazz keyboardist and singer who began his career as a session musician and later released four solo albums. Biography Wright was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York. I ...

and production by R&B group

Full Force Full Force is an American music group of hip hop and R&B singers, songwriters and producers from Brooklyn, New York. Members *B-Fine (Brian George) – drums and drum programming, backing vocals *Shy Shy (Hugh Junior Clark) – bass guita ...

. She also duetted with

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the ...

on a cover of

Climie Fisher Climie Fisher were a British pop duet (music), duo formed by vocalist Simon Climie and former Naked Eyes keyboardist Rob Fisher (British musician), Rob Fisher. In 1987–88, they had two international hit singles: "Rise to the Occasion (Climie F ...

's " Rise to the Occasion" for his 1989 album '' Don't Take It Personal''. La La continued to write and produce for major artists including Carl Anderson and the top 10 US R&B hit "Secret Lady" for

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to stardom as Dorothy Gale in the original seven-time Tony Awards, Tony Award winning Broadway theatre, Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' ...

. After a move to

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

, she released her second (and last to date) solo album ''La La Means I Love You!'' in 1991, which included her version of her much-covered R&B classic "Show Me" as well as contributions from Rene Moore,

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

and

Lenny White Leonard White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". White has won thre ...

. In 2024, La La was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Discography

Albums

* ''La La'' (1987) * ''La La Means I Love You!'' (1991)

Singles

References

External links

Official website

Album and singles discography
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:La La Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American contemporary R&B singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state) The High School of Music & Art alumni 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American women