Lisa Velez (born January 15, 1966), better known by her stage name Lisa Lisa, is an American singer. She rose to fame in the 1980s as one-third of the band

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam were a United States urban contemporary band and one of the first freestyle music groups to emerge from New York City in the 1980s. Cult Jam consisted of vocalist Lisa Lisa, born Lisa Velez, guitarist/ bassist Alex "Sp ...

Early life

Velez was born in 1966 in

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

as the youngest of ten to a religious mother, who supported the family by

babysitting Babysitting is temporarily caring for a child. Babysitting can be a paid job for all ages; however, it is best known as a temporary activity for early teenagers who are not yet eligible for employment in the general economy. It provides auto ...

, and an absentee father. Of Puerto Rican descent, Velez learned to speak Spanish at home and English in school. She sang in her church choir, at the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, along with her six sisters, and was an A student at Julia Richman High School in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. At Sacred Heart she studied alongside several future members of the Irish-American criminal organization, The

Westies The Westies were a New York City-based Irish-American organized crime gang, responsible for racketeering, drug trafficking, and contract killing. They were partnered with the Italian-American Mafia and operated out of the Hell's Kitchen neighbo ...

. In school she was also part of a traveling singing group that sang

Motown 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 ...

hits and songs from old Broadway musicals.

Career

was founded when Velez successfully auditioned for the Brooklyn production team

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 met drummer Mike Hughes at Funhouse, a Manhattan

underage In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...

club that she frequented to be discovered. She described the atmosphere as, "a young place, no liquor served in that place at all, so I kinda liked it. I used to dance a lot, but I was always aware of where I was turning, so I would watch and find out who's who, where's where." Hughes spotted her, finding her attractive and asked her to audition for the production team. She took the subway to a house in Brooklyn, her first trip to the borough, without her protective older brother, who later became her bodyguard. With Hughes and Alex "Spanador" Moseley, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam recorded their debut single, " I Wonder If I Take You Home", soon after forming in 1985, releasing it as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

single. The group quickly signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, which re-released the single, and it climbed into the R&B top ten in the US and the

top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

in the UK. The group amassed a number of

hit song A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s throughout the 1980s. Velez said of her moniker "I guess they had the type of idea like, okay, he U.T.F.O. hit' Roxanne, Roxanne' worked, why not Lisa Lisa? I thought it was cute because I knew it would cause controversy, talk." About getting paid, Velez expressed "I don't think about the money. I'm not doing this for the money. I was pulling in 600 to 700 a week when I was working at Benetton, so it doesn't mean shit to me. I'm just doing this 'cause I want to sing." By the end of the '80s, the group's success had begun to decline. Their fourth and final album, '' Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen'', was less of a commercial success, though it did include a hit with "Let the Beat Hit 'Em", which reached the

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

on the US pop chart and was a hit on both the R&B and club charts. The group disbanded in 1991, and Velez pursued both solo singing and acting careers, and Moseley and Hughes went on to do other projects. Lisa Lisa released a

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

called '' LL77'' in 1994, which included the moderate club hit "When I Fell in Love" (which was remixed by Junior Vasquez) and the notable single "Skip to My Lu", which hit No. 38 on the R&B chart. She resurfaced circa 2001 on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

series '' Taina'', in which she played the title character's mother. In June 2008, Lisa Lisa presented an award at the

BET Awards The BET Awards are an American award show that was established in 2001 by the BET, Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate Black person, Black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which ...

, sparking interest that she may be planning a comeback. In 2009, she released ''Life 'n Love'', an album of new material on Mass Appeal Entertainment featuring the single "Can't Wait" with guest

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Pitbull. The album features a cover version of the song "Stand" which was originally performed by

Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer who rose to fame after her first two albums ('' Tell It to My Heart'' and '' Can't Fight Fate'') were both certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of ...

on her 1998 album '' Naked without You''. In March 2014, she appeared with Stevie B., TKA,

Sa-Fire Wilma Cosmé (born 16 January 1966, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico), better known by her stage name Sa-Fire, is an American singing, singer. Sa-Fire's Latin Freestyle music was able to break through into the broader pop music wor ...

, and others at the eighth annual Forever Freestyle showcase at the Lehman College Center for the Performing Arts in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. In June 2019, Lisa Lisa signed with Snoop Dogg's Army, part of the

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

Entertainment Company. In February 2025, Lifetime premiered the biopic of Lisa Lisa, '' Can You Feel The Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story,'' starring Lisa Lisa as her own mother.

Personal life

Lisa turned down the role of “Lisa” in the movie ''

Coming to America ''Coming to America'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis, based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, written by David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein, and starring Murphy (in various roles), Arsenio ...

'', offered to her by Eddie Murphy. Velez was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma whilst on tour when she was 21. She underwent chemotherapy during the tour and kept her diagnosis and treatment private from her bandmates and family.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

Television

References

External links

*
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam Biography at Billboard.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisa, Lisa 1966 births Living people 20th-century American pianists American women pianists 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters Hispanic and Latino American women singers Hispanic and Latino American musicians American musicians of Puerto Rican descent American women singer-songwriters American hip-hop singers American soul singers American contemporary R&B singers Freestyle musicians 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American pianists People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Julia Richman Education Complex alumni Singer-songwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American women rappers