Joyce Melissa Morgan (usually spelled Meli'sa; born December 6, 1964) is an American R&B/

Soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer–songwriter. Morgan had a string of

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

from the mid–1980s to the mid–1990s. Most notable include her

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

's " Do Me, Baby" (1985), "Do You Still Love Me" (1986) and "Still in Love with You" (1992).

Early life

Born in

Queens, New York 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 ...

, Morgan got her start in the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

while singing with a church

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

called the Starlets of Corona. Morgan cites

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

as a major influence.

Career

1982–1992

Her initial chart entry was as the lead singer of the dance group, Shades of Love. They had a single entry at #26 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine's

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

in 1982 with "Body to Body (Keep in Touch)." This was re-popularized in 1994 by new

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

es and reached number 1 on the same chart. That same year, music entrepreneur

Jacques Fred Petrus Jacques Fred Petrus (; February 22, 1948 – June 8, 1987) was a West Indian-born businessman and a pioneer of post-disco music. He spent much of his career in Italy and the United States. Early life Born in Guadeloupe in the French West Indies, P ...

asked her to join his newly created studio group, High Fashion, that featured Morgan and two other New York vocalists, Eric McClinton and

Alyson Williams Alyson Williams (born May 11, 1961) is a R&B singer and on air radio personality who had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some notable tracks include "Just Call My Name", "Sleep Talk", "My Love Is So Raw" and "I Need Y ...

. High Fashion's sole hit, "Feelin' Lucky Lately," reached #32 on the US Black Singles chart. In 1983, Morgan left, and was replaced in the group by the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

vocalist, Marcella Allen. Morgan worked as a backing singer with

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. As a solo artist, she topped the R&B chart with her

's " Do Me, Baby" for 3 weeks, (the title track from her debut album) which also became her only ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entry, peaking at number 46 in 1986. She also had a top 5 R&B single with "Do You Still Love Me" from her debut album. She had several solo hits on the US dance chart as well, including "Still in Love with You," which hit #3 in 1992. A verse from Morgan's 1986 single "Fool's Paradise" was re-vamped, with modified lyrics, by

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

as the chorus to the 1996

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

single " Can't Knock the Hustle."

2005–present

After a lengthy hiatus, Morgan released her fifth solo album, ''I Remember''. The first single, "Back Together Again", a song originally recorded by

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

and

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, backing vocalist, and arranger who ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto" ...

, received moderate airplay on

radio stations during early 2006 and peaked at number 46 on Billboard's R&B chart. The follow-up singles included "I Remember," "Will You?," and "High Maintenance" which were released in September 2006. New material by Meli'sa Morgan can be heard on a German release by Cool Million, which features Meli'sa Morgan on lead vocals on the opening track "Sweet Baby." In 2014, Morgan was honored with an Unsung Heroine Award by the National R&B Music Society at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. Morgan was featured on an episode of TVOne's Unsung which aired in 2015. On May 28, 2024, Morgan scored her first gold album, for the 1986 debut album entitled, " Do Me Baby." It was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales reaching over 500,000 units.

Personal life

Morgan was married to playwright, writer, and director Shelly Garrett from 1993 until 1994.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Melisa 1964 births Living people American soul musicians American dance musicians Musicians from Queens, New York American soul singers American contemporary R&B singers African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century African-American women singers 20th-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American women Singer-songwriters from New York (state)