Sherrick (July 6, 1957 – January 22, 1999) was an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

Biography

He was born F Lamonte-Smith; or Lamotte Smith in 1957 in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. Sherrick was given his professional break by producer Raynoma Gordy Singleton (née Mayberry), former wife of

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

founder

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

. Sherrick was the lead

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

of the Motown group, Kagny, who recorded a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

for the Motown

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, ''

The Last Dragon ''The Last Dragon'' (sometimes listed as Berry Gordy's ''The Last Dragon'') is a 1985 American martial arts comedy film produced by Rupert Hitzig for Berry Gordy and directed by Michael Schultz. The film stars Taimak, Vanity, Julius Carry, Chr ...

'' in 1985. He signed with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in 1987, co-producing an album with Michael Stokes and with Ray Singleton as an executive producer. The album, titled '' Sherrick'', included "Just Call" which reached number 8 in the US ''

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 advertise ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a 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 represent tabu ...

. A version of the Originals' major hit of the late 1960s, "

Baby I'm for Real "Baby, I'm for Real" is a soul ballad written by Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy Gaye, produced by Marvin and recorded and released by American Motown vocal group The Originals for the Soul label issued in 1969. History The Originals version By t ...

" also charted, peaking at number 53. He also had two entries in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1987. These were "Just Call" (number 23) and "Let's Be Lovers Tonight" (number 63). In addition, his album, ''Sherrick'' reached number 27 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

the same year. Sherrick attended rehab sessions while finishing up his debut album (1987). He decided to do a promotional tour across the USA where his album and singles' success was limited, to garner interest. However, he went on 'cocaine-finding missions' in every city on the itinerary for the tour not having returned and missing subsequent engagements. It became clear that he had an issue with cocaine addiction after he eventually returned. He worked on what was to become his second album although its production ended prematurely after he took thousands of dollars in advance money. His second album was never completed causing Raynoma Gordy Singleton to absolve herself from further assistance in its production. It caused her to write a chapter in her book entitled ''The Untold Story: Berry, Me, and Motown''. Sherrick disappeared from public eye a year later in 1988 and didn't re-appear

Proposed comeback and death

In 1999, he stated that he was "drug-free and working on new material". However his proposed comeback ended tragically, when he died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, on January 22, 1999, at the age of 41. He died of unknown causes. He is survived by his

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

Lynne Conner-Smith and three children, Kiriandra, Paris and Chance Smith.

Rape accusation

In January 2021,

Wendy Williams Wendy Williams Hunter ( Wendy Joan Williams; born July 18, 1964) is an American broadcaster and writer. From 2008 to 2021, she hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show ''The Wendy Williams Show.'' Prior to television, Williams ...

alleged that Sherrick

date rape Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape and dating violence. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between ...

d her in the 1980s. Williams alleges that after she interviewed Sherrick, he invited her to an album release party and raped her. The event is depicted in her biopic '' Wendy Williams: The Movie''. The character named as the rapist in the movie goes by the moniker of "Rick Tony" and is played by Nykeem Provo.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

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. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

. {{authority control 1957 births 1999 deaths Warner Records artists 20th-century African-American male singers