Susaye Greene (born September 13, 1948) is an American singer and songwriter. She was the last official member to join the

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 ...

girl group

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

, remaining in the group during its final years of existence from 1976 to 1977. She is a successful songwriter as well, having written hit records for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

, Deniece Williams, and many others.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, Greene began her professional career at age 12. As a teenager, she moved to New York City where she attended Professional Children School, graduating in 1966 and later from the New York City

High School of Performing Arts The High School of Performing Arts (informally known as "PA") was a public alternative high school established in 1947 and located at 120 West 46th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, from 1948 to 1984. In 1961, the school was ...

, and appeared in various commercials. Prior to joining The Supremes, Greene sang with

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Raelettes The Raelettes (or occasionally The Raelets or The Raeletts) were an American girl group formed in 1958 to provide backing vocals for Ray Charles. They were reformed from the group The Cookies. Between 1966 and 1973, the Raelettes recorded on T ...

and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

's Wonderlove, which paired her with Deniece Williams and Shirley Brewer. In 1973 she sang lead as a guest vocalist on New Birth's hit " Until It's Time for You to Go" (a cover of

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these ar ...

's song). In 1975 she co-wrote " Free", Deniece Williams' breakthrough single.

The Supremes

Greene was a member of

from early 1976 to summer of 1977 (replacing

Cindy Birdsong Cynthia Ann Birdsong (born December 15, 1939) is an American singer who became famous as a member of The Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & The Blu ...

), and performed on their last two albums, '' High Energy'' and '' Mary, Scherrie & Susaye''. Working alongside original member Mary Wilson and

Scherrie Payne Scherrie Ann Payne (born November 4, 1944) is an American singer. Payne is best known as a member of the R&B/Soul vocal group The Supremes from 1973 until 1977. Because of her powerful voice and petite stature (5'2"), Payne is sometimes referred ...

, Susaye quickly found her niche in the group and amongst the group's legions of fans. Susaye took lead on "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," in the group's live shows, which never failed to garner a standing ovation, and recorded " High Energy", the title song from the ''High Energy'' album. On June 12, 1977, the Supremes performed their farewell concert at the Drury Lane Theater in London and disbanded.

After The Supremes

In 1979, two years after The Supremes disbanded, Greene recorded a duet album with fellow former Supreme

entitled '' Partners'' under the name "Scherrie & Susaye." She also hosted her own cable television show, ''Hollywood Hot'', and continued writing for various artists. One of her most noteworthy compositions was the track "I Can't Help It", co-written with

for

's ''

Off the Wall ''Off the Wall'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, the label he recorded under until his death in 2009, and t ...

''. While touring England in 1984 with Stevie Wonder, Greene met her present husband in London and relocated there. In 1986, she sang lead on

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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

saxophonist

Courtney Pine Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...

's single "Children of the Ghetto". She signed with Ian Levine's

Motorcity ''Motorcity'' is an American animated television series created by Chris Prynoski. It is produced by Titmouse, Inc. and Disney Television Animation. The series ran from April 30, 2012 to January 7, 2013 on Disney XD. On November 5, 2012, the ser ...

label, based in the United Kingdom, in 1989. She released two solo singles on Motorcity – "Stop, I Need You Now" (1990) and her own version of Deniece Williams' hit " Free" (1991). At Motorcity, she also recorded the duet " It's Impossible" with

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...

. An unreleased demo recording of "Don't Pity The Fool" also exists, although no vocals were added. On July 5, 2014, Ms. Greene, along with Scherrie Payne performed at the Sheraton in Los Angeles a concert program based on their album "Partners" which was released by Motown in 1979. They were featured in the magazine Daeida, with a beautiful photo shoot. The article chronicled career highlights with the Supremes and separately and the re-release of their "Partners" album on CD. In October 2017, Greene replaced Lynda Laurence in the Former Ladies of the Supremes alongside Scherrie Payne and Joyce Vincent Wilson. Her joining the group is ironic as that in 1977, when Mary Wilson departed the Supremes for a solo career, there was initial thought that Scherrie and Susaye would continue the group with a new third member. It was widely speculated that Joyce Vincent would round out the trio. Instead, Motown Records decided that without any original members, the Supremes would be disbanded. With the addition of Susaye to the Former Ladies, the "fantasy" line up of Scherrie, Susaye, and Joyce has now become reality.

Solo albums

Around the turn of the century, Greene moved back to the States, and in 2002, she finally released her first solo album, ''No Fear Here''. Two singles and a video were released to critical acclaim. Greene penned most of the album herself. Susaye Greene released her second solo album, ''Brave New Shoes'', in 2005.

Album appearances

*'' High Energy'' – with

*'' Mary, Scherrie & Susaye'' – with The Supremes *'' At Their Best'' – with The Supremes *'' Partners'' –

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a sol ...

album with former Supreme

*'' Songs in the Key of Life'' –

(

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

) *'' Hotter than July'' – Stevie Wonder (background vocals) *'' Journey to the Urge Within'' –

(Lead vocals on "Children of The Ghetto", 1986) *'' Vital Blue'' – Blue Mitchell (Mainstream, 1971)

Songwriting credits

*" Free" – Deniece Williams *"Stop! I Need You Now" *"No Fear Here" *"Bewitched" *"I Can't Help It" – included in

's 1979 release ''

''; later included in Pebbles 1995 release, "Straight from My Heart". Also Davina in 1998.

Filmography

Presence in the online artistic community

Susaye Greene is also a member of the world's largest online art community,

DeviantArt DeviantArt (historically stylized as deviantART) is an American online art community that features artwork, videography and photography, launched on August 7, 2000 by Angelo Sotira, Scott Jarkoff, and Matthew Stephens among others. DeviantArt, ...

. She joined DeviantArt on September 17, 2004 under the pseudonym "supremextreme". On September 21, 2005, Susaye was featured on DeviantArt's on-site chat network, "dAmn", for one of the community's regularly sponsored "Featured Chats". She interacted with members of the DeviantArt community-at-large, answering questions about her life, career, inspirations, motivations, and her time on the art site itself. Greene continues to be an active member on DeviantArt and is preparing 3D images of her Supremextreme character for her first short animated feature film. She is also a key figure in The one million masterpiece charity project, an online arts event aiming to raise over $6 million for global causes. Susaye is heavily involved in the marketing of the project to the artistic community.

Personal life

Susaye was married to Ed Brown; together they owned a company called "Mud", a mixture of their colorful names, Brown and Greene. Susaye is currently married to Stephen Coton; they have one son, Daniel.

References

External links

SupremeXtreme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Susaye 1949 births Living people African-American women singer-songwriters Motown artists American expatriates in the United Kingdom American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul singers Musicians from Houston The Supremes members 20th-century African-American women singers 21st-century African-American women singers Singer-songwriters from Texas The Raelettes members