Wendy Moten (born November 22, 1964) is an American jazz singer from

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Born in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

and based in Nashville, Moten has had a successful career in music, including several major-label solo records, some international hit songs, and a second career as a touring musician. At age 56, she entered an American national talent competition, ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

,'' where she finished as the runner-up. Moten is best known for the single " Come In Out of the Rain", which was a No. 8 hit in the UK in February 1994.

Early life and career

The daughter of a pastor, Moten began singing in a

church choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

as a child. She attended Overton High School in Memphis and sang in the Overton Choir under the direction of the late Lulah M. Hedgeman. She won a Mid-South Fair singing competition at age 16, and got a job singing at a theme park. She attended Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) as a music business major at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. She was discovered by promo man Dick Williams who heard her as she was singing on a

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

in a Memphis studio. She got her first break singing with

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

at a benefit concert; after signing with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, in 1992 she released her self-titled debut album and opened for Bolton on tour. Moten's biggest hit single was " Come In Out of the Rain", which, although only peaking at #55 in 1993 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, was a No. 5

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

hit, and also reached the Top 10 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 ...

, where it peaked at No. 8 in 1994. A follow-up single, "So Close to Love" did not chart in the U.S. but reached No. 35 in the UK Top 40. She had s starring role in an off-Broadway production, "Mama I Want to Sing". In the late 1990s, with her personal career at a crossroads, she accepted an offer to tour with

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...

, a working relationship that continued for the next 15 years. She said, "I toured the whole world with him, singing in four languages . . . flying around in private jets and singing in front of massive audiencies." In 2006, Moten sang

back-up 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 use ...

on the

Soul2Soul II Tour The Soul2Soul II Tour was the second co-headlining concert tour between American country music singers, and husband and wife, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Beginning as the Soul2Soul II Tour 2006, its shows featured elaborate production values usin ...

with

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

and

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

. She continued touring with Tim and Faith from 2005-2018. She contributed backing vocals to

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...

's 2013 album ''

Rocks and Honey ''Rocks and Honey'' is the sixteenth studio album by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, first released by ZYX Music on 8 March 2013. Eight years since ''Wings'' was released in 2005, this was the longest gap between album releases in Tyler's career, and ...

''. She also toured with Martina McBride from 2014-2016 providing background vocals. Moten was a harmony singer for

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

and was a member of his Time Jumpers for several years, but in 2020, Gill took her on tour as a featured vocalist. She competed in the twenty-first season of ''

''; she finished as the runner-up of the season.

Discography

* '' Wendy Moten'' (1992) * '' Time for Change'' (1995) * '' Life's What You Make It'' (1996) * '' Tis the Season'' (2009) * ''Timeless – Wendy Moten Sings Richard Whiting'' (2014) * ''I've Got You Covered'' (2020)

References

External links

The complete Wendy Moten Story with an interview in Soul Express
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moten, Wendy 1965 births Living people 20th-century African-American women singers American women pop singers American contemporary R&B singers American soul singers Singers from Tennessee 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century African-American women singers The Voice (franchise) contestants