Alicia Myers
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Alicia Myers (born November 20, 1957) is an American R&B musician. Beginning her music career with the band Al Hudson & the Soul Partners, who later evolved into One Way, Myers went on to a moderately successful solo career in the early 1980s, scoring hits such as " I Want to Thank You", "Don't Stop What You're Doin'", and "You Get the Best from Me (Say, Say, Say)".


Early life/Personal life

Myers was born on November 20, 1957, in
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, to Lawrence and Margaret Myers, as one of their nine children. Her older brother, Jackie Myers, also a musician, would later become part of the beach band
Chairmen of the Board Chairmen of the Board is an American-Canadian, Detroit, Michigan-based soul music group, who saw their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. Recording career General Johnson (1941–2010) had a hit as the lead singer of The Showmen in t ...
. The two siblings competed in a local talent competition in April 1968 at Detroit's Martin Luther King Jr. High School, where they sang, "
Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is a single released by American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, on the Tamla label in 1968. The B-side of the single is "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" from the duo's ''United'' LP. The first ...
", originally performed by
Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...
and
Tammi Terrell Thomasina Winifred Montgomery (April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970), professionally known as Tammi Terrell, was an American singer-songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably for a series of duets with ...
, and they were awarded first place. She attended
Lee University Lee University is a Private university, private Church of God (Cleveland), Christian university in Cleveland, Tennessee. It was founded in 1918 as the Church of God Bible Training School with twelve students and one teacher, Nora I. Chambers. Th ...
for her collegiate studies. She is a survivor of childhood tuberculosis. She later survived breast cancer in 1998 and has since become an advocate for treatment against the disease.


Music career

In 1978, she started her music career with Al Hudson & the Soul Partners. With Myers in the lineup, they released the album ''Happy Feet'' as Al Hudson and the Partners in 1979; this record includes the R&B hit "You Can Do It", co-penned by Myers and featuring her on lead vocals, which was a big club/disco hit. Soon thereafter, the group changed their name to One Way featuring Al Hudson and, eventually, simply One Way. After her stint in the band, she started her solo music recording career in 1981, with the release of '' Alicia'' by
MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...
. This album achieved a ''Billboard'' magazine R&B Albums chart peak of No. 41 and featured two of her biggest hits, "I Want to Thank You" and "Don't Stop What You're Doin'". Her follow-up album, ''Alicia Again'', released later the same year, failed to chart. Her subsequent album, ''I Fooled You This Time'' appeared the following year under the same label, and it surpassed the R&B Album chart placement of ''Alicia'', reaching number 27. The high charting success of ''I Fooled You'' can be attributed to the inclusion of the aforementioned "I Want To Thank You", which had gained popularity due to DJs such as Tee Scott playing it in heavy rotation, where it was discovered by those who missed it the previous year upon its initial release. Her fourth album, 1984's ''I Appreciate'' became her highest-charting album on the R&B chart, peaking at number 12, while also heralding her only appearance on The ''Billboard'' 200, where it peaked at No. 186. ''I Appreciate'' would be her last album of newly recorded material released in the 1980s. Universal Special Products re-released her debut ''Alicia'' album, with the same exact track listing, as ''Don't Stop What You're Doin'' in 1986, without further chart success. In 2011, Myers released her first album of new material in 27 years, entitled ''Peace of Mind''.


Legacy

In 1990, the singer Harmony featured a cover of Myers' song "I Want to Thank You" on her 1990 album ''Let There Be Harmony''. The following year,
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...
sampled the same Myers tune on the song " Make It Happen" from her 1991 album ''
Emotions Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
'', while
Father MC Timothy Brown, (born September 26, 1967) also known as Father MC, is an American rapper who achieved success in the early 1990s on the Uptown Records label. Personal life Born on September 26, 1967 in Brooklyn, he grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens. ...
sampled the song "Close to You" with background vocals by Kenny Greene of Intro on his 1992 album of the same name. Several years later, "I Want to Thank You" was again sampled by
E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click (band), The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 stud ...
in his song "I Wanna Thank You" featuring
Suga-T Tenina Stevens (born December 21, 1971), better known by her stage name Suga-T, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California. She is a founding member of the Click, a rap group that also includes her brothers E-40 and D-Shot and her cousin B ...
, taken from his 1996 album ''
Tha Hall of Game ''Tha Hall of Game'' is the third studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on October 29, 1996, by Sick Wid It Records and Jive Records. The album features production by Ant Banks, Mike Mosley, Rick Rock, Studio Ton and Tone Capone. ...
''. Also,
Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...
and
Q-Tip Cotton swabs (American English) or cotton buds (British English), also Q-tips ( proprietary eponym), are wads of cotton wrapped around a short rod made of wood, rolled paper, or plastic. They are most commonly used for ear cleaning, although th ...
sampled the song for Busta's "
Thank You "Thank you" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of gr ...
" in 2013. It was later sampled again in 2019 by
Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...
for his song "Temporary Lover", taken from his ninth album, ''
Indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...
'', and in 2022 by
the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...
for his song "
Sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...
", taken from his fifth album ''
Dawn FM ''Dawn FM'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released on January 7, 2022, by XO and Republic Records. The album contains guest appearances by Tyler, the Creator, Lil Wayne, and Swedish House Mafia and ...
''. The song "If You Play Your Cards Right" from her debut album is covered often by several artist since its release; most recently by
Syleena Johnson Syleena Johnson ( Thompson; born September 2, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter and actress. She is best known for her guest appearance on Kanye West's 2004 single " All Falls Down," which peaked at number seven on the ''Bi ...
on her second album '' Chapter 2: The Voice''. Chante Moore covered Myers’ song "I Want To Thank You" on her 1994 album ''
A Love Supreme ''A Love Supreme'' is an album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist J ...
''. In October 2019, a mural by artist
Stephen Powers Stephen Powers (1840–1904) was an American journalist, ethnographer, and historian of Native American tribes in California. He traveled extensively to study and learn about their cultures, and wrote notable accounts of them. His articles w ...
was unveiled on Pier 40 in Manhattan, New York, featuring the words "I WANT TO THANK YOU," inspired by Myers' song.


Discography


Studio albums


Miscellaneous albums

*''Don't Stop What You're Doin (1986; re-release of ''Alicia'' album from 1981)


Singles


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Alicia 1957 births Living people African-American songwriters African-American Christians Musicians from Detroit Songwriters from Michigan 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians