Ann Curless (born Ann Katherine Curless; October 7, 1963, in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Ci ...

) is an American

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

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 witho ...

, most notable as part of Exposé.

Education

Curless was raised in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

and attended school there. During her years attending

Miami Beach High School Miami Beach Senior High School (Beach High, MBSH) is a secondary school located at 2231 Prairie Avenue Miami Beach, Florida, across from the Miami Beach Convention Center and Botanical Garden. It is located at the corner of Prairie Avenue and ...

, she joined Doug Burris' Rock Ensemble, and was a member of this from 1979-82. She enrolled in

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

Frost School of Music Frost School of Music is the music school at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. From 1926 to 2003, it was known as University of Miami School of Music. Academics and programs The University of Miami's Frost School of Music was on ...

, majoring in both music and music merchandising. After graduating from the University of Miami, she started her music career in cover bands until she was asked to join Exposé in 1986. She was the last member to join the "

Arista Arista may refer to: Organizations *Arista Networks, a software defined networking company *Arista Records, an American record label, division of Sony Music **Arista Nashville, a record label specializing in country music *Arista (honor society) ...

lineup", and was introduced to Jeanette Jurado and

Gioia Bruno Gioia Bruno (born Carmen Gioia Bruno June 11, 1963, sometimes professionally credited as just Gioia) is an Italian-born American popular music singer, most noted as a member of the vocal group Exposé. In September 2006, Bruno temporarily stopp ...

at a Mexican restaurant in Miami.

Musical career

She was active in Exposé from 1986–1996, singing lead on the hit singles "Stop, Listen, Look and Think", "As Long as I Can Dream", and "In Walked Love". After Exposé released their greatest hits album, she kept a low profile and worked on various projects. Curless has appeared in a local South Florida production of the musical ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

'', and has performed vocals on several dance-music projects; one called ''Clueless'' (miscredited as "Anne Curless"), another called the K&M Project for a remake of the

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular m ...

song ''Heaven Knows'', worked with producer JJ on the song ''Come to Me'', and worked with producer Vinny Vero on a few tracks. She has also written for other artists, including Degrees of Motion, Celi Bee, and

Angela Bofill Angela Tomasa Bofill (born May 2, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter of Cuban- Puerto Rican origins. A New York native, Bofill began her professional career in the mid-1970s. Bofill is most known for singles such as, " This Time I'll Be Swee ...

in addition to working on a charity project called ''Songs of Love''. In 2006, Curless renewed connections with the other members of Exposé and is now touring with the group. Their first performance since 2003 was on October 21, 2006 as part of the "Freestyle Explosion" concert at the AmericanAirlines Arena in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

Personal life

Curless was formerly married to George Hess in the early 1990s, a former dance music executive at

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

. She has since remarried and has three children.

References

External links

Official Ann Curless Page on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curless, Ann 1963 births Living people American dance musicians American women pop singers Musicians from Miami University of Miami Frost School of Music alumni Exposé (group) members 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers