Catherine E. Richardson (born February 21, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and narrator from the Chicago suburbs in Illinois. She is the lead singer for the band

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio album ...

Additional , December 3, 2011 and her own Cathy Richardson Band, and has performed the

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage presence. ...

parts for Joplin's former band

Big Brother and the Holding Company Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some i ...

Biography

Richardson grew up in west suburban

Burr Ridge, Illinois Burr Ridge (formerly Harvester) is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it is among the wealthiest towns in Illinois and is locally known for its large, elegant mansions and luxury lifestyle ...

, and graduated from

Hinsdale Central High School Hinsdale Central High School, or HCHS (locally referred to as simply "Central") is a public four-year high school located at the corner of W. 55th St. and S. Grant St. in Hinsdale, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United ...

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The to ...

. Before starting her music career, Richardson worked as an auto mechanic and as a cashier at her father's gas station. She started her music career full-time in 1990. She was introduced to

Jim Peterik James Michael Peterik ( ; born November 11, 1950) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the founder of the rock band Survivor, as vocalist and songwriter of "Vehicle" by the Ides of March, and as co-writer of the anthem " ...

who mentored her and helped with her first two albums. She has also co-written songs with Peterik, and is a fairly frequent guest in his all-star World Stage concerts. Richardson appeared as a guest on Noggin's puppet series ''

Jack's Big Music Show ''Jack's Big Music Show'' is an American musical children's television series produced for the Noggin channel. It was created and executive produced by David Rudman, Todd Hannert, and Adam Rudman through their company Spiffy Pictures. The main ...

''. In the pilot episode, she played the voice of one of the main characters. The Cathy Richardson Band was voted Best Local Band in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' readers poll of 1999 and best in

WFLD WFLD (channel 32) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed MyNetworkTV o ...

's "Best & Worst of Chicago" viewer poll in November 2000. She portrayed

in the 2001 original

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

run of '' Love, Janis'' and much of the touring performances. She also sang Janis' vocal parts for

during many of their recent live shows. In 2004, Richardson and art director Bill Dolan were nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Recording Package The Grammy Award for Best Recording Package is one of a series of Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstandi ...

for the Cathy Richardson Band album ''The Road to Bliss''. In 2008, Richardson became the new vocalist for San Francisco band

and appears on the 2008 release ''

Jefferson's Tree of Liberty ''Jefferson's Tree of Liberty'' is the tenth album by Jefferson Starship, released on September 2, 2008.[] It is the band's first studio album since 1999's '' Windows of Heaven''. The new album includes cover songs from Irish, American, English, ...

'' and as vocalist with

on PBS's 2011 ''60s Pop, Rock & Soul'' television show, performing "

White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! ...

" and " Somebody to Love".

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Moon, Not Banana'' (1993) Jessica Records * ''Fools on a Tandem'' (1995) Jessica Records * ''Snake Camp'' (1998) Bloody Nurse Records * ''Buzzzed'' (2001) Bloody Nurse Records * ''The Road to Bliss'' (2003) Cash Rich Records * ''

Delusions of Grandeur Grandiose delusions (GD), also known as delusions of grandeur or expansive delusions, are a subtype of delusion that occur in patients with a wide range of psychiatric diseases, including two-thirds of patients in manic state of bipolar diso ...

'' (2006) Cash Rich Records

Live album

* ''All Excess... Live @ The Park West'' (1996) Jessica Records

Compilation albums featuring tracks by Cathy Richardson

* ''Songs of Janis Joplin: Blues Down Deep'' (1997) House of Blues Records (song "Try Just a Little Bit Harder") * ''Jim Peterik and World Stage'' (2000) Jim Peterik and Cathy Richardson (songs "Diamonds For Stones" and "From Here To Hereafter") * ''Sweet Emotion: Songs of Aerosmith'' (2001) (song "Last Child") * ''Here Come the Irish'' (2003) Written by John Scully and Jim Tullio, vocals by Cathy Richardson (Cathy is featured on the song "Here Come the Irish") * ''Judgement Day, Songs of Robert Johnson'' (2004) (song "Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped the Devil)") * ''Folksongs of Illinois, Vol. 4'' (2011) (Cathy is featured on the

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, American socialism and anti-fascism. He ...

song "Old Chy-Car-Go")

Download Only Single

* ''What I Am'' (2015) Chance Music (available through ITunes)

Side project albums and guest appearances

The Juleps

Cathy Richardson along with members of The Insiders * Kickbutt City, USA (1998)

Joel Hoekstra Joel Hoekstra (born December 13, 1970) is an American guitarist currently in the band Whitesnake. Hoekstra also tours as a guitarist for Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The son of classical musicians, he started out playing cello and piano at a young ...

* ''Undefined'' (vocals on track "Spank Me") (2000)

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio album ...

* ''

'' (2008) * ''Air Play'' (2011) * ''Mother of the Sun'' (2020)

Macrodots

* ''The Other Side'' (2010) * ''Macrodots Two'' (2015)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Cathy Living people Singers from Illinois American women singers American actresses People from Burr Ridge, Illinois Place of birth missing (living people) Jefferson Starship members 1969 births Big Brother and the Holding Company members 21st-century American women