Freddie James (born April 26, 1964) is a Canadian dance and rhythm and blues musician, most noted for his 1979

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

hit "(Everybody) Get Up and Boogie". The son of singer

Geraldine Hunt Geraldine Hunt ( Milligan; February 10, 1945 – October 27, 2022) was an American-Canadian R&B singer best known for the 1980 No. 1 Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit " Can't Fake the Feeling". Early life Hunt's parents are Rosie Lee Vickers and F ...

, he was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in childhood."Juno-nominated musician accuses police of racial profiling"

CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the nationa ...

, February 12, 2015. At age 14, he released the four song EP ''Get Up and Boogie'' in 1979. He received two

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

nominations at the

Juno Awards of 1980 The Juno Awards of 1980, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 2 April 1980 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Burton Cummings at the Harbour Castle Hilton.Krewen (2010), p. 38. CBC Television br ...

, for Single of the Year for "(Everybody) Get Up and Boogie", and for Most Promising Male Vocalist. In the same year, he won the Canadian Black Music Award for Best Album. He followed up in 1981 with the album ''Sweetness''. In addition to his own work, he was a credited producer on "

Murphy's Law Murphy's law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Though similar statements and concepts have been made over the course of history, the law itself was coined by, and named after, Americ ...

", a single by his sister Rosalind Hunt's band

Chéri Cheri or Chéri may refer to: People Given name *Cheri (given name) * Cheri Ben-Iesau, American painter, muralist, author * Cheri Blauwet (born 1980), American wheelchair racer * Cheri Dennis (born 1979), American singer * Cheri DiNovo (born 1 ...

. In 1985, he appeared in a Montreal production of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

''. In 1987, he had a supporting role in the film '' Wild Thing''."Wild Thing on the waterfront: Montreal's was ideal choice". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', April 16, 1987. In 1992, he released the more

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

influenced album ''Come into the Jungle'' on Monogram Records. In 1999 he appeared on his mother's album ''Soultry, Jazzy and Sexy''. He has not released any new recorded music since that time, but has continued to perform in the Montreal area, and selected touring dates. In 2015, he went public with an accusation of

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...

after being stopped by Montreal Police Service officers for

driving while black "Driving while black" (DWB) is a sardonic description of racial profiling of African-American motor vehicle drivers. It implies that a motorist may be stopped by a police officer largely because of racial bias rather than any apparent violation ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Freddie 1964 births Living people American emigrants to Canada 20th-century Black Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian male singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Musicians from Chicago Musicians from Montreal Canadian people of African-American descent