Jade is an American

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

, formed 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 ...

in 1991, whose original line-up was composed of Joi Marshall, Tonya Kelly, and Di Reed. They are best known for their hit singles " I Wanna Love You", " Don't Walk Away", "

One Woman "One Woman" is a song by American girl group Jade, released in 1993 by Giant and Reprise as the third single from their debut album, '' Jade to the Max'' (1992). The song was the follow-up to their successful hit single " Don't Walk Away" and pe ...

", and "

Every Day of the Week "Every Day of the Week" is a song by American R&B group Jade, released in September 1994 by Giant Records as the second and final single from their second studio album, '' Mind, Body & Song'' (1994). The song is written by Antonina Armato, Ken ...

History

The group Jade originally consisted of Joi Marshall, Angela M. Slates, and Debra Mitchell, under the name JAD. Producer Vassal Benford sold the song " I Wanna Love You" before Marshall, Slates, and Mitchell’s voices were recorded on the song. In order to keep the song on the soundtrack for the 1992

Kid 'n Play Kid 'n Play is an American hip-hop duo from New York City who were most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is composed of Christopher Reid ("Kid") and Christopher Martin ("Play") working alongside their DJ, Mark "DJ Wiz" Eastmond. B ...

comedy ''

Class Act ''Class Act'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Randall Miller and starring hip-hop duo Kid 'n Play. An urban retelling of Mark Twain's ''The Prince and the Pauper'', the film was written by Cynthia Friedlob and John Semper from a stor ...

'', Benford had to reproduce the song with the actual voices of the group members. When that could not be accomplished he implored the record label to drop Slates and Mitchell from the group and replace them with Di Reed and Tonya Kelly who were the voices on the song and who were signed to his production company. Tonya Kelly and Di Reed were signed by producer Vassal Benford and the group's name was extended to Jade. Kelly grew up in Chicago listening to jazz vocalists including

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

and

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

. Joi Marshall was also from Chicago but grew up listening to

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

, especially

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

. Reed grew up in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

singing gospel anywhere she could. Jade's first success was on the ''Class Act''

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

in 1992. Their

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

" I Wanna Love You" was one of the breakout songs on the soundtrack, cracking the Top 10 of the R&B charts and reaching #16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Their follow-up single " Don't Walk Away", was their biggest hit and climbed to #2 on the R&B chart and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in 1993. The single went on to sell 1.5 million copies worldwide. Subsequent singles "Looking for Mr. Do Right" and "One Woman" helped push their debut album ''

Jade to the Max ''Jade to the Max'' is the debut studio album by American R&B group Jade, released in 1992. The album produced the hit singles " I Wanna Love You" (U.S. No. 16), " Don't Walk Away" (U.S. No. 4), "One Woman" (U.S. No. 22), and "Looking for Mr. D ...

'' to platinum status, sparking a lengthy tour and spots on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

'', ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989 ...

'', and the U.K.'s ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. Jade also performed on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's ''Listening Party Live''. The session was recorded and released as a CD in 1993. Jade was the only group to have a ''BET Listening Party'' album released. In

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

the band appeared in the

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

The Inkwell ''The Inkwell'' is a 1994 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Matty Rich. The film stars Larenz Tate, Joe Morton, Suzzanne Douglass, Glynn Turman, Jada Pinkett and Vanessa Bell Calloway. Plot Set in the summer of 1976, the film follo ...

'', and released their second studio album ''Mind, Body & Song'', on which they served as co-writers and co-producers. Singles "5-4-3-2 (Yo! Time Is Up)" and "

" propelled the album to gold status. Jade appeared on ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

'' in the episode, "You've Got To Have Heart", which aired on February 8, 1995. During their appearance, they performed "Every Day of the Week". Thereafter, Tonya Kelly left the group, then briefly reunited with Joi Marshall in 1997 to contribute the track "Keep on Risin" to the soundtrack for the film '' The Sixth Man''. With

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl "Coko" Gamble, Tamara "Taj" George, and Leanne "Lelee" Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B ...

, Xscape and other female singers, the trio appeared on "

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

", which first appeared on the

to the 1995 film of the same title, ''

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

''. The song "5-4-3-2 (Yo! Time Is Up)" was used as part of the soundtrack for the ''

New York Undercover ''New York Undercover'' is an American police drama that aired on the Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torre ...

'' episode "Eyewitness Blues".

Current activities

After the group disbanded, Di Reed became a backup singer for

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, and

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...

. Angela Slates became a successful music producer (producing songs for

Trina & Tamara Trina & Tamara are an American R&B duo from Gary, Indiana, who were active in the late 1990s. The group was composed of sisters Trina Powell (born April 18, 1974) and Tamara Powell. They are the younger sisters of fellow contemporary R&B singe ...

Tony! Toni! Toné! Tony! Toni! Toné! is an American R&B/Soul band from Oakland, California, popular during the late 1980s to mid-1990s. During the band's heyday, it was composed of D'Wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Raphael Saadiq (born Char ...

, Vybe,

Somethin' for the People Somethin' for the People was a R&B group from Oakland, California, who scored several hits in the US in the late 1990s. They were best known for their 1997 hit single " My Love Is the Shhh!" featuring Trina & Tamara. History The group was f ...

and

Eric Benét Eric Benét Jordan (born October 15, 1966) is an American R&B singer-songwriter and musician. He has been nominated for four Grammy Awards. Early life and education Benét was born on October 15, 1966, in Mobile, Alabama. He was raised in Mi ...

) and she earned a Ph.D. in education. Debra Mitchell (now known as Debra Mitchell-Adams) became a member of the group Vybe on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

and owns Legacy Global Music Group. In February 2018, Marshall released her debut solo single "Love Language."

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Featured singles

* Jade had no hits in the UK until March 1993. Don't Walk Away was the lead single and I Wanna Love You being the 2nd hit in July 1993 followed by One Woman in September 1993. Every Day of the Week didn't chart in the UK until February 1995.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jade (RandB group) American girl groups African-American girl groups American hip-hop groups American contemporary R&B musical groups American R&B girl groups American soul musical groups Giant Records (Warner) artists New jack swing music groups American pop girl groups 1991 establishments in Illinois