Janice Gadsden Pendarvis is an American singer, songwriter, and voiceover artist. She has worked with artists such as Sting,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band Bob Marley and the Wa ...

the O'Jays The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

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Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...

, the Naked Brothers Band, and

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Biography

Janice was born and raised in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York.She attended and graduated from Hunter College High School and from Queens College, NYC. She started her career as a songwriter. She sang on a Roberta Flack background session for the '' Feel Like Makin' Love'' album, which included fellow background singers

Deniece Williams June Deniece Williams (née Chandler; born June 3, 1950) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great Soul music, soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free (Deniece Williams song), Free", "Silly (song ...

and

Patti Austin Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American Grammy Award-winning R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter best known for " Baby, Come to Me", her 1982 duet with James Ingram, which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after its re-release ...

.Interview with Janice Pendarvis on Walking Passions (Blog Talk Radio)
/ref>

David Spinozza David Spinozza (born August 8, 1949) is an American guitarist and producer. He worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing T ...

, a good friend of Pendarvis, convinced her to become serious about learning the craft of singing. Janice provided background vocals for Sting on his first solo album, '' The Dream of the Blue Turtles'', which was nominated for a Grammy for Album of the Year in 1986. Pendarvis took part in Sting's first solo tour, sharing choruses with Dolette McDonald on the live album and movie '' Bring on the night''. They both returned for Sting's next studio album '' ...Nothing Like the Sun''. Finally, she was featured on Sting's '' ...All This Time'' live album recorded at the British singer's "Villa Il Palagio" in Italy, on September 11, 2001. Her most well-known commercial success has been being featured in the documentary ''Bring on the Night'',Bio of Janice Pendarvis on Berklee Website
/ref> profiling the music of Sting at the beginning of his solo career. She was featured in the music video "If You Love Somebody (Set Them Free)". She also sang lead on the song "Lightning" from the

album '' Songs from Liquid Days''.

Personal life

Pendarvis was previously married to Leon Pendarvis, a longtime Saturday Night Live Band member and composer-arranger. Pendarvis has served on the National Boards of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

(SAG) and the

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ...

(AFTRA). She has also served on the NY Chapter Board of Governors of

The Recording Academy National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

(NARAS).

In popular culture

Pendarvis appears in the documentary film ''

20 Feet from Stardom ''20 Feet from Stardom'' is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Morgan Neville and produced by Gil Friesen, a music industry executive whose curiosity to know more about the lives of background singers inspired the making of the film ...

'' (2013), directed by

Morgan Neville Morgan Neville (born October 10, 1967) is an American filmmaker. His acclaimed film ''20 Feet from Stardom'' won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2014 as well as a Grammy Award for Best Music Film. His documentary '' Best of Ene ...

Discography

* 1974 : ''Feel Like Makin' Love'' by Roberta Flack * 1977 : ''Jungle Girl/It Ain't Easy'' - Single by Tamara Dobson * 1978 : ''Evolution (The Most Recent)'' by Taj Mahal * 1979 : ''City Connection'' by Terumasa Hino * 1981 : ''Holding Out My Love To You'' by Max Romeo * 1985 : ''The Dream of the Blue Turtles'' by Sting * 1986 : ''Dirty Work'' by the Rolling Stones - Alongside with Dolette McDonald on backing vocals * 1986 : ''Bring On the Night'' by Sting * 1986 : ''Magnetic Love'' by Steps Ahead * 1986 : ''Songs From Liquid Days'' by Philip Glass * 1986 : ''Home of the Brave (soundtrack)'' by Laurie Anderson * 1987 : ''...Nothing Like the Sun'' by Sting * 1990 : ''Terumasa Hino'' by Terumasa Hino * 2001 : ''...All This Time'' by Sting * 2008 : ''I Don't Want to Go to School'' by the Naked Brothers Band - Soundtrack of the movie of the same name. * 2013 : ''The Next Day'' by David Bowie

Filmography

* 1978 : ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'' by Sidney Lumet - ''Singer'' * 1985 - 1986 : ''

American Masters ''American Masters'' is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and those who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the U ...

'' by Susan Lacy - TV Series - ''Herself'' * 1986 : '' Bring On the Night'' by Michael Apted - ''Herself'' * 1986 : '' Home of the Brave: A Film by Laurie Anderson'' - ''Herself'' * 1990 : ''

Green Card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

'' by Peter Weir - ''Singer'' * 1997 - 2014 : ''

Behind the Music ''Behind the Music'' is an American documentary television series that initially aired on VH1 from 1997 to 2014. Each episode profiles and interviews a popular musical artist or group, examining career beginnings, roads to success and any resul ...

'' by Gay Rosenthal - TV Series - ''Herself'' * 2001 : '' Sting ...All This Time'' by Jim Gable - ''Herself'' * 2004 - 2017 : '' The Apprentice'' by Mark Burnett - TV Series - ''Herself'' * 2013 : ''

'' by Morgan Neville - ''Herself''

References

External links

* https://www.discogs.com/artist/774945-Janice-Gadsden * https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0671648/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t119 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pendarvis, Janice Living people Singers from New York City Year of birth missing (living people) People from Queens, New York Berklee College of Music faculty