Kathleen Rae "Kathy" Wakefield is an American songwriter, singer and

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

author known for co-writing

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

' hit single " Nathan Jones" that was released by

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 ...

and used as a soundtrack for the film ''

Rain Man ''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road movie, road comedy-Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive and selfish wikt:wheeler-dealer, wheeler-dea ...

'' and for co-writing the Grammy-winning song " One Hundred Ways".

Personal life and education

Kathleen Rae Wakefield grew up in the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

area and attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. She divides her time between

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and Seattle, having previously lived part-time in London.

Career

She began her musical career singing in the 1960s with Dotty Harmony, performing as Dotty and Kathy. They released the pop single "The Prince of My Dreams," which was written by

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940) is a retired American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread (band), Bread, which reached the top of the musical ch ...

. Her first song, "Stand Tall," was co-written with Dotty Harmony and recorded by

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 ...

. Prior to her career in music, she was a showgirl at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1970, Wakefield co-wrote the song "Feelin' Kinda Sunday" with

Nino Tempo Antonino LoTempio (January 6, 1935 – April 10, 2025) was an American musician, singer, and actor. He was a duet partner with his older sister April Stevens as well as the frontman for a 1970s funk band, 5th Ave. Sax. Biography Early life Anto ...

and Annette Tucker, which was recorded as a single by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

and his daughter Nancy. She also co-wrote "There Will Come a Day" with Mike and Brenda Sutton, recorded by

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 ...

, and released in 1977 by

on the album '' Deep in My Soul''. With

Leonard Caston Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston (June 2, 1917 – August 22, 1987) was an American blues pianist and guitarist. He is best noted for the tracks "Blues at Midnight" and "I'm Gonna Walk Your Log". Life and career Leonard Caston Sr. was born in Sum ...

, she wrote

The Four Tops ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

' 1972 single "I Can't Quit Your Love".

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

would later record a cover version on their 1973 album ''Skywriter''. In 1973, she created the song "Darling Come Back Home" with Frank Wilson and King Errisson and produced by Wilson and

for Motown's

Eddie Kendricks Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temp ...

album. In 1983, she co-wrote with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

and

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include " Diana", “ You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wr ...

the unreleased song "

Love Never Felt So Good "Love Never Felt So Good" is a song by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, released posthumously on May 2, 2014. The song, reworked from a 1980 demo track originally composed by Jackson and Canadian singer-songwriter Paul Anka, was the ...

." It was released in 1984 by

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...

. The original demo version was leaked onto the Internet in 2006 as one of Jackson's

unreleased songs Unreleased may refer to: *Unreleased (Andre Nickatina album), ''Unreleased'' (Andre Nickatina album), 2001 *Unreleased (No-Big-Silence album), ''Unreleased'' (No-Big-Silence album), 2003 *''Unreleased (1998–2010)'', an album by Powderfinger, 202 ...

and was released on the '' Xscape'' album as a demo, mixed version, and duet with

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

. She and

Jackie Jackson Sigmund Esco "Jackie" Jackson (born May 4, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Jackson 5, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Jackson is the second child of the Jac ...

co-wrote "Torture," with lead vocals performed by Jermaine and Michael Jackson and released in 1984. She also worked as a writer with Motown's

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 ...

and

The Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

, as well as

Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit. He co-wrote and produced 14 US '' Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Dozier was a ...

, Oleta Adams,

Kenny Rankin Kenneth Joseph Rankin (February 10, 1940 – June 7, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter in the folk rock and singer-songwriter genres; he was influenced by jazz. Rankin often sang notes which were in a high range to express emotion. ...

, Caston & Majors,

Bananarama Bananarama is an English pop group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when ...

, and Stephen Bishop. For the label A&M Records, she co-wrote an album with

Michel Colombier Michel Colombier (23 May 1939 – 14 November 2004) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor. Career Colombier wrote the scores of several motion pictures and TV productions. He also wrote chamber music and ballets. With composer Pierre ...

for

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...

. "One Hundred Ways," co-written by Wakefield, Benjamin Wright, and Tony Coleman, was performed by

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song. After beginning his career ...

and produced by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

for James's debut album, '' The Dude''. It debuted in December 1981 in the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

's "Hot 100."

Books

Wakefield's first book, a novella titled ''Snaketown'', was published in 2010 by Cleveland State University Poetry Center. Her second book, ''In The Foam Of The Blue Waves'', was released by Pen and Brush in October 2015.

Awards

"One Hundred Ways" received the 1982

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best R&B Vocal Performance. Wakefield's novella, ''Snaketown'', released by Cleveland State University Poetry Center, received an award in the 2007 Ruthanne Wiley Memorial Novella Competition. The novella also received an honorable mention from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

's literary 2006-2007 Quarterly West Novella Competition.

References

External links

Kathleen Wakefield official site

List of credits at AllMusic

Kathy Wakefield discography
*
Amazon page for ''Snaketown''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakefield, Kathleen Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American novelists Songwriters from California Songwriters from Washington (state) American women novelists 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Washington (state)