Lucy Woodward is an English-American singer-songwriter. She has released records on Atlantic, Verve, and GroundUP and has sung with many artists including

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 ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

, Snarky Puppy,

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

, Pink Martini,

Gavin DeGraw Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. DeGraw rose to fame with his song "I Don't Want to Be" from his debut album ''Chariot (album), Chariot'' (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB/The CW, ...

, Joe Cocker, Chaka Khan, Nikka Costa, and Randy Jackson. She co-wrote

Stacie Orrico Stacie Joy Orrico (born March 3, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. After signing to ForeFront Records, Orrico recorded her first album, '' Genuine'' (2000). Her second studio album '' Stacie Orrico'' (2003), released by ForeFront and ...

's Top 40 hit " (There's Gotta Be) More to Life".

Early life

A native of London, England, she is the daughter of British conductor Kerry Woodward, who conducted the BBC Singers, and his American wife Julie Woodward, who was an editor of ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

''. Woodward's parents mounted the first performances of Viktor Ullmann's opera '' Der Kaiser von Atlantis'', which Ullmann composed while interned in a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

concentration camp."1994 Opera Rises Above Tragic Birth"

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

, Los Angeles, 29 March 1992, Retrieved on 25 January 2020. Woodward's family moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

when her father was appointed musical director of the Netherlands Chamber Choir. Two years later her parents separated, and she moved with her mother and brother to New York City to live with her grandparents. Raised on classical and Middle Eastern music, Woodward studied piano and flute before receiving singing lessons at age 12. She attended high school in The Bronx and sang

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

in her friends' basements. During summers she attended music camp and visited her father in the Netherlands, where she frequently locked herself in her father's studio and listened to jazz and R&B records. At the age of 16, Woodward was accepted to the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

to study jazz, but after a year she decided to drop out to focus on songwriting and performing. She spent the next few years in swing organ trios, including The Sugarman 3, working as a session singer, a waitress, and singing jazz standards in restaurants in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

Career

In 2003 Woodward signed with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and recorded her debut album '' While You Can'', which entered the Top 150 on the Billboard 200. The album included Woodward's Top 40 hit "Dumb Girls", which she had written with producer Kevin Kadish before signing with Atlantic. Other songs on ''While You Can'' were produced at Jim Henson Studios by John Shanks. She toured internationally and appeared on '' The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. During the following year, Woodward was asked by producer Jaime Houston to record the big-band tune " It's Oh So Quiet" for the Disney film '' Ice Princess''; the song was later used in various TV shows, commercials, and the ''

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

'' trailer. The song was first recorded by Betty Hutton in 1948 and later covered by

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

on her 1995 album ''Post''. Woodward considers it a turning point in her career and the inspiration for much of her second album, '' Lucy Woodward Is...Hot and Bothered''. The album was released in 2008 and distributed exclusively by Barnes & Noble as part of its Discover Great New Music program. It was produced by Itaal Shur and Tim K. The song "Hot and Bothered" takes its melody from a Yiddish lullaby that Woodward's grandmother sang to her as a baby. Woodward appeared on Randy Jackson's 2008 album '' Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1'', singing the duet "Willing to Try" with Richie Sambora and Travis Tritt. Woodward also contributed songs to the soundtracks for '' Last Vegas'', ''The Blind Side'', ''Ice Princess'', '' Music and Lyrics'', ''What a Girl Wants'', ''First Daughter'', and '' Accepted''. Her version of "It's Oh So Quiet" appeared in the Disney film ''Ice Princess''. She co-wrote the

Top 40 worldwide hit "There's Gotta Be More to Life", which earned her a BMI Christian Music Award in 2003 and a BMI Songwriter's Pop Award in 2004. Originally called "More to Life", the song was written with Kevin Kadish and Sabelle Breer for Woodward's 2003 Atlantic debut but was released instead on the Japanese import version of the album as a bonus track. In 2010, Woodward co-wrote and recorded "Daylight as Sunset" for Earthrise Soundsystem's debut ''The Yoga Sessions''. Woodward's third album '' Hooked!'' (Verve, 2010) was recorded at Stratosphere Sound in New York City and Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood. It was produced by Tony Visconti and included contributions by Tim K, Justin Stanley, and Itaal Shur. Woodward wrote much of the album with Dan Petty and Michelle Lewis, saying that she had been inspired by the music of Peggy Lee and

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

. The album also received comparisons to Dusty Springfield and Brill Building. The song "Another Woman" was written for her by longtime inspiration Nellie McKay, who sang background vocals. Woodward toured throughout the US, including with jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, which played on her cover version of "Be My Husband" by Nina Simone. In 2011, she was asked by Armed Forces Entertainment to perform at American military bases in Italy, Turkey, and Spain. In 2011, Woodward started working with Snarky Puppy bandleader

Michael League Michael League (born April 24, 1984) is an Americans, American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bandleader of instrumental band Snarky Puppy and the international music ensemble Bokanté. He also founded the band Forq wi ...

. League performed in Woodward's touring band, and Woodward opened for Snarky Puppy with them as her backing band. She sang "Too Hot to Last" on the band's album '' Family Dinner - Volume 1''."Brooklyn's Snarky Puppy Receives Its Third Grammy Nomination"
"CEG Presents", New York, 6 December 2016, Retrieved on 1 February 2020. Woodward also appeared in the 2011 Garry Marshall film ''New Year's Eve'' where she played the backing vocalist for

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and Lead vocalist, frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was fo ...

and Lea Michele. Woodward was featured in the September 2011 issue of '' Italian Vogue'' as one of the year's top up-and-coming female recording artists. That same year, she toured with Pink Martini after the singer China Forbes had surgery."Review: Even with fill-in singer, Pink Martini sensational"
'' The Salt Lake Tribune'', 7 July 2011, Retrieved on 17 November 2024."Montreal International Jazz Festival 2011: Pink Martini at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts, June 28"
'' The Gazette (Montreal)'', 28 June 2011. Retrieved on 17 November 2024. From 2012 to 2016 she worked as a background vocalist for

, singing on the albums '' Blood Red Roses'', '' Another Country'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', and '' Merry Christmas, Baby'' as well as touring internationally with him, including at the 2015 BBC Music Awards."Review: BBC Music Awards 2015"
"Salford Now", Salford, 11 December 2015, Retrieved on 2 June 2021. After Woodward, Holly Palmer, and songwriter Michelle Lewis first came together to sing at a Christmas Party in 2010, they decided soon after to write swing and boogie songs under the name The Goods. They released the single "I'm So Happy That It's You" in May 2013, followed by a five-song debut EP later that year and a holiday EP titled ''Get Your Holiday Goods!'' in 2018. Woodward released her fourth album ''Til They Bang on the Door'' ( GroundUP Music) in 2016. The album was co-produced by

and Henry Hey, mixed by Nic Hard, and included musicians Everett Bradley, Dave Eggar, Cory Henry, Natalia 'Saw Lady' Paruz, and members of Snarky Puppy."Lucy Woodward - Til They Bang On The Door"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Retrieved on 8 June 2021. In 2017, she performed with the Danish group TipToe Big Band at the Aarhus Jazz Festival."TipToe Big Band Feat. Lucy Woodward"
19 July 2017, Retrieved on 1 February 2020. A year later she worked with the WDR Big Band and Chris Walden. She has also sung with the Dave Richards Big Band in Los Angeles and with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra."Jazz Roots Season Opens with Latin Spin on Beatles"
"Miami Art Zine", Miami, 31 October 2019, Retrieved on 1 February 2020. Woodward recently performed with the hr-Bigband with arrangements and conducting by Jim McNeely."Konzerte"
Frankfurt. Retrieved on 13 June 2021. In 2018, Woodward was asked to perform a duo tour with jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter"Charlie Hunter and Lucy Woodward at Dazzle"

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, 7 August 2019, Retrieved on 11 November 2024. after his original tour collaborator Silvana Estrada had to cancel last minute because of visa issues."Funky jazz from a dysfunctional duo"
Greenville Journal, 15 April 2019, Retrieved on 11 November 2024. Their resulting collaboration led to multiple international tours, including a performance on NPR Music's Mountain Stage."Charlie Hunter & Lucy Woodward on Mountain Stage"
NPR, 3 October 2019, Retrieved on 8 June 2021. and two albums together: ''Music!Music!Music!'' released in 2019 and ''I'm a Stranger Here'' released in 2020."Charlie Hunter & Lucy Woodward: Music!Music!Music!"
All About Jazz, 20 May 2019, Retrieved on 10 February 2020. Both albums included songs by

Blind Willie Johnson Willie Johnson (January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945), commonly known as Blind Willie Johnson, was an American gospel blues singer and guitarist. His landmark recordings completed between 1927 and 1930, thirty songs in all, display a combinat ...

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was t ...

, En Vogue, Nina Simone, and

Terence Trent D'Arby Sananda Francesco Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard; March 15, 1962), who started his career with the stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer and songwriter who came to fame with his debut studio album, '' Introducing the Hard ...

. In 2024, Woodward released two albums: ''Stories From The Dust'' and ''Lucy Woordward & The Rocketeers''. ''Stories From The Dust'' was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas and released in April 2024. Most of the album was co-written with and co-produced by David Garza (

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She released five albums from 1996 to 2020, all of which reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart. As of 2021, she has sold over ...

). The album included bassist Tim Lefebvre (

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 ...

, Tedeschi Trucks Band), drummer Amy Wood (

), and singers Gaby Moreno, Stevvi Alexander, and Holly Palmer."Lucy Woodward releases 7th studio album: Stories From The Dust"
Entertaining Options, 3 April 2024, Retrieved on 11 November 2024.
New York Lifestyles Magazine, April 2024, Retrieved on 11 November 2024. ''Lucy Woordward & The Rocketeers'' was released in July 2024 on GroundUP Music. This album was Woodward's first live jazz orchestra recording, and it was recorded and filmed in LantarenVenster in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, Netherlands."Lucy Woodward: Lucy Woodward & The Rocketeers"

, 30 September 2024, Retrieved on 11 November 2024. Woodward has also sung background vocals for

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

, Joe Cocker,

, The Doobie Brothers, Michael Bolton, Nikka Costa,

, and Monkey House."Barbra Streisand - Walls"
''

'', 2 November 2018, Retrieved on 17 November 2024."The Doobie Brothers - Liberte"
''

'', 29 October 21, Retrieved on 17 November 2024.

Volunteering

A frequent visitor to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

, Woodward organizes an annual benefit concert for the Cura Orphanage outside Nairobi at Jim Henson Studios."Chaka Khan's Safari Nights at Henson Studios"
HuffPost, New York, 6 December 2012, Retrieved on 26 January 2020. She has performed for the UN Mine Action Service and at the Millennium Development Goals Awards. Woodward sang for Desmond Tutu at a benefit for the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation. She also served with World Central Kitchen in Przemyśl, Poland in April 2022 to cook for Ukrainian refugees during the Russian invasion of Ukraine."A passion for feeding the world’s marginalized people"
Central Maine, 1 May 2022, Retrieved on 11 November 2024.

Awards and honors

* BMI Christian Music Award, "There's Gotta Be More to Life", 2003 * BMI Songwriter's Pop Award, "There's Gotta Be More to Life", 2004

Discography

Albums

* '' While You Can'' (Atlantic, 2003) * '' Lucy Woodward Is...Hot & Bothered'' (Barnes & Noble, 2007) * '' Hooked!'' (Verve, 2010) * ''The Goods EP'' (2013) * ''Get Your Holiday Goods'' with The Goods (2015) * ''Til They Bang On the Door'' ( GroundUP, 2016) * ''Music!Music!Music!'' with Charlie Hunter (Mocloud, 2019) * ''I'm a Stranger Here'' with Charlie Hunter (2020) * ''Stories From The Dust'' (2024) * ''Lucy Woodward & The Rocketeers'' ( GroundUP, 2024)

As guest

* Groove Collective, " Up All Night" (1999) * The Scumfrog, "Bacon" (2004) * Home & Garden, "Domesticated" (2008) * Randy Jackson, ''Randy Jackson Music Club Vol. 1'', "Willing To Try" (2008) * Earthrise Soundsystem, "Daylight as Sunset" (2009) * Charles Walker & the Dynamites, "Love Is Only Everything" (2012) * The Joshua Shneider Lovespeaks Orchestra, ''The Joshua Shneider Lovespeaks Orchestra'' (2013) * Snarky Puppy, '' Family Dinner - Volume 1'', "Too Hot To Last" (2013) * David Ricard Big Band, ''Holiday Swingin'' (2015) * '' Guilt by Association Vol. 4 (Compilation)'', "Shapes of Things" (2016) * Phat Cat Swinger, ''The Phat Cat Swinger Christmas Album'', "Frosty" (2018) * Chris Grey & The BlueSpand, "Feed The Monkey" (2018) * Broken Brass Ensemble, "Piece Of Your Heaven" (2019) * Drifter, "True Love" (2021) * Steve Shapiro, "Extremely Moderate" (2022) * Dennis van Aarssen, "Stay For Christmas" (2022)

Singles

* "Dumb Girls" – 2003 (#112) * "Blindsided" – 2003 * "Trouble With Me" – 2004 * "Slow Recovery" – 2007/2010 * "Ragdoll" – 2010 * "Be My Husband" – 2012 * "Happy That It's You!" – 2013 * "Kiss Me Mister Histrionics" – 2016 * "Live Live Live" – 2016 * "Can't Let Go" – 2019 * "Soul of a Man" – 2019 * "Stranger Blues" – 2020 * "My Love Will Never Die" – 2020 * "Big Bones" – 2023 * "Fray" – 2023 * "Clenched Fists" – 2023 * "Lady in Waiting" – 2023 * "When You Wish Upon a Star" – 2023 * "Plain Gold Ring" – 2024 * "Love Me Tender" – 2024 * "Tryin' Times" – 2024

Film & TV

* '' What a Girl Wants'' "What's Good for Me" (2003) * '' First Daughter'' "Free" (2004) * '' Desperate Housewives'' "Damsel In Distress" (2005) * '' Ice Princess'' "It's Oh So Quiet" (2005) * '' The Barbie Diaries (Movie Soundtrack)'' "Real Life" (2006) * '' Accepted'' "Don't You Forget About Me" (2006) * '' Music and Lyrics'' (2007) * '' The Blind Side'' "Trouble with Me" (2009) * '' New Year's Eve'' (2011) * '' Footloose'' "Footloose Theme Song" (2011) * '' The Possession'' "Maybe We Deserve Each Other" (2012) * '' Last Vegas'' "Drunken Stars" (2013) * '' State of Bacon'' "World Like This" (2014) * '' Manhattan Night'' "If I Never Met You" (2016) * ''

'' "It's Oh So Quiet" (2020)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Lucy Living people Musicians from London 21st-century American singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American jazz singers GroundUPmusic artists 1977 births