Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American

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 ...

-winning R&B, pop, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer and songwriter best known for " Baby, Come to Me", her 1982 duet with

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 ...

, which topped the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

after its re-release that same year.

Music career

Austin was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, New York, to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist. She was raised in

Bay Shore, New York Bay Shore is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, adjo ...

on Long Island.

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 ...

and

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (; born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a ...

referred to themselves as her godparents. When Austin was four years old, she performed at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

. As a teenager she recorded commercial jingles and worked as a session singer in soul and R&B. She had an R&B hit in 1969 with "Family Tree". She sang backing vocals on

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

's 1975 number-one hit " 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". The jazz label CTI released her debut album, ''End of a Rainbow'', in 1976. She sang backing vocals on the track "Everybody has a Dream" for

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

's hit album ''The Stranger'' (album) in 1977. She sang "

The Closer I Get to You "The Closer I Get to You" is a romantic ballad performed by singer-songwriter Roberta Flack and soul musician Donny Hathaway. The song was written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, two former members of Miles Davis's band, who were members of F ...

" for Tom Browne's album '' Browne Sugar'', a duet with Michael Jackson for his album '' Off the Wall'', and a duet with

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

on "Moody's Mood for Love". After singing on Quincy Jones's album '' The Dude'', she signed a contract with his record label, Qwest, which released ''Every Home Should Have One'' with " Baby, Come to Me", a duet with James Ingram that became a No. 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' magazine pop chart. A second duet with Ingram, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing", appeared on soundtrack to the film ''Best Friends'' (1982). Her final album for Qwest, ''The Real Me'' contained versions of jazz standards. Austin moved on to GRP for four releases, including ''Love Is Gonna Getcha'', which contained the singles "Good in Love" and "Through the Test of Time". Austin was booked for United Flight 93 on

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, but because her mother suffered a stroke days before, she cancelled her ticket and flew at a different time. In 2003, she collaborated with Frances Yip on ''Papillon III'' in the rotunda of

San Francisco City Hall San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epito ...

to help the Jade Ribbon Campaign of Stanford University. A companion CD/DVD was released with Austin and Yip singing duets in Mandarin. A performance in 2000 with the Germany-based WDR Big Band led to later recordings with the Germany-based ensemble that yielded two of Austin's six Grammy nominations: ''For Ella'' (2002) was a tribute to

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

. A 2007 release with the band and arranger Michael Abene, ''Avant Gershwin'', earned her the trophy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. During a 2007 interview, Austin spoke of reluctantly attending as a teenager one of

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

's last concerts and how the experience helped focus her career. "She ripped my heart out. I wanted to interpret a lyric like that, to present who I was at the moment through the lyric." In 2011, ''Sound Advice'' was released containing cover versions of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's "Gotta Serve Somebody",

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses Rhythm and blues, R&B, pop music, pop, soul music, soul, dance music, dance, and ...

's "A Little Bit of Love", the Jackson Five's "Give It Up", Bill Withers' "Lean on Me", and

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Known as the "American Troubadour" or "King of the Trail", he is best known for his 1971 hit "American Pie (song), American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minut ...

's "Vincent". The album also included "The Grace of God", a song Austin wrote after watching an episode of the ''Oprah Winfrey Show'' which included a woman with scarred face. Austin appeared in the Oscar-winning documentary film '' 20 Feet from Stardom'', which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

and was released on June 21, 2013. In 2015, Austin appeared on Patrick Williams' '' Home Suite Home'' large jazz ensemble album, as vocalist for Williams' composition "52nd & Broadway," which won a Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals.

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

The

s are awarded annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences 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 ...

. Williams has received one award out of seven nominations.

Accolades

* Honorary doctorate,

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Filmography

References

External links

Official website

Patti Austin from the CTI, Qwest and GRP Years at Webstarts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Patti 1950 births Living people Jazz musicians from New York (state) People from Bay Shore, New York Musicians from Manhattan People from Harlem Singers from New York City 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century African-American women singers American contraltos American dance musicians American women jazz singers American jazz singers American rhythm and blues singers Grammy Award winners GRP Records artists Qwest Records artists RCA Victor artists CTI Records artists 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers