Brenda Shannon Greene (born May 2, 1958), known professionally as Shannon, is an American singer and songwriter of

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

music. She is best known for her single " Let the Music Play", 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 ...

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart in 1983 and was certified gold. Her studio albums include '' Let the Music Play'' (1984), followed by '' Do You Wanna Get Away'' (1985) and ''

Love Goes All the Way Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good hab ...

'' (1986). In 1999, Shannon appeared in a segment of

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's ''

One-Hit Wonders A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

'', and returned to music with her fourth studio album ''The Best Is Yet to Come'' (2000). Her studio album, ''A Beauty Returns'', was released in 2006.

Career

Shannon was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, United States. In 1983, she was enrolled at York College in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and toured with the New York Jazz Ensemble. Quintin Hicks, an associate of the

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

team of Mark Liggett and

Chris Barbosa Chris Barbosa (October 22, 1961 – October 18, 2024) was an American freestyle music producer from New York. Career 1980s and 1990s In 1983, Bronx-born Barbosa served as a reporting DJ for New York's WKTU. In this role, the radio station would ...

, saw Shannon singing with a live band in her cousin's

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

. She auditioned for Liggett and Barbosa with the song "She Can't Love You Like I Do". They introduced her to the selection "Fire and Ice", which would later evolve into Shannon's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

, " Let the Music Play"(Mirage Records/Emergency Records); its unique sound, called "the Shannon Sound", would later come to be known as "

". '' Let the Music Play'' would also be the title of Shannon's debut studio album, which she released through the team in 1984. In July 1983, "Let the Music Play" was released on New York-based dance label Emergency and Shannon was invited back to record more songs with Liggett and Barbosa. The single reached #8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #2 on the ''

'' R&B and #1 on the

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

charts. It also was ranked at #49 of ''Billboard's'' Top 100 songs of 1984. It was later ranked #23 among ''Billboards best dance songs of all-time. Her debut studio album, '' Let the Music Play'', was released on February 1, 1984. "

Give Me Tonight "Give Me Tonight" is a 1984 single by Shannon (American singer), Shannon, an United States, American R&B and dance music, dance artist. Released as the follow-up to her smash debut "Let the Music Play (song), Let the Music Play," "Give Me Tonight ...

", the follow-up single, reached the number-two spot on the R&B charts and number one on the Hot Dance Club Play charts. The song went to number 46 on the pop charts. It was one of ''Billboards top 30 dance songs for the year of 1984. In the United States, the third single was " My Heart's Divided". The single, featuring

Jimi Tunnell Jimi Tunnell is an American guitarist and vocalist from Denton, Texas, Denton, Texas. Although he is known as a guitarist, his career began as a jazz trumpeter. Tunnell has worked with Yukihiro Takahashi, Laurie Anderson, Steps Ahead, and Membe ...

as one of the backing vocalists, hit #3 on the Dance Chart. " Sweet Somebody", a mid-tempo

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

effort, made the Top 20 in a few

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an nations. Shannon's studio album ''Let the Music Play'' went on to sell approximately 1.5 million worldwide, with 500,000 of those sold in the United States, earning gold certification. Shannon was nominated for a

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 ...

and received numerous other awards, including the Dinah Washington (Jack the Rapper) Award, the Hall of Fame Award, the Gold Ampex Reel Award, a certified

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America 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 ...

, and the Best ''Billboard'' Top 10 female R&B vocalist. In 1985, she released her second studio album, '' Do You Wanna Get Away''. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

was the first single and it became her third single to appear on the Hot 100, and her third single to hit #1 on the Dance Chart. She scored three more

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

hits, including " Stronger Together", a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of " Urgent" by Foreigner, and "Stop the Noise", with a

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

Personal life

Shannon has never married and has no children. Retrieved .

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

* ''Part Time Lovers'' (1991) * ''The Collection'' (1994) * ''The Ultimate Collection'' (1994) * ''Dancefloor Artists Volume 8 – The Best of Shannon'' (1995) * ''The Collection'' (reissue) (2001) * ''Let the Music Play: The Best of Shannon'' (2004)

Singles

Featured singles

References

External links

Shannon's MySpace page
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shannon 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers American freestyle musicians Living people Singers from Washington, D.C. Singers from Brooklyn Educators from New York City American pop musicians 1958 births Atco Records artists 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American women