Zulema Cusseaux (January 3, 1947 – September 30, 2013),Obituary, Tampa Bay Times
Retrieved 12 October 2013 usually credited as Zulema, was an American

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and R&B singer and songwriter. Aside from her solo career, she was a member of an early line up of Faith, Hope and Charity and worked as a backing vocalist and songwriter with

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

Background

Zulema Cusseaux was born in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Allmusic (((Zulema>Biography)))Accessed May 25, 2010 and attended Howard W. Blake High School.

Career

Zulema and her school friend Brenda Hilliard joined a local group called The 5 Crystals, before the two formed the trio the Lovelles, together with fellow Tampa native Albert Bailey. When they met producer

Van McCoy Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit " The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his c ...

and were signed by Maxwell Records, the group's name was changed to Faith, Hope and Charity. Their song "So Much Love" hit #15 on the R&B chart and #60 on the pop chart in 1970. Zulema left Faith, Hope and Charity in 1971 shortly after a label switch to

Sussex Records Sussex Records Inc. was an American, Los Angeles-based record label, founded by music executive and businessman Clarence Avant, that existed from 1969 to 1975. Its catalog is now controlled by Universal Music. History Sussex Records was launch ...

. Bailey and Hilliard would occasionally sing backing vocals on Zulema's albums, though. Her self-titled solo album included the song "American Fruit, African Roots" and a cover of "If This World Were Mine." Zulema started touring as opening act for major stars like

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me ( ...

. She appeared on a bill with

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

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and

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at the Push Expo in Chicago, a concert which became a motion picture called ''Save the Children''. The movie's soundtrack was released on

Motown Records 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 included Zulema's single mother anthem, "This Child of Mine". After a second Sussex album, ''Ms Z'' (produced by Bobby Taylor), the singer signed to

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

records, where she released three albums: ''Zulema'', ''R.S.V.P.'' and ''Suddenly There Was You''. She was also one of the featured artists on the soundtrack to the

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movie ''Honeybaby, Honeybaby'', providing the track "I Just Can't Say Good-Bye." Her only charting record during that time was a cover of the early

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 ...

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 ...

hit "Wanna Be Where You Are", which reached #58 R&B. The single "Suddenly There Was You" was reviewed in the October 23, 1976 issue of ''Cash Box''. It was from the album of the same name. The reviewer predicted it as a Top 40 chart record saying, ''"R&B DJs should tear this one right from the jacket and slap it on the turntable"''.''Cash Box'', October 23, 1976
Page 22 SINGLES REVIEWS, picks of the week
/ref> In 1978, she released the album ''Z-Licious'' on Le Joint Records, which featured a duet with long-term collaborator Van McCoy. McCoy also got Zulema on board for

's 1979 disco album ''La Diva'' - having her write one of the songs and perform backing vocals on the entire album, joined once again by her former band members Hilliard and Bailey. In 1980, Zulema had a starring role in the New York musical, ''Jazzbo Brown''. In 1982, she formed a duo called Zalmac with Al Macdowell. Their album ''Whatcha Gonna Do'' on TSOB included the songs "Friends", "I Get Down" and "What's In It For Me". Zulema had recorded at least one single on the same label, "A Mother Cries", the year before.

Death

After returning to live in Tampa, she became lead musician at the First Baptist Church of West Tampa. She died after a short illness on September 30, 2013, at the age of 66.

Discography

Albums

* ''Zulema'' (Sussex, 1972) * ''Ms. Z.'' (Sussex, 1973) * ''Zulema'' (RCA, 1975) * ''RSVP'' (RCA, 1975) * ''Suddenly There Was You'' (RCA, 1976) * ''Z-Licious'' (Le Joint, 1978) * ''Whatcha Gonna Do'' (The Sound of Brooklyn, 1982) (with Zalmac)

Charted singles

References

External links

1975 interview at SoulMusic.com
*
Zulema Cusseaux, Find a Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zulema 1947 births 2013 deaths American dance musicians American soul singers American funk singers Songwriters from Florida Musicians from Tampa, Florida African-American women songwriters 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers