Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942)[nb 1] is an American
singer and actress. Payne is best known for her career in music during
the midâ€"1960s through the midâ€"1980s. Her most notable record is
her 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". Payne was also an actress in
musicals and film, as well as the host of a TV talk show. Payne is the
older sister of Scherrie Payne, a former singer with the American
vocal group The Supremes.Payne was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew
up listening to jazz singers, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie
Holiday. As a teenager, she attended the Detroit Institute of Musical
Arts; she soon began singing radio commercial jingles, and took part
in (and won many) local TV and radio talent shows. In 1963, she moved
to New York City and worked with many entertainers, including Quincy
Jones, Pearl Bailey, and Bill Cosby. The next year, her debut album, a
jazz recording with arranger Manny Albam entitled After the Lights Go
Down Low and Much More!!!, was released on the Impulse! label. (This
album was re-issued on CD in Japan in early 2002, and again in the
United States in 2005.) In 1965 she toured Europe for the first time
recording an album in Sweden with Don Gardner and Bengt-Arne Wallin.
In 1966 she released her second American album, again in the jazz
style, How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore, for MGM Records. She
also made occasional guest appearances on television shows including
The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.She
added theatrical credits to her repertoire: she understudied Leslie
Uggams for the Broadway show Hallelujah Baby in 1967, and appeared
with the Equity Theatre in a production of Lost in the Stars. In 1969,
her old friends back home in Detroit, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier,
and Edward Holland, Jr., persuaded her to sign with their newly formed
record label Invictus. During that same year, her first Invictus
single, "Unhooked Generation" (a minor R&B hit), was released. Shortly
thereafter, Eddie Holland offered her a song entitled "Band of Gold",
which he along with Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier co-wrote (under
the pen name Edythe Wayne) with Ronald Dunbar. In early 1970, the song
became an instant pop smash reaching #3 in the US and #1 in the UK for
six consecutive weeks; it also gave Payne her first gold record.
Global sales were estimated at two million. An album of the same name
proved to be fairly successful as well. Other Invictus singles
included "Deeper and Deeper", which reached # US24 and UK #33 at the
end of 1970;"You Brought the Joy", and the Vietnam War protest song
"Bring the Boys Home" (U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #12, 1971), her second
gold record. Her other Invictus albums were Contact (1971), The Best
of Freda Payne (1972, a compilation which included four new, unissued
songs), and her last Invictus album Reaching Out (1973).In 1973, she
left Invictus and recorded albums for ABC/Dunhill and Capitol, but she
never found the commercial success that she had enjoyed with Invictus.
She recorded a duet "I Wanna See You Soon" with Capitol stablemates
Tavares, which was a radio airplay hit in the UK in 1977. She released
three disco albums for Capitol from 1977 to 1979, Stares And Whispers,
Supernatural High and Hot. The first one features the disco hit "Love
Magnet" produced by Frank Wilson (1977).
singer and actress. Payne is best known for her career in music during
the midâ€"1960s through the midâ€"1980s. Her most notable record is
her 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". Payne was also an actress in
musicals and film, as well as the host of a TV talk show. Payne is the
older sister of Scherrie Payne, a former singer with the American
vocal group The Supremes.Payne was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew
up listening to jazz singers, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie
Holiday. As a teenager, she attended the Detroit Institute of Musical
Arts; she soon began singing radio commercial jingles, and took part
in (and won many) local TV and radio talent shows. In 1963, she moved
to New York City and worked with many entertainers, including Quincy
Jones, Pearl Bailey, and Bill Cosby. The next year, her debut album, a
jazz recording with arranger Manny Albam entitled After the Lights Go
Down Low and Much More!!!, was released on the Impulse! label. (This
album was re-issued on CD in Japan in early 2002, and again in the
United States in 2005.) In 1965 she toured Europe for the first time
recording an album in Sweden with Don Gardner and Bengt-Arne Wallin.
In 1966 she released her second American album, again in the jazz
style, How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore, for MGM Records. She
also made occasional guest appearances on television shows including
The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.She
added theatrical credits to her repertoire: she understudied Leslie
Uggams for the Broadway show Hallelujah Baby in 1967, and appeared
with the Equity Theatre in a production of Lost in the Stars. In 1969,
her old friends back home in Detroit, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier,
and Edward Holland, Jr., persuaded her to sign with their newly formed
record label Invictus. During that same year, her first Invictus
single, "Unhooked Generation" (a minor R&B hit), was released. Shortly
thereafter, Eddie Holland offered her a song entitled "Band of Gold",
which he along with Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier co-wrote (under
the pen name Edythe Wayne) with Ronald Dunbar. In early 1970, the song
became an instant pop smash reaching #3 in the US and #1 in the UK for
six consecutive weeks; it also gave Payne her first gold record.
Global sales were estimated at two million. An album of the same name
proved to be fairly successful as well. Other Invictus singles
included "Deeper and Deeper", which reached # US24 and UK #33 at the
end of 1970;"You Brought the Joy", and the Vietnam War protest song
"Bring the Boys Home" (U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #12, 1971), her second
gold record. Her other Invictus albums were Contact (1971), The Best
of Freda Payne (1972, a compilation which included four new, unissued
songs), and her last Invictus album Reaching Out (1973).In 1973, she
left Invictus and recorded albums for ABC/Dunhill and Capitol, but she
never found the commercial success that she had enjoyed with Invictus.
She recorded a duet "I Wanna See You Soon" with Capitol stablemates
Tavares, which was a radio airplay hit in the UK in 1977. She released
three disco albums for Capitol from 1977 to 1979, Stares And Whispers,
Supernatural High and Hot. The first one features the disco hit "Love
Magnet" produced by Frank Wilson (1977).
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