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Gray, Diva

She is a session musician whose name first became known in the mid-1970s after she appeared with George Benson and David Sanborn and was also present on the recording the 1976 Montreux Jazz’s Festival’s Jazz Sampler.

A year later she recorded with Roy Buchanan and Luther Vandross and then got her break when she sang with Chic on their No. 1 hit song “Dance, Dance, Dance”.  Suddenly she was getting calls from everywhere to work and record and would soon be heard on many successful hit singles and albums as well as on the soundtrack of Broadway’s The Wiz.

The many artists and groups she appeared with throughout the course of her career include Ray Barretto, George Benson, Eric Carmen, Change, Gregg Diamond, Herbie Mann, The Marshall Tucker Band, Bette Midler, Gene Simmons, Sister Sledge, Belouis Some, David Spinozza, Spyro Gyra, Steely Dan, Luther Vandross and many more.

Albums she has appeared on during the course of her career include her own Hotel Paradise credited as Diva Gray and Oyster, Spinozza by David Spinozza, Give Me the Night and In Your Eyes by George Benson, Morning Dance by Spyro Gyra, Take No Prisoners by Peabo Bryson, I’m the One by Roberta Flack, Provision by Scritti Politti, Never Let Me Down by David Bowie, Snowfall on the Sahara by Natalie Cole, Judy Sings Dylan by Judy Collins, Some People by Belouis Some, These Are Special Times by Celine Dion, Television by Dr. John, C’Est Chic and Risque by Chic, Tenth by The Marshall Tucker Band, We Are Family by Sister Sledge, Gaucho by Steely Dan, Little Creatures by Talking Heads, R by R. Kelly, You’ve Got to Believe in Something by The Spin Doctors, I Know by Luther Vandross, Voyeur by David Sanborn and the soundtracks of Divine Madness, Sunnyside and Aida.

She became one of Bette Midler’s The Staggering Harlettes and then trying her hand at television she become of the voices in the animated series Jem and the Holograms in 1985 and then venturing onto the silver screen she appeared in the movies Everybody Says I Love You and A Walk to Remember.

Belouis Some recordings
Aware of You (Belouis Some)
Some People (Belouis Some)

Here she is singing “Hotel Paradise”…

Sources:

  1. http://www.discomuseum.com/DivaGray.html
  2. http://imdb.com/name/nm0336573/
  3. http://www.myspace.com/1000718923
  4. http://www.bootlegbetty.com/harlettes.htm#DIVA%20GRAY
  5. http://www.thestaggeringharlettes.com/DivaGray.htm
  6. http://www.discomusic.com/records-more/8728_0_2_0_C/
  7. https://www.discogs.com/artist/292807-Diva-Gray
  8. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/diva-gray-mn0000795742/credits