Freda Payne got her start singing with big bands and then sang with Duke Ellington in New York where she landed her first record deal, a jazz album on Impulse! Freda went on to perform with Quincy Jones’s big band and recorded with the legendary producing team of Holland, Dozier & Holland on Invictus. Her first gold record “Band of Gold” became an instant pop smash, reaching #3 in the US and #1 in the UK for six consecutive weeks, eventually selling two million copies. The singer has graced the stage in such Broadway shows as Jelly’s Last Jam, Sophisticated Ladies, and Blues in the Night. She’s recently toured the country with her tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. She was a Grammy nominee for Best R&B Vocal Performance for “Band of Gold” and for the album Contact. More recently, she performed on Fox TV’s “American Idol” and joined Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Barbra Streisand and more on “We Are the World” for Haiti Relief.
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