June 24

Siedah Garrett was a protege on Quincy Jones' Qwest label in the 80's. She made her career singing backup vocals for acts as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Starship, Madonna, and Michael Jackson.
During the recording sessions for 'Bad,' Michael didn't have a vocal partner for a duet he had written (Barbara Streisand, then Whitney Houston, had been offered, but schedule conflicts prevailed.) Siedah was ushered up to the mic, and the duet, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," was the album's leadoff single, and its first #1.
But her most popular song might be the one she wrote for Michael: "Man in the Mirror". "Mirror" would top the chart for two weeks.

This version was recorded for Siedah's 2004 album.

In her own time in the spotlight, she would end up placing in several charts: a dance hit here, an R & B hit there... Here's a song she put in the Adult Contemporary chart, from the movie "Baby Boom":

But in her time at Qwest Records, the label only produced one album of hers, and that was to capitalize on the success of "I Just Can't Stop..."

In 1991, she became a TV host, counting down the charts on America's Top 10. She continued her studio session work and backing singer gigs for Michael Jackson and Madonna. In 1996, she became the vocalist for the Brand New Heavies - for one album.


She continues to concentrate on her songwriting for others, although her singing voice still gets her in the spotlight: for the 2010 World's Fair, she sang for the US at the fair's opening ceremonies in Shanghai.