Born
in Miami, Florida, Cheeks is the daughter of gospel legend Rev.
Julius Cheeks. Her first recording was a blues album entitled Judy
Cheeks produced by Ike Turner in 1973. A tour with Ike & Tina
Turner followed. Cheeks moved to Germany in 1977 and recorded a duet
with Austrian singer Udo Jürgens. Their performance on The Rudi
Carrell Show made Cheeks an overnight success in Europe. In 1978 she
recorded "Mellow Lovin'" which became an international hit
and reached #10 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. Her 1978 album
Mellow Lovin' was produced by Anthony Monn (best known for his work
with gay icon Amanda Lear) in Giorgio Moroder's Musicland Studios in
Munich.
Cheeks appears as a backing vocalist for Stevie
Wonder's The Woman In Red 1984 soundtrack album, Donna Summer's Once
upon a Time and Rumor Has It albums, Thelma Houston and Jerry
Butler's Just Thelma & Jerry 1977 album, on Amanda Lear's 1979
album Never Trust a Pretty Face and on Boney M.'s Ten Thousand
Lightyears. In 1986, Cheeks worked as a studio musician (providing
backing vocals) on Alphaville's album Afternoons in Utopia.
Cheeks
wrote for Jobette Music - Motown. The Jackson 5 recorded one of her
songs on their last Motown LP. She did a lot of session work for
several major artists while sharpening her song writing skills.
In
1983 Pete Bellotte produced her third alum Hard on The Heels Of Love.
In 1988 she co-wrote and produced her solo album No Outsiders in 1987
featuring the singles I Still Love You and Just Another Lie.
In
the 1990s, she had a string of pop and dance chart hits, including
two #1s in 1995, "Respect" and "As Long As You're Good
to Me", as well as "Reach", which appeared on the
Summer Hitmix 94 CD released by ZYX Records. A solo album, also
titled Respect, was released in 1996.
In 2013 Cheeks wrote and
co produced a solo album True Love is Free with the hit singles Happy
and Without Love We're Lost
It was on a European tour with Ike
& Tina that Judy got an offer to stay. “A Black American girl
coming to Europe had everyone thinking they’d discovered the next
Donna Summer,” she laughs. “When we got to Munich, a lady from
Ariola Records with a heavy German accent sauntered up and asked
point blank, ‘Vaht do you dooo? Ve vant you here!’ So I went to
Europe with $35 in my pocket and stayed with friends. They had an 8
year-old son. Helping him with his homework, I learned German. I also
watched television with English subtitles. I had it in about a year
but Europe didn’t know what to do with me either. They’d say,
‘Don’t sound so Black!’ There was a big singer named Udo
Jurgens. We did the song “Ein Mal Wenn Du Gehts (One Day When You
Leave)” where we sang the chorus in German, he did a verse in
German and I wrote an answer verse in English. All of a sudden, I
became a novelty star for being Black and speaking German! Then my
producer at Ariola, Tony Monn, reluctantly cut a song on me titled
‘Mellow Lovin’ and it became a hit, too (thanks in part to a
mighty Tom Moulton mix)!” "and the rest as they say is
history"
In 2018 Judy Cheeks released a new single
“Crying In The Rain”. A song written by Judy and Steve Lee, and
first recorded by Randy Crawford as “When The Evening Comes”.
Judy’s own version features her powerhouse vocals cherished by her
fans. Also included in the release are two stunning remixes by
producer Steve Lee and Simon Ellis, the S & S mix and Paleface
Mix.
Following
the success of the Crying In The Rain single, Cheeks released the
album Danger Zone in August 2018 with songs like So Close, Never
Wanna Be Without Your Love, Break Me Baby and the title track
receiving airplay around the world.
Her
new release “A Deeper Love” is a very up close and personal story
of life and love delivered in such an intimate way it touches
everyone personally…
Judy’s
style is unique which is why her fans immediately recognise her
treatment of a song as personal conversation rather than a commercial
hook with music pumping in the background.
MARCH
2019
Contact:
Official
Judy Cheeks:
Website:
www:judycheeksmusic.com
YouTube
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLUzM83nTIUWIeokw11Uv4Q
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