Ortheia Barnes Kennerly

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Ortheia Barnes Kennerly (* October 18, 1945 as Ortheia Barnes ; † May 15, 2015 in Saint Thomas , US Virgin Islands ) was an American soul , rhythm & blues and jazz singer who was active in the Detroit music scene and in its later Years as a local political activist.

Live and act

Barnes first sang in the church choir before making her first recordings. She made her recording debut with Mickay Records in 1962 with the single Your Picture on the Wall / Same as Before , two Dorothy Pierce numbers with which she had a local hit; the record was re-released in 1963 by ABC Records . Other well-known Northern Soul- style songs were Watch Out Boy and I've Never Loved Nobody (Like I Love You) , which was released on Coral Records in 1967 , followed by Take My Heart and Soul / Heartbreaker (1968). Barnes worked as a background singer in record sessions in the following years. She also sang supporting acts for Motown artists such as Stevie Wonder , Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight . In 1980 she founded the formation Cut Glass with Mildred Vaney , which released two singles on 20th Century Records, Alive With Love / Without Your Love and Rising Cost of Love / Sometimes Soon . In 1984 she published the funk number Green Eye Monster . In the years that followed, she had a weekly talk show, Ortheia's Special Touch , on local radio station WCHB , and a television show on cable channel Bloomfield Community Television .

After her marriage to Robert L. Kennerly she worked as an evangelist, singer and civil rights activist; u. a. she performed at Rosa Parks ' 83rd birthday at A Season for Nonviolence with Reverend Jesse Jackson . Barnes Kennerly was also a member of Michigan's Volunteers of America . The musician Ralphe Armstrong said: "If Aretha Franklin was the queen of soul, then Barnes Kennerly was the empress."

Discographic notes

  • Person to Person (Michigan Satellite Records, 1986)
  • Believe (Michigan Satellite Records, 1992)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary
  2. ↑ http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/05/17/detroit-rb-jazz-singer-ortheia-barnes-kennerly-dies-at-age-70/
personal data
SURNAME Barnes Kennerly, Ortheia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barnes, Ortheia (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American R&B and jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1945
DATE OF DEATH May 15, 2015
Place of death Saint Thomas , US Virgin Islands