Patrice Rushen

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Patrice Rushen
Rushen performing on March 2, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Patrice Louise Rushen
Born	(1954-09-30) September 30, 1954 (age 66)[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Soul R&B jazz-funk post-disco urban soft rock new wave pop dance
Occupation(s)	Musician composer record producer music director educator
Instruments	Vocals piano keyboardist flute clarinet percussion
Years active	1973–present
Labels	Prestige Elektra Arista GRP Aix Entertainment Discovery
Associated acts	CAB Lynn Davis Stevie Wonder Janet Jackson Will Smith
Website	Official website

Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist and R&B singer.^[2] She is also a composer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director.

Her 1982 single "Forget Me Nots" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The instrumental "Number One" from her album Straight from the Heart earned an additional Grammy nomination for best instrumental. Her 12th album Signature also received a Grammy nomination for best instrumental in 1998.^[3]

Rushen also serves as an ambassador for artistry in education at the Berklee College of Music and the chair of the popular music program at the USC Thornton School of Music.^[4][5]

Biography[]

Rushen is the elder of two daughters born to Allen and Ruth Rushen.^[1] Patrice was three years old when she began playing the piano, and by the time she was six, she was giving classical recitals.^[6] In her teens, she attended Locke High School and later earned a degree in music from the University of Southern California.^[7]

After winning a competition at the age of 17 that enabled her to perform with her band at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Rushen signed with the Prestige label, releasing three albums with them – Prelusion (1974), Before the Dawn (1975), and Shout It Out (1977).^[6][8] In 1978, when she was 23, she began recording with Elektra.^[6]

Rushen married Marc St. Louis, a concert tour manager and live show production specialist,^[9] in 1986.^[10] They have one son, Cameron and one daughter named Jadyn.^[10][11] The name of her publishing company, Baby fingers Inc., is pulled from her nickname Babyfingers for her tiny hands.^[12] In 2005, Rushen received an honorary doctorate of Music degree from Berklee College of Music. She is the chair of popular music at USC and the ambassador of artistry in Education at the Berklee College of Music.^[13] She has served as the film composer for numerous movies television shows and documentaries. She has been a member of jazz fusion band CAB, The Meeting (GRP Records) with a Ndugu Chancelor, Alfonso Johnson and Ernie Watts.^[14] Rushen is also a music director, having worked on various television events as well as Janet Jackson's world tour 'Janet'.

Her song "Hang It Up" was featured on the 2005 video game Fahrenheit.^[15]

Cultural impact[]

Rushen's songs are sampled often in other artists music. The chorus from "Forget Me Nots" was used as the music for the 1997 song "Men in Black". Rushen was credited as writer and composer, along with Will Smith and Terri McFadden. The same chorus can be heard in George Michael's song "Fastlove". "Forget Me Nots" previously found its way into the trampolining scene in the film Big. Her song "Haven't You Heard" was sampled in Kirk Franklin's Looking For You from the Norbit soundtrack.

Rushen was the first woman to serve as music director for the 46th, 47th, and 48th Grammy Awards. She was the only woman music director/conductor/arranger for a late-night show titled The Midnight Hour, which aired on CBS in 1990.

Awards[]

Grammy awards[]

Rushen has received three Grammy nominations.^[3]

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result
1983	Best R&B Instrumental Performance	"Number One"	Nominated
	Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female	"Forget Me Nots"	Nominated
1998	Best Contemporary Jazz Performance	"Signature"	Nominated

Other awards[]

• ASCAP Songwriter's Award, 1988
• USC Black Student Assembly, Legacy of Excellence Award, 1992
• Crystal Award, American Women in Film, 1994
• ASCAP Award, Most Performed Song in Motion Pictures for 1997 for "Men in Black," 1998
• NAACP Image Award Nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Recording for “Signature”, 1998
• Honorary Doctrate Berklee College of Music, 2005
• The Ramo Music Faculty Award, 2020

Discography[]

Solo albums[]

Year	Album	Chart positions
		US Pop[16]	US R&B[17]	US Jazz[18]	US Tra. Jazz[19]	AUS[20]	UK Pop[21]
1974	Prelusion	-	-	-	-	-	-
1975	Before the Dawn	-	48	14	-	-	-
1977	Shout It Out	164	-	16	-	-	-
1978	Patrice	98	27	5	-	-	-
1979	Pizzazz	39	11	2	-	-	-
1980	Let There Be Funk: The Best of Patrice Rushen	-	-	42	-	-	-
	Posh	71	23	-	-	-	-
1982	Straight from the Heart	14	4	-	-	74	24
1984	Now	40	7	-	7	-	73
1985	Anthology of Patrice Rushen	-	-	-	-	-	-
1987	Watch Out!	77	19	-	-	-	-
1994	Anything but Ordinary	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Haven't You Heard - The Best of Patrice Rushen	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Forget Me Nots and Remind Me	-	-	-	-	-	-
1997	Signature	-	-	11	-	-	-
2002	The Essentials: Patrice Rushen	-	-	-	-	-	-

Singles[]

Year	Title	Chart positions
		US Hot 100	US R&B	US Dance	UK [22]
1975	"Kickin' Back"	-	-	-	-
1977	"Let Your Heart Be Free"	-	-	-	-
	"The Hump"	-	-	-	-
1978	"Changes in Your Life"	-	-	-	-
1979	"Hang It Up"	-	16	-	-
	"When I Found You"	-	87	-	-
1980	"Givin' It Up Is Givin' Up"	-	47	-	-
	"Haven't You Heard"	42	7	5	62
	"Let the Music Take Me"	-	50	-	-
	"Look Up"	102	13	2	-
	"Don't Blame Me"	-	-	-	-
1981	"Never Gonna Give You Up (Won't Let You Be)"	-	-	2	66
1982	"Forget Me Nots"	23	4	2	8
	"Breakout!"	-	46	-	-
	"I Was Tired of Being Alone"	-	79	-	39
	"Number One"	-	-	-	-
1984	"Get Off (You Fascinate Me)"	-	26	40	-
	"Feels So Real (Won't Let Go)"	78	2	10	51
1987	"Watch Out"	-	9	22	78
	"Anything Can Happen"	-	51	-	-
	"Come Back to Me"	-	65	37	-
1994	"I Do"	-	-	-	-
2004	"Forget Me Nots / Number One"	-	-	-	90

Appearances[]

With The Meeting

• The Meeting (GRP, 1990)
• Update (Hip-Bop, 1995)

With Kenny Burrell

• Heritage (AudioSource, 1980)

With Herbie Hancock

• Lite Me Up (Columbia, 1982)

With Eddie Henderson

• Heritage (Blue Note, 1976)
• Comin' Through (Capitol, 1977)

With Jean-Luc Ponty

• Upon the Wings of Music (Atlantic, 1975)
• Aurora (Atlantic, 1976)

With Wallace Roney

• A Place in Time (HighNote, 2016)

Filmography[]

Musical directing[]

• The 48th Annual Grammy Awards (2006, musical director)
• The 47th Annual Grammy Awards (2005, musical director)
• The 10th Annual Walk of Fame Honoring Smokey Robinson (2004, musical director)
• The 46th Annual Grammy Awards (2004, musical director)
• The 9th Annual Walk of Fame Honoring Aretha Franklin (2003, musical director)
• The 8th Annual Walk of Fame Honoring Stevie Wonder (2002, musical director)
• The Best of Robert Townsend & His Partners in Crime (1991, musical director)
• "No Strings" by "Sheena Easton", Rushen as record producer (1993)
• The Women of Brewster Place (1989, special musical consultant)
• "The Midnight Hour" (unknown episodes, 1990)
• Partners in Crime (1988, musical director)

References[]

Sources[]

• Hogan, Ed. "Patrice Rushen". VH1. Retrieved May 9, 2007.

External links[]

• Patrice Rushen at AllMusic
• Patrice Rushen discography at Discogs.
• Patrice Rushen at IMDb
• Patrice Rushen 2012 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com
• Patrice Rushen Interview NAMM Oral History Program