Angela Winbush

Angela Lisa Winbush (born January 18, 1955) is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who rose to fame first in the 1980s R&B duo René & Angela, also scoring hits as a solo artist.

To date, Winbush has sold over 10 million albums and singles worldwide.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Angela began singing in church.

She grew up in a middle-class area of St. Louis.

Angela is a graduate of Northwest High School.

She did not initially aspire to a career in music, instead studying architecture at Howard University, singing only to earn extra money.

She continued to sing in church while at Howard as well as with gospel legend Richard Smallwood.

She also performed as a singer with a group called "Hot Tea" while she attended Howard University.

They opened for various well-known performers during shows and also did background singing for recording artists.

One of the other members of "Hot Tea" was Tawatha Agee, who later did a lot of background singing on the albums of several well-noted recording artists, eventually joining the funk/soul band Mtume.

By 1977, Angela had changed her major to music education and recorded a demo.

She shopped it to various record labels with no success but, through a personal introduction furnished by respected industry veteran, Wayne K. Garfield, the demo was heard by New York disc jockey Gary Byrd, who made the call that landed Angela a spot in Stevie Wonder's backing vocal group, Wonderlove.

Becoming Wonder's protégé, she learned a great deal about writing and arranging songs.

While in Los Angeles with Wonder, Angela met singer Rene Moore.

The two formed the duo René & Angela later that year.

They soon came to the realization that they could be successful as duo music writers and producers for others as well, and began pursuing that goal.

René & Angela released their self-titled debut album in 1980, followed by Wall to Wall in 1982 and Rise in 1983.

During this period they scored two top 20 R&B hit singles, "I Love You More" and "My First Love.”

During Rene & Angela's early years, Moore and Winbush were asked to write and produce four songs for Janet Jackson's 1982 self-titled debut album, Janet Jackson. One of the songs, "Young Love," became Jackson's first top ten US R&B hit reaching number six on the chart.

They also had songs recorded by the likes of Rufus & Chaka Khan, Lamont Dozier and Odyssey.

In 1985 they scored a US number one hit with "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love" by Stephanie Mills, with whom Angela had forged a close friendship (an earlier version of the song had been recorded by Alton McClain & Destiny).

Having signed with Mercury Records, the duo released their breakthrough album, Street Called Desire the same year.

Among the hit singles included on the album was their first R&B number one with the dance single, "Save Your Love (For #1)," which included guest vocals from rapper Kurtis Blow, making it besides Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You," one of the first songs to prominently feature a rapper.

Other hit singles included "I'll Be Good", the mostly Winbush-led "Your Smile" – another number one hit – and the subsequent "You Don't Have to Cry" which hit number two in the beginning of 1986.

Eventually Street Called Desire sold over a million copies, going platinum, but on the brink of their greatest success, tensions between Winbush and Moore had grown.

After their split, Moore would continue to find success as a songwriter and producer, most notably for Michael Jackson.

In 1986, Winbush was introduced to Ronald Isley, lead singer of the influential Isley Brothers after Benny Medina had agreed to ask Winbush to be involved with the Isleys' next record when Isley proposed plans to work with Winbush on a future project.

Producing, writing and arranging the Isleys' Smooth Sailin' album, Winbush helped the group, now featuring just Ronald and Rudolph (eldest brother O'Kelly had died the previous year), score a top 10 R&B hit with the title track.

In turn, Isley opted to manage Winbush and he helped in the process of releasing her debut solo album, Sharp, which was also released in 1987.

The album included the hit, "Angel" which showcased Winbush's four-octave range.

The song reached the No. 1 R&B position for two weeks in 1987.

Other notable hits include the dance track, "Run to Me," "C'est Toi (It's You)" and the Ron Isley duet, "Hello Beloved."

The album spent 28 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart and 51 weeks on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

In 1988, she wrote and produced two tracks for Sheena Easton's gold album The Lover in Me – "Without You" and "Fire and Rain," both of which showcased Easton's lower range and soulful vocals.

In 1989, Winbush released her second solo album The Real Thing. The title track "It's The Real Thing" reached number two on the R&B chart while subsequent hits "No More Tears" and "Lay Your Troubles Down" continued Winbush's top 40 success on the R&B charts where she was now a fixture on despite failed attempts to cross her over to pop audiences.

The album also included her version of "I Have Learned To Respect The Power of Love"). The same year, Winbush wrote and produced another US R&B number one for Stephanie Mills with "Something in the Way (You Make Me Feel)" for Mill's album Home, as well as the album cut "So Good, So Right" (previously recorded by D'atra Hicks).

In 1989, Winbush oversaw all songwriting and production on The Isley Brothers' 25th album Spend the Night including the US R&B number three hit "Spend the Night (Ce Soir)".

The following year, she scored more top 20 R&B hits as a writer/producer for R&B girl group Body ("Footsteps In The Dark") and newcomer Lalah Hathaway ("Baby Don't Cry") as well as contributing cuts to their respective albums.

In 1992, Winbush co-wrote and co-produced with longtime manager/collaborator/lover Ronald Isley another album for The Isley Brothers, Tracks of Life, featuring the R&B hit "Sensitive Lover".

On June 26, 1993, Winbush and Isley, 13 years Angela's senior, married.