Patrice Rushen

Rushen was the first woman to serve as music director for the 46th, 47th, and 48th Grammy Awards.

Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist and R&B singer.

She is also a composer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director.

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).

In 1978, when she was 23, she began recording with Elektra.

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.

Rushen married Marc St. Louis, a concert tour manager and live show production specialist, in 1986.

They have one son, Cameron and one daughter named Jadyn.

The name of her publishing company, Baby fingers Inc., is pulled from her nickname Babyfingers for her tiny hands.

She was the only woman music director/conductor/arranger for a late-night show titled The Midnight Hour, which aired on CBS in 1990.

Rushen has received three Grammy nominations.

With CAB

With Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter

With The Meeting

With Kenny Burrell

With Herbie Hancock

With Eddie Henderson

With Sadao Watanabe

With Jean-Luc Ponty

With Letizia Gambi

With Wallace Roney

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.

In 2021 her song "Forget Me Nots" was used in a dance challenge on TikTok.

Her 12th album Signature also received a Grammy nomination for best instrumental in 1998.

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.

Rushen is the elder of two daughters born to Allen and Ruth Rushen (former Director of California Department of Corrections).

Patrice was three years old when she began playing the piano, and by the time she was six, she was giving classical recitals.

In her teens, she attended Locke High School and later earned a degree in music from the University of Southern California.

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.

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 Ndugu Chancler, Alphonso Johnson and Ernie Watts.

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.

Rushen's songs are sampled often in other artists' music.