Cherrelle (born Cheryl Newton in Los Angeles, California in 1958) is a soul singer who rose to fame as one of the premier female R&B divas of the mid-to-late 1980s. Cousin of pop singer and TLC founder Perri “Pebbles” Reid, Cherrelle began her music career shortly after being discovered by Tabu Records founder Clarence Avant, who signed her to his label in 1983. Cherrelle got her name after her boss from a job hollered “Cher-relle, you’re late again!” In 1984, under the production of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, she released her debut, “Fragile”, which went gold, thanks to the Top Ten R&B single, “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On”. She released her best-selling album in 1985 with “High Priority”, which featured the hits “You Look Good to Me”, “Will You Satisfy?” and “Artificial Heart” and her seminal duet with Alexander O’Neal in the #2 single, “Saturday Love”. In 1988, she released her third album, “Affair”, which featured the #1 R&B single, “Everything I Miss at Home”. On that strength, it was her third consecutive gold record. She released her last chart-topper with 1991’s “More than a Woman”, which was a departure from her Jam & Lewis productions. She reunited with the producers eight years later with her album, “The Right Time”, which was released in 1999. Since then, Cherrelle has been performing at venues in America and all over the world. Pop singers Robert Palmer and Mariah Carey have each covered her “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On” while “Saturday Love” has been heralded as one of the greatest soul duets in history.
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