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June Deniece Chandler (born June 3, 1950) known by her stage name Deniece Williams is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s. Williams, whose music has been influenced by Soul and Funk, is known for her hits such as "Free", "Let's Hear It for the Boy", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle", and for her many vocal duets with Johnny Mathis.
Born in Gary, Indiana, Williams attended Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland in the hopes of becoming a registered nurse and an anesthetist but dropped out after a year and a half. "You have to be a good student to be in college, and I wasn't." She also performed on the side during that time ("I got a part-time job singing at a club, Casino Royal, and I liked it. It was a lot of fun.") During those years Williams worked also in a telephone company and as a ward clerk in the Chicago Mercy Hospital. As Denise Chandler, She recorded for The Toddlin' Town group of labels and one of those early records, 'I'm Walking Away' released on Toddlin' Town's 'Lock Records' subsidiary in the late 60's, is a favorite on England's Northern Soul scene.
In the 1970s, she became a backup vocalist for Stevie Wonder as part of "Wonderlove".
She left Wonder in 1975 and after signing to Columbia Records, she teamed up with two famed producers: Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, and his frequent collaborator, Charles Stepney. Her 1976 debut album entitled This Is Niecy was released. The single "Free" reached #2 on the Black Singles chart, #25 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the British Singles chart. The album also featured "Cause You Love Me Baby" (which charted separately on the R&B chart as the flip side of "Free") and "That's What Friends Are For". She also shared a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with pop singer Johnny Mathis in 1978 with the duet "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late". The duet also topped the Black Singles and Adult Contemporary charts. Williams also topped the dance charts with her disco single "I've Got the Next Dance". Mathis and Williams also recorded the popular theme to the 1980s sitcom Family Ties, "Without Us".
Williams moved on to the American Recording Company (ARC) in the early 1980s where she scored the top ten R&B smash hit "Silly" in 1981. The following year, yet another famed producer, Thom Bell, helped Williams score another #1 R&B chart-topper with her remake of The Royalettes' "It's Gonna Take a Miracle", which became a Top 10 pop hit as well, reaching #10.
In 1984, Williams released the album Let's Hear It for the Boy, in which the title track reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was featured on the soundtrack to Footloose. The song would prove to be the biggest pop hit of her career - and the last. She also contributed vocals, along with Maurice White, to the song "And Then" from Weather Report's album Mr. Gone released in 1982.
Williams continued releasing albums during the 1980s such as Hot On The Trail (1986), Water Under The Bridge (1987), and As Good As It Gets (1988), which featured her last Top Ten hit to date, "I Can't Wait", written by Skylark. However, in part due to a lack of promotion from her record label, her mainstream popularity faded.
Although Williams had recorded one inspirational song on almost each of her secular albums, it was in 1980 that her musical career path began change favoring Gospel music. Williams joined with friends Phillip Bailey (Earth, Wind and Fire fame), Billy Davis and Marilyn McCoo to present a gospel show at a popular Los Angeles club named The Roxy. The show was called "Jesus At the Roxy". Williams later reported that "God did something miraculous. Over three hundred people were saved." as reported in an interview Williams gave to Gospel Today Magazine. After that, both Bailey and Williams decided to pursue careers in Christian music.
In 1983, Williams and Bailey recorded "They Say", an atmospheric, slow praise song that builds towards the end with rousing words of praise. The song was written by songwriters Skip Scarborough and Terri McFaddin and received airplay on both Urban and Gospel Black radio. Williams later recorded the song with Christian artist Sandi Patti and won a Grammy for it.
In 1984, Williams sang a Gospel song at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards instead of singing her #1 hit song "Let's Hear It For The Boy" much to her record company's disdain as reported in the liner notes from the 1996 release From The Beginning. She sang an acapella version of her 1977 composition "God Is Amazing". In 1986, she would release her first full-length gospel album, So Glad I Know (Sparrow 1121; # 8-gospel) which brought her two Grammy awards.
Williams would continue to write, record and release Gospel music for the next several years. From 1996 to 2004, she presented her own BBC radio show in the UK, showcasing new gospel and inspirational music. During that time (1999) she recorded the Gospel album This Is My Song which brought her another Grammy award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.
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