Gwen Guthrie

A big soul mama who crossed over into the 1980s dance scene, Gwen Guthrie was a proud advocate of gay rights and talented songwriter. Raised in Newark, New Jersey, Guthrie studied classical music and piano as a child before singing with vocal groups The Ebonettes and the Matchmakers and getting her big break as a backing singer for Aretha Franklin. She worked as a session musician, sang radio commercial jingles and penned songs for Roberta Flack and Sister Sledge, as well as writing Ben E. King's US Top Five hit Supernatural. Striking up a partnership with reggae producers Sly And Robbie in the late 1970s, Guthrie became a part of New York's early house scene and earned the nickname "The Queen of the Paradise Garage" for her performances at the legendary loft nightclub. A string of post-disco anthems followed on albums Portrait (1983), Just For You (1985) and Good To Go Lover (1986) before she scored her biggest mainstream hit in 1986 with single Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent, which reached Number 5 in the UK charts. She went on to influence the likes of M People, Foxy Brown and Utah Saints with her dance floor soul, before her death in 1999 from uterine cancer at the age of 48.