Scherrie Payne

Scherrie Payne (born November 4 1944 in Detroit, Michigan} is an African-American singer. The younger sister of singer/actress Freda Payne, Scherrie Payne was lead singer of The Supremes from 1973 to 1977, after Jean Terrell left the group in the fall of 1973. She is sometimes referred to as "the little lady with the big voice". Prior to her stint with the Supremes, Scherrie was the lead singer for Glass House, a group signed to the Invictus Label, run by former Motown songwriters Eddie and Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier.

Being a new Supreme in an era when their popularity was beginning to wane, Payne remained quiet during many interviews with the group; mainly because four years later, reporters were still asking about Diana Ross. When she arrived original Supreme Mary Wilson and 1960s Supreme Cindy Birdsong were also in the group. Payne gave the group powerful vocals and attitude a Birdsong and Wilson backed her up very well. Payne gained recognition for her vocals in "He's My Man". Wilson by this time was also established as a lead singer as she had sang lead many times during the Jean Terrell era. An accomplished songwriter, Payne never got to write any material for The Suprmems which disheartened her. Then original Supreme Florence Ballard died in 1976, Birdsong left once again and Susaye Greene took her place as the last official Supreme. Greene is also an accomplished songwriter and wasn't given the ability to use her songwriting skills.

Payne began to see that the lavishness of The Supremes was nothing that she could affect with her talents and became withdrawn. Mary Wilson's husband , Pedro, at that time was their manager and he was very difficult to get along with. She also knew that Motown really didn't care about The Supremes anymore as they wanted to further Diana Ross' career. Payne did enter the Supremes into the disco era, however, with "You're My Driving Wheel", "Let Yourself Go", and "Love I Never Knew You Could Feel So Good".

The last three Supremes (Scherrie, Mary, and Susaye) disbanded in 1977, when Mary Wilson announced that she would go solo. At this time, The Supremes name became licensed to Scherrie and Susaye who chose Joyce Vincent Wilson of Tony Orlando and Dawn to be the next Supreme. However, when Wilson decided she wanted to rejoin the group, Payne and Greene left The Supremes because they didn't want to work with Wilson's "then" husband Pedro anymore. Payne and Greene released a last album called "Partners" under the name Scherrie and Susaye in 1978. In the next decades, Payne's voice would continue to grow and reach higher registers.

In 1986, she joined Terrell and Lynda Laurence to form the Former Ladies of the Supremes or FLOS. In 2000, along with Laurence, she became a part of Diana Ross' Return To Love tour, which was billed as a Supremes reunion, though Ross, Laurence, and Payne were never in the group at the same time. High ticket prices and the fact that Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong were not present were factors contributing to the tour's demise.

As a solo artist, Scherrie has enjoyed several club hits, notably 'I'm Not In Love'(which featured sister Freda Payne and former Supreme Mary Wilson on backing vocals) in 1982, followed two years later by "One Night Only" (which also featured former Supreme Cindy Birdsong on background). In 1986 Scherrie recorded a solo album for Superstar International Records which contained several duets with Philip Ingram. The following year Scherrie signed with British producer Ian Levine for his Motown reunion project, Motorcity Records. Whilst with this lable Scherrie released two solo singles 'Chasing Me Into Somebodyelse's Arms'and 'Pure Energy'(which Scherrie co-wrote), as well as covering two Diana Ross tunes, 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' and 'I'm Still Waiting'. Other product recorded for Motorcity included 'Who's Wrong, Who's Wright' and One More Time'.

Payne, Scherrie
Payne, Scherrie
Payne, Scherrie
Payne, Scherrie
Payne, Scherrie

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