Biography
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Born
13 June 1962 (age 61)
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Born In
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, United States
Val Young (also known as "Lady V"), is an Urban/Dance-pop artist from Detroit, Michigan, who achieved her greatest mainstream success during the 1980s.
Career
She was discovered by George Clinton, who incorporated her as a background vocalist in 1977 for The Brides of Funkenstein, one of the many acts in his Funkadelic stable (she was the only original Brides Maid member to continue through Brides' career). Young appeared on the first single released on Atlantic Records' "Disco To Go". In 1980, she recorded background vocals on the Roy Ayers/Wayne Henderson LP, "Prime Time". Young became a background vocalist for The Gap Band the same year, where she was featured on the funk classic hit "I Don't Believe You Want To Get Up And Dance (Oops, Up Side Your Head)". She recorded five albums with the group and also toured with them.
It wasn’t until she met Rick James that she became popular. James promoted her as the "Black Marilyn Monroe" and brought Young to the attention of Berry Gordy, who signed her to Motown Records on James' recommendation. James produced her debut album "Seduction", released in 1985, which included the hit singles "Mind Games" and the title track "Seduction", as well as "A Piece of My Heart" and "If You Should Ever Be Lonely", which were successful follow-ups in 1986. ("In My House", which was written for and originally recorded by Val Young, didn't make the final cut for the album, but was given to the Mary Jane Girls instead and became a bona fide hit.)
Rick James ran into serious conflict with Motown over the status of his spin-off acts and Young subsequently left the label, signing to Amherst Records, a Buffalo, New York-based label, releasing her second album Private Conversations in 1987. It was not as successful as her debut album, failing to chart and yielding no charting singles.
Recent Times
As well as recently joining the Mary Jane Girls and taking over lead vocals for JoJo, Val Young is currently recording her new album The Voice Beyond with producers Larry "LD" Darrell and Thin C (slated for release mid-2007).
She was also friends with Tupac Shakur and the Outlawz. She appeared on "To Live & Die in LA" on The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory and "Never Forget", a tribute dedicated to Shakur.
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