Ep. 73 - SIEDAH GARRETT ("Man in the Mirror")
Siedah Garrett is best known as the co-writer, with Glen Ballard, of \u201cMan in the Mirror,\u201d a #1 worldwide pop hit recorded by Michael Jackson. The Southern California native launched her career with a group called Plush in the early 1980s before joining Deco, which was assembled by her mentor, legendary producer Quincy Jones. It was Jones who played \u201cMan in the Mirror\u201d for Michael Jackson. The King of Pop fell in love with the song and the voice on the demo tape. In addition to recording \u201cMan in the Mirror,\u201d Michael invited Siedah to be his duet partner on \u201cI Just Can\u2019t Stop Loving You,\u201d which was released as the first single from the\xa0Bad\xa0album and hit #1 on the\xa0Billboard\xa0pop chart. Siedah would go on to co-write \u201cKeep the Faith\u201d on Jackson\u2019s\xa0Dangerous\xa0album and join him as a featured vocalist on the\xa0Dangerous\xa0world tour. As a backing vocalist, Siedah can be heard on recordings by Madonna, Sarah Vaughan, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Natalie Cole, Santana, Jessica Simpson, and others. As a featured artist she\u2019s scored hits such as the chart-topping R&B duet \u201cDon\u2019t Look Any Further\u201d with former Temptation Dennis Edwards and her solo Top 20 R&B single \u201cK.I.S.S.I.N.G.\u201d Beyond her work with Michael Jackson, highlights from Siedah\u2019s songwriting catalog include \u201cSometimes,\u201d a Top 20 R&B hit for The Brand New Heavies, of which she was also a member, as well as five songs on Quincy Jones\u2019s multi-Grammy award winning\xa0Back on the Block\xa0album. The long list of artists who\u2019ve recorded Siedah\u2019s songs includes Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Al Jarreau, Earth Wind & Fire, The Pointer Sisters, Paula Abdul, Amy Grant, Bobby McFerrin, Barry White, Al B. Sure, El Debarge, James Ingram, will.i.am, and others. \xa0 The Grammy winning songwriter was also nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. The first, \u201cLove You I Do,\u201d was performed by Jennifer Hudson in the film\xa0Dreamgirls. The second, \u201cReal in Rio,\u201d was from the animated film\xa0Rio, and was co-written with Sergio Mendes.