Cheryl Lynn
b. Cheryl Lynn Smith, 11 March 1957, Los Angeles, California, USA. The full-throated Lynn became a hitmaker at the height of disco's popularity singing dance tunes that retained the gospel vocal approach of classic soul. Lynn grew up in the church where her mother was a minister of music. Her break in the business came in 1976 after she won as a contestant on the US television amateur contest show THE GONG SHOW. Before signing with Columbia, however, she spent half a year with a touring company of The Wiz, a black musical based on the WIZARD OF OZstory. Lynn achieved a million-seller with her very first record, Got To Be Real, hitting number 1 R&B and number 12 pop in 1978. Other chart entries followed, notably Shake It Up Tonight (US R&B number 5), Encore (US R&B number 1), and If You Were Mine (US R&B number 11). She also scored in 1982 with an excellent remake of the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell hit, If This World Was Mine (US R&B number 4), on which she duetted with Luther Vandross. Her success in the UK was minimal, with only Encore briefly entering the charts in 1984.