Evelyn 'Champagne' King

Evelyn “Champagne” King (born 1 July 1960; The Bronx, New York City, New York) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer, professionally known as Evelyn “Champagne” King.

Emerging during the late 1970s, she became one of the defining vocalists of post-disco and R&B, first gaining national attention with “Shame” in 1977 and going on to record enduring hits including “I’m in Love”, “Love Come Down” and “Your Personal Touch”. Her career has been marked by chart success across pop, soul and dance audiences, with a catalogue that remains widely recognised in both club culture and classic R&B.

Early Life

Born to Johnniea and Erik King, Evelyn King was raised in Philadelphia as one of eight children. Music formed part of her family environment from an early age: her father sang backup for groups appearing at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, her mother managed a group called Quality Red, and her uncle Avon Long performed as Sportin’ Life in the first Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess and also worked with Lena Horne at the Cotton Club. Known in childhood by the nickname “Bubbles”, King developed her musical instincts in this family setting before entering the recording world. She was discovered while working with her mother as an office cleaner at Philadelphia International Records, where producer Theodore T. Life overheard her singing in a washroom, began coaching her, and helped lead her to a production deal with Galaxy Productions and a recording contract with RCA Records.

Career

At the outset of her recording career, “Champagne” was added to her professional name because Evelyn King was thought to sound too mature for a teenage artist. Her debut album, Smooth Talk, was released in 1977 and introduced “Shame”, her breakthrough single and only top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached No. 9; it also achieved strong soul and dance chart success and became a gold-certified record. A further single from the same album, “I Don’t Know If It’s Right”, also performed strongly and became her second certified gold single. King expanded her commercial reach in the early 1980s with “I’m in Love”, which topped both the R&B singles and dance charts in 1981, followed by Get Loose in 1982, featuring “Love Come Down”, a major crossover success that reached No. 1 on the soul and dance charts and entered the UK top ten. “Betcha She Don’t Love You” continued that momentum, and throughout the mid- to late 1980s, she remained a consistent presence on the soul chart, placing multiple singles in the top twenty. Her later work included Open Book in 2007, which featured “The Dance”, a dance-chart hit, and a collaboration with Miguel Migs on “Everybody” in 2011.

In 2015, she joined Martha Wash and Linda Clifford to form First Ladies of Disco; the group released “Show Some Love”, which reached No. 6 on the dance chart, toured together, and remained active until King’s departure in December 2017.

In recognition of her influence, “Shame” was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame on 20 September 2004 in New York.

Personal Life

King married smooth jazz guitarist Freddie Fox in 1990. She has also spoken publicly about profound personal loss, including the death of her daughter Johnniea, who was born in 1987 with serious health complications and died two years later, as well as the loss of three family members in 1997. In 2006, King survived a major health crisis related to a uterine fibroid, during which she had to be resuscitated after her breathing stopped. Her resilience through personal and medical hardship has become part of her public story, adding depth to a body of work already valued for its emotional directness, rhythmic vitality and lasting contribution to American R&B, soul and dance music.

Current Activities

King remains active as a live performer, with recent and upcoming appearances continuing to place her before audiences on nostalgia, R&B and dance-focused stages. Recent public listings and official social media activity confirm ongoing concert engagements, including anniversary-tour appearances and scheduled live dates in the United States.