Stacy Lattisaw

Stacy Lattisaw Jackson (née Lattisaw; born November 25, 1966, Washington, D.C.) is an American R&B vocalist and songwriter known for her powerful vocal range and chart-topping success during the 1980s.

Emerging as a child prodigy, she navigated a successful transition from teen star to adult contemporary artist, securing a legacy defined by emotive ballads and dance-pop anthems. Lattisaw is perhaps best recognised for her collaborative work with producer Narada Michael Walden and her duet partnership with Johnny Gill, which yielded the number one R&B hit "Where Do We Go from Here".

Early Life

Lattisaw’s vocal ability was discovered early, leading to significant industry interest before she reached her teens. When she was 11 years old, singer and songwriter Frederick Knight attempted to sign her to his production company. Knight wrote the song "Ring My Bell" specifically for her, envisioning it as a "teenybopper" track about children chatting on the telephone. However, Lattisaw eventually signed with a different label, Cotillion Records, leading Knight to offer the song to Anita Ward. With rewritten lyrics, the track became a disco era classic for Ward. In 1979, at the age of 12, Lattisaw recorded her debut album, Young and in Love, under the direction of the renowned producer Van McCoy. This project was one of McCoy's final major works before his untimely death later that year.

Career

While her debut established her potential, Lattisaw found her definitive sound after affiliating with Narada Michael Walden, a former drummer for the Mahavishnu Orchestra who was launching his production career. Under Walden's direction, she released a series of successful R&B albums between 1981 and 1986. During this period, she secured several hits on the US R&B charts and achieved international success with "Jump to the Beat", which reached the top 3 in the UK in 1980. On the US Hot 100, she scored three moderate hits: "Let Me Be Your Angel" (No. 21), "Love on a Two-Way Street" (No. 26), and "Miracles" (No. 40). A notable live highlight occurred in 1981 when she served as the opening act for the Jacksons’s Triumph Tour. In 1986, she signed with Motown, where she cemented her adult career with the 1989 number one R&B hit "Where Do We Go from Here", a duet with Johnny Gill.

Personal Life

Lattisaw retired from the commercial pop music industry in 1992 to focus on her family life. She married Kevin Jackson on January 6, 1992, and the couple has two children, Kevin Jr. and Kayla. The family resides in Maryland, where they own and operate a recording studio. Since her retirement from secular music, Lattisaw has dedicated her vocal talents exclusively to gospel music. Her journey and impact on the music industry were chronicled in a 2010 episode of the TV One docu-series Unsung, which featured her personal reflections on her career trajectory.

Current Activities

Although she stepped away from the mainstream spotlight decades ago, Lattisaw continues to record and perform within the gospel genre. In 2023, she released a new single titled "Honey". Her last recorded appearance in secular music remains her background vocals on Tanya Blount's 1994 single "Through the Rain". At present, Stacy Lattisaw Jackson remains active within her genre, with updates announced via official channels as confirmed.