Marva Hicks

Marva Denise Hicks (May 5, 1956 – September 16, 2022) was an American R&B singer and actress. She signed with Polydor in the late 1980s, recorded her self-titled album in 1991, and later worked in Broadway theatre and on television.

Life and career

Initially a gospel singer, she recorded commercial secular music in the 1980s, and scored her biggest chart hit with the single "Never Been in Love Before", written and produced by Jimmy Scott. The record peaked at number seven on the R&B charts in 1991, while two singles followed. On July 16, 1996, she performed as a background singer for Michael Jackson in a free concert at the Jerudong Park Amphitheatre in Bandar Seri Begawan. The concert was in celebration of the fiftieth birthday of Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, and was attended by the Brunei Royal Family. As part of the setlist, Hicks sang the female part of the duet "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" with Jackson. She also performed as a background singer during Michael Jackson's HIStory World Tour.

On television, she played T'Pel, the wife of Tuvok, in two episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, and appeared in several other recurring roles in other series. She sang the gospel song "There's No Hiding Place Down Here" in the Babylon 5 episode "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place".

She died in New York City on September 16, 2022, at the age of 66