Genre: R&B/Soul/Urban
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Say the name Barry White and you'd be hard pressed to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a huge, cross-sectional following. He was at home appearing on Soul Train, guesting with a full band on The Today Show, and appearing in cartoon form in various episodes of The Simpsons. During the '70s, Dinah Shore devoted a... [+] Read More
Genre: R&B/Soul/Urban
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s
Singer Evelyn "Champagne" King first came to fame with the million-selling '70s disco smashes "Shame" and "I Don't Know If It's Right." Born July 1, 1960, in the Bronx, NY, she had a showbiz lineage. Her uncle was actor/singer/dancer Avon Long, who first played Sportin' Life in the play Porgy and Bess and later starred in the '70s play Bubblin'... [+] Read More
Genre: R&B/Soul/Urban
Decades Active: 70s
Along with wife Gwen McCrae, Miami-based artist George McCrae was a prime mover on the early disco front with his own R&B chart-topper "Rock Your Baby" in 1974. With disco kings Harry Casey and Richard Finch of KC & the Sunshine Band producing and writing his output on Henry Stone's T.K. label, McCrae rapidly returned with the double-sided hit... [+] Read More
Genre: R&B/Soul/Urban
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Perhaps second only to Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor has become one of the best-known female disco artists from the '70s due to the ongoing success of her monster 1979 hit (and subsequent "woman's anthem"), "I Will Survive." Born Gloria Fowles on September 7, 1949, in Newark, NJ, the singer (who began going by Gloria Gaynor by the early '70s),... [+] Read More
Genre: R&B/Soul/Urban
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s
Best remembered for her number one R&B hit "Rockin' Chair" from 1975, Gwen McCrae was a gutsy Southern soul diva with a particular affinity for dance tracks. Along with her husband George ("Rock Your Baby"), Gwen was part of the Miami-based T.K. Records stable, which laid a great deal of groundwork for the disco explosion. Born Gwen Mosley in... [+] Read More
Genre: R&B/Soul/Urban
Decades Active: 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s
Harvey Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo wop group the Moonglows, was an early mentor of Marvin Gaye (co-producing "Sexual Healing" and Gaye's hit duets with Tammi Terrell), helped to develop several Motown acts, and helped to launch the careers of '70s soul-pop group New Birth and disco superstar Sylvester ("Dance (Disco Heat)," "You Make Me... [+] Read More
Genre: R&B/Soul/Urban
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s
The Bee Gees may have been the undisputed disco kings of the late '70s, but KC & the Sunshine Band weren't far behind. From the mid- to late '70s, the multi-member and racially integrated group led by bandleaders Harry Wayne "KC" Casey and Richard Finch racked up some of the era's biggest and instantly recognizable dance hits. Casey and Finch... [+] Read More
Genre: R&B/Soul/Urban
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s
Vicki Sue Robinson turned the disco and pop music world upside down with her rousing 1976 Top Ten Pop smash, "Turn The Beat Around." A strong, vibrant vocalist, Robinson's records were among some of the best produced and arranged '70s disco releases with solid beats built on solid songs. Born in Harlem (or Philadelphia) in 1955, Robinson's birth... [+] Read More
Genre: R&B/Soul/Urban
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Part clever concept, part exaggerated camp act, the Village People were worldwide sensations during disco's heyday and keep reviving like the phoenix. Producer Jacques Morali in 1977 assembled a group designed to attract gay audiences while parodying (some claimed exploiting) that same constituency's stereotypes. Songwriters Phil Hurtt and Peter... [+] Read More