Dawn Silva is an American funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 vocalist.

Silva was born in Sacramento, California

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

. She started her career as a background vocalist for Sly and The Family Stone. She joined P-Funk

P-Funk

P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...

 in 1977. She was the only original Brides of Funkenstein member to continue through Brides' career. In 1978, with Lynn Mabry

Lynn Mabry

Lynn Mabry is an American vocalist. She got her start in Sly and the Family Stone, along with Dawn Silva. In 1977 she joined P-Funk . The following year Mabry and Silva became the original Brides Of Funkenstein, releasing their first album Funk Or Walk. Lynn became pregnant and left the band in 1979...

, she released the successful and acclaimed Funk Or Walk

Funk or Walk

Funk Or Walk is the debut album by the American female funk band The Brides of Funkenstein. The album was released by Atlantic Records in September 1978. The Brides of Funkenstein consisted of P-Funk background singers Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva....

. The Bride's first single release on Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

, "Disco To Go", sold over five hundred thousand units, and was certified Gold. In 1979, with Sheila Horne

Sheila Horne

Brides of Funkenstein member Sheila Horne was hired as a back-up singer for original Brides Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva in 1978. She became a main singer with Silva and Jeanette McGruder in 1979 for the second Brides album Never Buy Texas from a Cowboy and joined Rick James on tour in 1981 as an...

 & Jeanette McGruder

Jeanette McGruder

Jeanette McGruder, born , is a singer.As a child, McGruder discovered a natural ability to sing. Taught by her stepmother, she joined a female trio called "New Dawn" which would perform at nightclubs, and one black panther rally. During her schooling, McGruder played violin with Earl Klugh in a...

, she released the top single "Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy," voted by Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

2001 as one of the top 50 coolest albums ever released. The Brides were the only group in the funk organization to receive a Rhythm and Blues Award in 1981 for Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy

Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy

Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy is the second album from the American female funk band The Brides of Funkenstein. It was released in November 1979 by Atlantic Records. On this album, the Brides were a trio consisting of Dawn Silva, Sheila Horne, and Jeanette McGruder...

.

Later career

Silva recorded and toured with The Gap Band in 1982. She signed a solo deal with Polygram Records in 1988, but her debut album was never released.

Her recording and touring credits include and not limted to are, Ice Cube

Ice Cube

O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...

, Boyz n the Hood

Boyz N the Hood

Boyz n the Hood is a 1991 American hood film written and directed by John Singleton. Starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Angela Bassett and Regina King, the film depicts life in poor South Central Los Angeles, California and was filmed and released...

, Roy Ayers

Roy Ayers

Roy Ayers is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk .- Biography :Ayers...

, Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg

Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...

, Coolio

Coolio

Artis Leon Ivey Jr. , better known by the stage name Coolio, is an American musician, rapper, actor and record producer.-Late 80s:He recorded two singles in the late 80s, titled "Watcha Gonna Do" and "You're Gonna Miss Me"...

, B.B. King, and Parliament Funkadelic. Her first solo album release in Europe on Musisoft (Paris France) All My Funky Friends, December 2000, sold thousands of units, and was hailed by Tower Records

Tower Records

Tower Records was a retail music chain that was based in Sacramento, California. It currently exists as an international franchise and an online music store....

 (2001) as the only authentic funk album to be released in over two decades. Silva's debut CD a stunning slab of infectious grooves (Amy Hanson AMG - All Music Guide) was the talk of the internet, and would earn her a second license deal with a Dutch label Challenge Records and headline performances such as The North Sea Jazz Festival in Den Haag Holland were written to be electrifying.

Discography

• Heard Ya Missed Me Sly & The Family Stone CBS
• I Get High On You Sly & The Family Stone CBS
• Parliament Live Parliament/Funkadelic Casablanca
• Funkentelechy VS the Placebo Syndrome Parliament/Funkadelic Warner Bros
• One Nation Under a Groove Parliament/Funkadleic Warmer Bros
• Aqua Boogie Parliament/Funkadelic Warner Bros
• GloryHallaStopoid Parliament/Funkadelic
• Trombibulation Parliament/Funkadelic
• Games Dames & Guitar Thangs Eddie Hazel Warner Bros
• The Horny Horns Atlantic Records
• Funk or Walk The Brides Of Funkenstein Atlantic Records
• Never Buy Texas From a Cowboy The Brides of Funkenstein Atlantic Records
• These Boots Are Made For Funking Bootsy Collins Warner Bros
• Gap Band IV The Gap Band Mercury
• Gap Band V The Gap Band Mercury
• Gap Band VI The Gap Band RCA
• Gap Band VII The Gap Band CBS
• All My Funky Friends Dawn Silva(SilvaSounds/JDC Records 2000)

External links

• DawnSilva.com via Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
  .