Viola Billups, better known by her stage name Pearly Gates is an American soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 singer and member of girl group

Girl group

A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...

 The Flirtations.

Biography

Billups was born in Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 in 1946. She joined The Flirtations with sisters Earnestine Pearce and Betty Pearce in 1964 and moved with the group to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1968 where their music was popular. Pearly left the group in 1973 and released her first single "Sad Old Shadow" on Polydor Records

Polydor Records

Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...

 under the name Vie. She did not adapt her artist name Pearly Gates before her second single "Johnny and the Jukebox" in 1974. Several more singles followed in the late 70s on RCA Records

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

 and Bronze Records

Bronze Records

Bronze Records is an independent English record label set up in 1971 by record producer Gerry Bron, and based in Chalk Farm, London.Bron had been producing Uriah Heep for Vertigo Records, and he set up this new label for future Uriah Heep releases, along with Juicy Lucy, Richard Barnes and Colosseum...

 and she remained a popular artist on TV, being a regular performer on the Cliff Richard show http://www.cliffrichardsongs.com/cliffandshads/boots.html.
In 1979, she completed her first album Fading Into the Night with producer Ian Levine

Ian Levine

Ian Levine is an English songwriter, producer, and DJ. He is also a well-known fan of the long-running television show Doctor Who.Levine attended Arnold School in Blackpool from 1963 to 1970...

, although the album was supposed to have been released by American singer Cobie Jones who ultimately didn't make it to the sessions. The album, however, became a victim of the disco backlash and wasn't released until 16 years later.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl8mABYlmng

In 1985, she enjoyed a huge Hi-NRG

Hi-NRG

Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...

 hit with the song "Action"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw8VBnDfG3I and also toured with Madeline Bell

Madeline Bell

Madeline Bell is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the United Kingdom during the 1960s, having arrived from the US in the gospel show Black Nativity in 1962, with vocal group The Bradford Singers.-Career:She worked as a session singer, most notably backing for Dusty...

 and Katie Kissoon, performing with James Last Orchestra

James Last Orchestra

The James Last Orchestra is a German big-band orchestra with strings. The orchestra was established in 1964 as a studio orchestra, led by jazz musician Hans Last...

. Two of her unreleased disco tracks were released on 12" singles in Levine's Nightmare Gold series in 1987. In 1995, Levine recorded six new tracks with her (including a remake of "Action" and released them along with her lost 1979 album on the CD The Best of Pearly Gates. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae98Gsfz37o

Pearly continues to perform regularly with The Flirtations who remain popular on the Northern Soul

Northern soul

Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...

 scene. She also ran her own management company, Viemanagement, working with boy band

Boy band

A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...

 Dyyce and singer Anousha. In 2007 she recorded four new tracks - two solo and two with The Flirtations - for Ian Levine's Centre City Records releases Northern Soul 2007

Northern Soul 2007

Northern Soul 2007 is a compilation, released September 2007, consisting of 24 new tracks as a tribute to the 1960s–1970s Northern Soul era, produced by Ian Levine and Clive Scott...

and Disco 2008. 2008 saw her record two retro-style tracks with Scandinavian label Night Dance Records http://www.myspace.com/nightdancerecords, eventually evolving into a full album project On a Winning Streak, released March 11, 2010, a 20-track compilation of new recordings, including her 2009 single "Roulette" by The Flirtations; her 3 recordings for Centre City Records; 4 previously unreleased 1977 recordings, produced by H. B. Barnum; and a never-before recorded song, "Broken Bottles", written by the Bee Gees

Bee Gees

The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...

. The package also included a 12-track DVD. One of the tracks "Stop for Love" was premièred on Youtube, late October 2009, featuring straight icon Zeb Atlas

Zeb Atlas

Zeb Atlas is an American male bodybuilder, softcore performer, go-go dancer, personal trainer, model and porn actor.-Biography and career:...

and gay icon Dave 'Muscles' Jenkins as the singer's love interest - a video that attracted a 100,000 views over the next six months.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljZLUjJmWVY

Albums

• "The Best of Pearly Gates" (Hot Productions, 1995)
• "On a Winning Streak" (Night Dance Records, 2010)

Singles

• "Sad Old Shadow" / "Stay" (as Vie - Polydor, 1973)
• "Johnny and the Jukebox" / "They Were Good Times" (Polydor, 1974)
• "Make It My Business to Get You Boy" / You're the One for Me" (RCA, 1975)
• "Burning Love" (Bronze, 1978)
• "Fandango Dancing" / "Dancing on a Dream" (Bronze, 1979)
• "Action" (Funkin' Marvellous, 1985)
• "Sweet (Like Honey To a Bee)" / "Action" (Funkin' Marvellous, 1985)
• "Third Time Lucky" (Funkin' Marvellous, 1986)
• "No Two Ways About It" (Nightmare Gold, 1987)
• "Fading Into the Night" (Nightmare Gold, 1987)
• "One Less Bell to Answer" / "The Race Is On" (Nightmare Records, 1989)
• "One Time Too Many" / "Stop for Love" (Night Dance Records, 2009)

External links

• http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/pearly_gates
• http://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/1/867.html?1025465089