Penny Ford is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer. Also known as 'Pennye Ford', she is the daughter of veteran record company executive and producer Gene Redd, Sr., and evangelist/pastor Carolyn Ford-Griffith (now deceased). She is also the younger half-sister of the late singer Sharon Redd

Sharon Redd

Sharon Redd was an American singer from New York. She was the half sister of R&B singer Pennye Ford.-Biography and career:...

. Following a stint as a GAP Band

Gap Band

The Gap Band was an American funk band, who rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. Comprising brothers Charlie, Ronnie and Robert Wilson, the band first formed as the Greenwood, Archer and Pine Street Band in 1967 in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The group shortened its name to The Gap Band...

 backing vocalist, she released an album entitled Pennye in 1984, and two singles from the album made the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

; "Change Your Wicked Ways", which reached #76, and "Dangerous", which reached #43.

In 1993, she released another album, Penny Ford, and achieved another UK Top 50 hit with her cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of the 1972 Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

 song, "Daydreaming" (which reached #43).

Ford became friends with fellow vocalist Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...

, while singing background vocals on "Our Day Will Come", a duet with Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".-Biography:...

. She was also a lead singer with the German electronic dance band Snap!

Snap!

Snap! is a German Eurodance project formed in 1989 by Frankfurt-based producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, but was most successful when fronted by rapper Turbo B, who performed on the UK number 1 singles "The Power" and...

, on their 1990 number one hit, "The Power". Ford also sang the lead vocal on the Snap! songs "Oops Up" and "Mary Had a Little Boy".

In 2003, Ford appeared on an episode of the U.S. television program Judge Mathis

Judge Mathis

Judge Mathis is a syndicated television legal reality show produced originally by Black Pearl Productions. In 2008, it entered its tenth season produced by AND Syndicated Productions and Telepictures. It is taped at NBC Tower in Chicago, but includes cases and litigants from other U.S....

suing a producer/boyfriend. One of her witnesses was Chaka Khan; though Khan did not appear, she spoke to the judge via telephone.

Singles

• "Dangerous" / "Change Your Wicked Ways" (Total Experience, 1984)
• "Uh, Oh, I Made A Mistake" (Total Experience, 1984)
• "Daydreaming" (Columbia, 1993)
• "I'll Be There" (Columbia, 1993)

External links

• Pennye Ford information