Remember when Tawatha Agee was part of the group Mtume? She, James Mtume, Reggie Lucas, and the rest of the group had us jammin’ off of their hits, “Juicy Fruit” and “You, Me and He” back in the day. Well, we found her and guess what? She NEVER left the music scene.

Tawatha has worked with everyone from Levert, Al Jarreau, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Sting, The O’Jays, R. Kelly and the list goes on and on. She and the trio, ‘Lovely Ladies,’ often tour as background singers for the multi-platinum selling Dave Matthews Band and she also sang background on Lenny Kravitz’s album a few years ago.

Another thing Tawatha’s been making a great living off of, are jingles…yep, jingles, as in TV/radio commercials. She is living well and we love seeing that! Read what she revealed about herself to SoulMusic…

The songstress got her first voice lesson from Whitney Houston’s Mom, Cissy Houston, while in elementary school at Bragaw Avenue School in Newark. Here’s what she said about Cissy Houston being her constant her inspiration:

Tawatha Agee: “She’s [Cissy Houston] the godmother because she’s one of the pioneers. She helped pave the way for us all with dignity and grace.”

She was singing with the late, great Luther Vandross up until his last days:

TA: “I’ve sung on every single Luther album since “Never Too Much”. The only one I didn’t sing on was one that he was working on when “Juicy Fruit” came out and we were on tour and I couldn’t get back to do it, but I sang on every single Luther album and I’ve had the privilege of working with him onstage. As time went along and I was doing other things, Luther would use me as a sub when one of his girls couldn’t make it. This was in the later years, because I was doing jingles and television commercials, and it was more lucrative for me to do that, than to travel on the road. He would call me if somebody was on maternity leave or something like that and I would fill in. But I sang on every last project.”

“When he found the people that he liked, that was the group for every single occasion. He was such a consummate teacher and performer, that it was like going to school all over again, but it was just fun. He knew exactly what he wanted at all times and he knew how to pull out the best from each singer that he used.”

On working with the Dave Matthews Band:

TA: “We [the three background singers] became what Dave Matthews called the ‘Lovely Ladies,’ that’s what he called the group that sang with him. The level of musicianship in that band was so amazing, I mean you just went to the next level, and the singers just enhanced what they already had.

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Each one is good in its own way, but Dave Matthews totally blew me away because of the musicianship and the crowd. College kids, 30,000 people, and that was like the smallest stadium they ever played. I’ve never seen this many people to be into the music, and the musicianship, the treatment, Dave respects the singers, and it was mutual respect all around in the music. We put a different spin on what they were doing, because we had a very ethnic look and he loved it.” 

The many jingles she sang on:

TA: “Burger King, KFC, Vagisil, airline commercials. There was a Crest thing! Soulful Crest (laughs). It’s a lot of fun, and you can do very well doing television commercials.”

On what she would like to do with her music career in the future:

TA: “I would love to do another Tawatha solo record and just have it on the internet, so people can really appreciate what I do. […] I have to do what I do. I’m not trying to be 20. I can’t be one of the new girls, younger girls. I can’t do that; I have to be true to myself. People know that, when you’re not true to the music you’re doing; they can feel that. You can really feel that.”

Interview courtesy of SoulMusic