Who Is Miki Howard and is she the mother of Michael?
"Come Share My Love" and "Love" were both Top 10 hits in the 1980's and 90's, as well as "Baby, Be Mine", which was a top 10 hit in 1987."Ain't Nuthin' in the World" peaked at number one on the U.S.There is a top R&B Singles chart.
Howard was born in Chicago.Clay Graham was the daughter of Josephine Howard of The Caravans and The Pilgrim Jubilees.Howard's mother took her to the homes of famous people.Howard's mother sang in a choir led by James Cleveland when she was a child in Los Angeles.Albertina Walker and Fats Domino were two of the people who visited Howard's Los Angeles residence.Howard was influenced by jazz greats.She was influenced in her pursuit of a professional singing career when she visited a popular night club in Los Angeles and a venue for music acts such as Earth, Wind and Fire.
She competed in a teen contest at the age of 16.After the show, she met Augie Johnson, leader and member of R&B group Side Effect, who happened to be in the audience and began working with Howard on music.She was chosen as the vocalist for the group after Johnson befriended Howard.Howard became a Side Effect member in 1979 after a period of time.Howard was with the group for a few years.Side Effect's After the Rain was released in 1980.The album did not do well on the charts, as well as the next two Elektra albums.Side Effect's best known hits were "I Can't Play" and a cover of "georgy porgy".She had two children with Johnson.In addition to singing with Side Effect, she did background vocals for other artists.Howard left the group in 1985 because she was ready to start her own career.She got a recording contract after putting together a demo.
Howard's debut album, Come Share My Love, was released in 1986.The album peaked at number 19 on the Top R&B Albums list.Her first U.S. hit single was "Come Share My Love".The song reached number five on the chart.The follow up single was a cover version of Glenn Miller's "Imagination", which peaked to number 13 on the R&B Singles.She began her first concert tour in 1987 with two hit singles from the album."Come Back to Me Lovers" was the final single and was released at number 33 on the R&B singles chart.
Love Confessions was Howard's second album.LeMel worked with Howard on future albums and produced several tracks.Her success continued with two more Top 10 R&B singles from the album, one of which was produced by Nick Martinelli.The duet "That's What Love Is" peaked to number five on the R&B Singles chart.The duet and final single "Crazy" peaked at number 38 on the R&B singles.LeVert embarked on a U.S. tour in support of their album's.One of Howard's biggest hits from her third album was her romance with the pair.Howard won the Best New Artist award at the Soul Train Music Awards.
The self-titled Miki Howard was Howard's final album on Atlantic.The album was number four on the Top R&B Albums chart.The album was Howard's most successful to date.The song "I'll Be Your Shoulder", "Mister" and "Just The Way You Want Me To" were written by Gerald Levert.Howard's first single, "Ain't Nuthin' in the World", peaked at number-one on the R&B Singles.Howard had two more Top 5 R&B hits.The song "Love Under New Management" peaked to number two and a cover of "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" was at number three on the R&B singles chart.
Howard was no longer a recording artist with Atlantic by 1992, she was signed by Giant Records.Femme Fatale was Howard's fourth studio album.The album peaked at number seven on the chart.The first single, "Ain't Nobody Like You", was produced by LeMel Humes.The song peaked at number one on the R&B Singles chart, Howard's second chart-topper, and number 64 in the Hot 100.The second single and music video for "Release Me" peaked at number 35 on the R&B/ Hip-Hop Airplay charts, but received little radio play, and was released a second time."Shining Through" and "But I Love You" were both produced by David Foster.
Howard played jazz singer Billie Holiday in Spike Lee's 1992 bio-pic film Malcolm X.Holiday's vocal technique and music had always influenced her.In the fall of 1992, Miki recorded covers of her favorite Holiday songs.She landed a role in John Singleton's 1993 film Poetic Justice, which starred pop singer Janet Jackson and hip-hop artist/actor Tupac Shakur.Her lowest charting album was her fifth studio album, which was released in December 1993 under Giant Records.The cover tracks were produced by David Foster and LeMel Humes.Only a radio promo of "Don't Explain" was played on R&B and jazz stations in the U.S.
Howard was no longer with Giant Records by 1997.Can't Count Me Out was her first album in four years and was released under a new label, Hush.She was the first artist to not have an album on the Top R&B/ Hip-Hop Albums.A cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Love Every Little Thing About You" is one of the duets on the album.A cover of the jazz standard "You Don't Know What Love Is" was produced by LeMel Humes.