Brenda K. Starr
| Brenda K. Starr | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Brenda Joy Kaplan |
| Also known as | La Reina De Las Cafre ("The Queen Of 'Cafre'") |
| Born | October 15, 1966 |
| Origin | New York, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, dance, pop, salsa, freestyle (early) |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Labels |
MCA (1986–1990) Epic / Parcha / Platano (1996–2000) Sony (2000–2004) Boss Entertainment (2005–present) |
| Associated acts | Mariah Carey |
| Website | Official Website |
Brenda K. Starr (born Brenda Kaplan; October 15, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. She is well known originally in R&B, dance and pop but now mostly in salsa-based music. She is also well known for her 1980s work with freestyle music.
Starr was born as Brenda Joy Kaplan to a Jewish American father, organist Harvey Kaplan (also known as Harvey Kaye of the 1960s band the Spiral Starecase) and a Puerto Rican Roman Catholic mother.
In the early 1980s, through a chance meeting with Harry Belafonte, Starr landed a role in his 1984 hip hop film, Beat Street; she appeared in it, as herself, as a singer at an open-microphone audition. Starr's appearance in the movie garnered attention, leading to a recording contract on Mirage Records, through Arthur Baker, who enlisted the help of two production teams (Lotti Golden and Richard Scher, and Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers) to complete Starr's debut album, I Want Your Love. The lead single, "Pickin' Up Pieces", written by Arthur Baker and Lotti Golden, was a local club sensation and national hit, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Charts and on the Maxi Singles Chart. "Pickin' Up Pieces" also cracked the R&B Hip Hop Billboard Charts. By the late 1980s Brenda was the undisputed queen of freestyle and house music.
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