Sista Monica Parker
| Sista Monica Parker | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Monica C. Parker |
| Also known as | Sista Monica, The Blues Lioness |
| Born | April 27, 1956 Gary, Indiana, United States |
| Died | October 9, 2014 (aged 58) Modesto, California, United States |
| Genres | Electric blues, blues rock, gospel, soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Years active | 1992–2014 |
| Labels | Mo Muscle Records |
Sista Monica Parker (born Monica C. Parker, April 27, 1956 – October 9, 2014) was an American electric blues, blues rock, gospel and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Her influences included Al Green, Aretha Franklin, the Staple Singers, Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke. She wrote most of her material, and released eleven albums in her lifetime. Parker shared the stage with a number of musicians over her performing lifetime including B.B. King, India Arie, Gladys Knight, Etta James, Koko Taylor, Susan Tedeschi, Elvin Bishop, Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers, the Neville Brothers, and John Lee Hooker.
In 2015, she posthumously won a Blues Music Award in the 'Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year' category.
Born in Gary, Indiana, United States, Parker began singing in her local Baptist church at the age of seven. After college, Parker joined the United States Marine Corps and after three years of service rose the rank of sergeant. Once her military service between 1977 and 1980 ended, Parker set up a staffing company, initially based in Chicago, aimed at electrical engineering professions. After moving the business to Silicon Valley she acquired clients which included Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Yahoo!. Encouraged by her then neighbor MC Hammer, Parker started a singing career in 1992 performing regularly at Emi’s Bar & Grille in Santa Cruz, California. By 1995 she had released her debut album, Get Out of My Way, on her own independent record label, Mo Muscle Records. Her track "Windy City Burner" was played on the radio and it helped promote her initial touring around the US, Canada and parts of Europe. Her follow-up album, Sista Monica was released in 1997.
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