Vonda Sheppard
| Vonda Shepard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Born |
July 7, 1963 New York City, U.S. |
| Origin | California, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock, acoustic |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, pianist, songwriter, actress |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano, guitar, bass |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels |
Reprise/Warner Bros. Records 550 Music/Epic/SME Records VesperAlley Records |
| Website | vondashepard.com |
Vonda Shepard (born July 7, 1963) is an American pop/rock singer, songwriter, and actress. She appeared, in that last capacity, as a regular in the television show Ally McBeal, as a resident performer in the bar where the show's characters drank after work. Her version of Kay Starr’s Christmas classic "(Everybody's Waitin' for) The Man with the Bag," after it was featured on a season 4 episode of Ally McBeal, became a popular holiday song. She plays piano, bass, and guitar.
Vonda Shepard was born in New York City. Her family relocated to California when she was a child. She played piano from an early age. Her father is Richmond Shepard, a mime and improvisational actor. Vonda has three sisters.
After performing as a backing singer for many years she was eventually given her own recording contract. Shepard's first chart appearance was in 1987, when she recorded a duet with Dan Hill entitled "Can't We Try." Before this, she had tried out for the part of Michael J. Fox's sister in Light of Day, but she lost the part to Joan Jett. She was also poised to sing on Peter Cetera's duet "The Next Time I Fall," but he picked Amy Grant instead. She released her first self-titled album in 1989, but with little fanfare. The album did yield one chart single, "Don't Cry Ilene," a middle-tempo piano-driven jazz-R&B flavored song dealing with the break-up of a relationship between a black woman and a white man, arising from adult peer pressure. The track is sung from the perspective of the woman's white female friend, who harbors a desire to have the man for herself, but keeps her distance out of respect for her friend. The song peaked at Number 17 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart and stayed on the charts for 12 weeks.
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