#7- 10 White Singers We Once Thought Were Black

Teena Marie

Now you know we could not run this list without including Lady Tee!? The late singer was probably one of the first singers out there to confuse the listening public with her soulful, powerhouse voice back when she made her debut. It was also probably because when she first came out, her debut album, Wild and Peaceful, didn’t have her picture on it, and her hit song, “I’m Just a Sucker For Your Love” placed on the “Black Singles Chart” (no such thing now). Black or white though, Marie’s voice was one of a kind. “Square Biz” is my ish by the way!

Mary Christine Brockert, better known by her stage name Teena Marie, (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter and producer. She was known as Tina^[1] before taking the stage name Teena Marie, then she later acquired the nickname of Lady Tee (sometimes spelled as Lady T), given to her by collaborator and friend, Rick James.

She was known for her distinctive soulful vocals which initially caused many listeners to believe she was African-American. Her success in R&B and soul and loyalty to these genres would earn her the title Ivory Queen of Soul. She played rhythm guitar, keyboards and congas. She also wrote, produced, sang and arranged virtually all of her songs since her 1980 release, Irons in the Fire, which she later said was her favorite album.

#6- 10 White Singers We Once Thought Were Black

Nikka Costa

This soul voice had everyone grooving to it and most assumed it was a black voice.  Well you know what they say about assuming ... "when you assume, you make and "ASS" out of  "U" and "ME" LOL.  Anyways Nikka  Costa make the list of 10 for one of those voices we once though were black.

Costa's career as a recording artist under her own name started in 1981, when she recorded the song "(Out Here) On My Own" (from the musical Fame). The single, recorded in Milano with the conductor Victor Bach and produced by Besquet and Renis, spent fourteen weeks at #1 in Italy, nine weeks at #1 in Spain, and five weeks at #1 in France. The song also reached #7 in Switzerland and #32 in the Netherlands. The album Nikka Costa, produced by Besquet and Remis, was released outside the U.S. in 1981. The album reached #1 in Europe and South America^{[citation needed]} and Costa toured around the world.^[1] Her second album Fairy Tales (cuentos de hadas) was released in 1983. Don Costa died of a heart attack shortly after the album was recorded. The pop album Here I Am... Yes, It's Me was released to fulfill a contractual obligation in 1989, though it still topped some charts in Europe.^[1] In 1990 she performed at the SanRemo Music Festival with a rendition of All for the Love, an English version of Vattene amore by Mietta and Amedeo Minghi.
After graduating from high school, Costa decided to move away from pop and moved toward funk and soul, becoming influenced by Motown artists

#5- 10 White Singers We Once Thought Were Black

 Michael McDonald

Just a heads up, if you were thinking this was going to be one of those posts that idolizes “blue-eyed soul singers” or says folks are out here trying to “sound black” (as if there’s one way to sound black), you’re mistaken. This is a list about a few individuals with voices that we accidentally assumed at one point and time belonged to black people. It wasn’t until videos popped up for some of our favorite jams that we didn’t see a black man or woman, but a white man or woman–and it surprised the hell out of us. A lot of these singers are probably your personal favorites by now, some you may have never heard of, but don’t lie, you know you were telling your friends at one point or another, “Oh snap, I just assumed he/she was black…”
You’re not the only one.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, McDonald played in several local bands (such as Mike and the Majestics, Jerry Jay and the Sheratons, the Reeb-Toors, the Del Rays and The Guild) while attending McCluer High School in his hometown of Ferguson, Missouri, now a city of some 25,000 people in St. Louis County, Missouri. McDonald was discovered while playing with a group called Blue and consequently moved to Los Angeles in 1970.
Michael McDonald became one of the many in-studio adjunct members of the group Steely Dan, providing back-up vocals on tracks for 1975's Katy Lied. He would return on subsequent Steely Dan recordings including 1976's The Royal Scam and 1977's Aja. He also played keyboards on some Steely Dan tracks. McDonald continued to do background vocals for Steely Dan through their 1980 release, Gaucho. He was part of Steely Dan's last touring band in the 1970s, playing keyboards and singing backup.

McDonald co-wrote Van Halen's Top 20 hit "I'll Wait", from their landmark 1984 album. McDonald co-wrote "You Belong to Me" with Carly Simon.
McDonald's 1990 album Take It to Heart featured a minor hit with the title song, co-written with Diane Warren. The following year he joined the New York Rock and Soul Revue, put together by Steely Dan's Donald Fagen. 1991's "Ever Changing Times" with Aretha Franklin, a duet on Arista Records, had moderate success and radio play (peaking at #19 on US R&B charts). In 2003, he earned two Grammy nominations for his album Motown, a tribute to the Motown sound.
In 2008 McDonald released his SoulSpeak album which (in addition to including three new songs penned by McDonald) featured his interpretations of 11 carefully selected soul-inspired songs. Ranging from universal evergreens like Dionne Warwick's "Walk On By" and Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City" to lesser-known numbers like Van Morrison's atmospheric "Into The Mystic" and the late 60s Chicago soul of Tyrone Davis' "Baby Can I Change My Mind".^[2]

McDonald has reunited as a guest performer with the Doobies several times since their initial dissolution in 1982 and joined Steely Dan on their 2006 summer tour, both as the opening act and as part of the band.^[3]

#4 - 10 White Singers We Once Thought Were Black

Christina Aguilera

LOVE her. Maybe songs like “Genie in a Bottle” didn’t have you thinking her melanin count was up, but for years, I’ve heard older people who’ve heard her sing say they thought she was a black woman. To many, she has the compelling voice of a modern day soul singer who just happens to not “look” like one. Stepping out from the teeny-bopper pack with their rail thin voices, Aguilera’s pipes have acquired her a lot of love and recognition. She was ranked number 58 on the 100 Best Singer’s of All Time list by Rolling Stone,  making her the youngest singer on the list.

 

Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording "Reflection",^[5] the theme song for the animated film Mulan (1998).

In 1999, Aguilera came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera, which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100—"Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)."^[6] Her sophomore and her debut Latin-pop album, Mi Reflejo (2000), a Christmas third studio album, My Kind of Christmas (2000), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image.^[7] After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her fourth studio album, Stripped (2002).^[8] The album's second single, "Beautiful," was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance amidst controversy over Aguilera's image.^[9][10][11] Aguilera followed up Stripped with the soul, jazz and blues inspired, Back to Basics (2006), released to positive critical acclaim.^[12] The album had three commercially successful singles: "Ain't No Other Man", "Hurt" and "Candyman".^{[citation needed]} Four years later Aguilera released her sixth studio album, Bionic (2010), which incorporated aspects of R&B, electropop, and synthpop and was met with mixed reviews and low sales

#3 - 10 White Singers We Once Thought Were Black

Robin Thicke

Okay, so unless you knew Robin Thicke when he first started his career as Thicke, a hippy-dressed soul singer with long hair, you, like most of us, were probably shocked to find out that he was NOT black. His fan base grew immediately after the release of “Wanna Love You Girl,” most heard it for the first time on the computer, before the music video came out, before he had done a public performance of it. So when the video dropped and we got a glimpse of the cover of  his CD, it's no surprise we were pretty confused. Not only is he a white boy, but damn, he’s cute too! I’m sure Paula Patton agrees.

Robin Charles Thicke ( /ˈθɪk/; born March 10, 1977) is an Award-winning American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and actor. Thicke's albums, which he previously released under the moniker Thicke, are noted for their feature of a predominantly R&B sound.^[1][2] Robin Thicke has penned hits for popular artists such as Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Mary J. Blige and others. Thicke was also acknowledged for his work in popular albums such as Confessions and Tha Carter III.

Billboard.com announced that Thicke would release his fourth studio album in the fall of 2009, which would not be self-produced.^[15] The album, titled Sex Therapy, had its release date postponed to winter, being released on December 15, 2009. Jay-Z is featured on the track "Meiple (Me I Play)". The first single from the album was the self-titled track, produced by Polow Da Don and released in October 2009. In November 2009, Thicke premiered the second single to radio, "Shakin' It for Daddy", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj. It was also produced by Polow Da Don.

Speaking of the musical background to Sex Therapy, in March 2010 Thicke told Pete Lewis - Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul - "I'm always gonna have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Al Green in my music. But with this album I also wanted to show my HIP HOP side. I grew up listening to Run DMC and NWA and Biggie and Pac and Jay-Z... So I really wanted to make a record that represented how much that music has influenced me."^[16] Earlier in 2009, on October 14, Leighton Meester's debut single "Somebody to Love", featuring Thicke, was released. Thicke told MTV he was glad to have Lil Wayne on the album. He also pointed out that he was featured on Lil Wayne's last two albums, and Lil Wayne was on his last two albums. "We're kind of good luck charms for each other", he said.

Thicke appeared on ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve on January 1, 2010 and performed three songs in Las Vegas, in a pre-recorded segment. It is confirmed that he, along with Melanie Fiona, will be going on The Freedom Tour with Alicia Keys. Thicke will be on tour with Jennifer Hudson, with whom he toured in 2009, in 2011.^[17] Robin Thicke released his fifth studio album, Love After War, on December 6, 2011.

#2 - 10 White Singers We Once Thought Were Black

Lisa Stansfield

We all remember this soulful rich voice the local hip-hop and R&B stations used to play the mess out of some “Been Around the World,” so for many years. Most just assumed that Stansfield was a black woman who really missed her baby. That was until you saw the music video or caught her performance on American Band Stand. Boy, wasn't we shocked to see that black woman with the powerful, rolling voice was a white woman with really dark, really short hair who liked to wear WAY too much makeup. Either way, that song has stayed in rotation for years.

Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982. She won it singing The Human League track "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of". The series was produced by the then Head of Light Entertainment at Granada TV, Johnny Hamp.
After releasing several unsuccessful singles in her mid-teens, she co-hosted a children's TV pop show, Razzamatazz with Alistair Pirrie; additionally, Stansfield could be seen in 1983 children's television series The Krankies Klub, alongside comedian Jimmy Cricket and rock band Rocky Sharpe and the Replays. She became an international celebrity in the early 1990s.
Her R&B vocal features and texture are similar to ^[2] that of her American contemporary and Arista label-mate, Taylor Dayne.

Career

Her British band Blue Zone saw modest success with the single "Jackie", where she achieved some success with her guest vocals on Coldcut's record "People Hold On". She is probably best known for her first UK number-one single, "All Around the World" (1989), which also peaked at number three in the United States Billboard Hot 100 the following year. Other worldwide hits from her solo debut album Affection include "This Is the Right Time" (featuring a house music influence production by Coldcut with Mark Saunders), "Live Together", "What Did I Do to You" and "You Can't Deny It". "All Around the World" and "You Can't Deny It" both hit number one on the Billboard R&B chart. Affection went platinum in the United States and sold a total of five million singles worldwide.
In 1990, Stansfield was among the high profile artists who participated in the Red Hot + Blue charity disc produced by the Red Hot Organization, which honoured Cole Porter's songwriting and benefitted AIDS research. She demonstrated her swing and jazz abilities on the song "Down in the Depths", which was one of few traditional renditions to appear on the album. Thus began an illustrious and respected tradition of Stansfield offering jazz and torch songs to outside projects (most recently she sang "I've Got the World on a String" for the Mona Lisa Smile soundtrack). This is likely what got her noticed for consideration as the female lead in the independent film Swing (1999), in which she also sang the majority of the film's songs.
In 1992, Stansfield won a BRIT Award as best British female solo artist. Her second album Real Love did not quite live up to the success of Affection; it did spawn four Top 40 singles on the European charts: "Change", "All Woman", "Time to Make You Mine" and "Set Your Loving Free". "All Woman" became Stansfield's third number one single on the Billboard R&B chart and due to the success of that song, the album went gold.
She performed Queen songs alongside George Michael and what was left of Queen at the tribute concert on 20 April 1992 for their late frontman Freddie Mercury. The performance was later released by Queen. The concert was recognised by the music community as an important event in the work around the AIDS issue.
Also in 1992, Stansfield appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Red Hot + Dance, contributing an exclusive remix of her hit single "Change," "Change (Metamorphisis Mix)." The album donated all proceeds to AIDS charities and worked to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic.
She continued recording disco-influenced soul throughout the 1990s. Her third album So Natural (1993) spawned three Top 40 European singles including the title track (UK number 15), "In All the Right Places" (UK number 8), and "Little Bit of Heaven" (UK number 32), but the album was never released in the United States. She had continued success throughout Europe, but her popularity in North America had diminished.
Her self-titled fourth album Lisa Stansfield (1997) was a hit in Europe with two Top Ten singles: "People Hold On" (re-released as a dance mix by the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and "The Real Thing," and the Top 40 track "Never Never Gonna Give You Up" (a remake of Barry White's 1973 hit); upon being released in North America, the album received some mainstream attention. Its peak charting position was number 30 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 55 on the Billboard 200. Also in the U.S., "Never Never Gonna Give You Up" also became Stansfield's last Top 40 R&B hit, and the remix by Frankie Knuckles hit number 1 in October on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. It was her final Hot 100 hit. Subsequently, the remix album was released due to Stansfield's reinterest from the dance community. The music video for the song featured a nude Stansfield strolling a city street, acquiring a few items of clothing along the way. VH1 featured the clip and even gave it the Pop-Up Video treatment.
Her 2001 album Face Up was less successful, charting but with less publicity but featured the singles "Let's Just Call It Love" and "8-3-1" and found her experimenting with newer styles of R&B such as 2-step while continuing with her established sound. Stansfield's husband, Ian Devaney, delivered an arrangement for the ballad "How Could You", which displayed his love of Burt Bacharach. Only one single was released in the United Kingdom.
Following the release of Face Up, a greatest hits collection called Biography was released. Stansfield then parted ways with Arista/BMG records, ending an eighteen year association with the label. Stansfield signed with ZTT Records for the United Kingdom, and her 2004 release The Moment was produced by Trevor Horn, who has worked with Seal, Grace Jones and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, among others. The album was distributed in Europe by Edel. Featuring the singles "Treat Me Like a Woman" (released as a "double A side" with "Easier") and "If I Hadn't Got You" a song written by Chris Braide with ex-Squeeze songwriter Chris Difford. The album found her exploring more pop oriented album and focusing on ballads.
At the time of the project's release, ZTT Records was gearing large amounts of its resources into re-marketing its music catalogue and producing the Trevor Horn concert for The Prince's Trust and its accompanying double CD, Produced by Trevor Horn. The release of "Treat Me Like a Woman" was delayed twice. Her record label eventually paired it with the album "Easier". Later that year ZTT dropped her from their record label. A DVD of Stansfield's Ronnie Scott's performance in 2003 was released in 2005.
Stansfield also has a career in acting; she starred in the 1999 film Swing with actor Hugo Speer, and recorded cover versions of swing songs and a few original songs written in the style for the soundtrack. She later appeared on a London stage in The Vagina Monologues. In 2006, she guest-starred in the series Goldplated. In 2007, she starred in a Marple episode ("Ordeal by Innocence") and later joined the cast of The Edge of Love.
In 1998 Stansfield was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party (UK).^[3]

Personal life

Stansfield is married to English musician Ian Devaney and from 1993 until 2008 they lived in Dublin, Ireland.^[4][5] In 2008, Stansfield sold her six-bedroom Victorian house Mount Henry on Torca Road in Dalkey for € 6 million (originally asking for € 8 million in May 2007), and moved out of Ireland.^[6][7]

#1 - 10 White Singers We Once Thought Were Black

This guy influenced this story. A few weeks back, this song was made the morning jam on a social media show Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do for Love.” The video posted was of the singer and his band performing the beloved track live, and while most people reminisced on how much they genuinely loved the song back in the day, many people made it a point to let the world know they didn’t know he was white. In fact, the comment most “liked” on YouTube is by an individual saying they could have swore he was black. Pure surprise. Maybe because this song just played, and played, and played on the radio for all these years without most people trying to seek out some sort of video (there doesn’t actually seem to be an official video). But not only does he happen to be of non-black status, but he was a lover of mullets and ponytails. That’s the jam though…

 

Bobby Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who, despite a prolific musical output over his 30-year career, is still best known for his 1978 hit single "What You Won't Do for Love." While he has always maintained a devoted fan base in the United States, a more legendary status has been bestowed upon him in Japan. For R&B and modern jazz fans in the United States, he retains the title of: "The white guy most often mistaken for an African American vocalist."

Get his Music HERE Bobby Caldwell