Thea Tereese Austin
Born (1960-06-10) June 10, 1960
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Dancer, singer, songwriter, composer

Thea Tereese Austin (born June 10, 1960)[1] is an American singer-songwriter/composer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is the lead vocalist and co-writer of the German Eurodance hit song "Rhythm Is a Dancer" by Snap!

Early life and career

Austin was born on June 10, 1960, in Pittsburgh.[1] She began singing with her older sister Vontelle at the age of four and by eight singing became her paying profession. In California, she was a music columnist for magazines including The R&B Report, an industry trade publication.[1] She has four sisters and one brother, and has been married once.[2]

Musical career

Snap!

In the early 1990s, Austin finished a tour in Japan and on returning to Los Angeles began writing for a solo album with the dance music producer Michael Eckart (Stacey Q). She was introduced through a mutual friend to Penny Ford who had just left the group Snap! to pursue a solo career after the success of "The Power". In Germany, she met the producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The result of that meeting was the Snap! album, The Madman's Return, on which she wrote or co-wrote all of the songs including Snap!'s cross-Atlantic hit "Rhythm Is a Dancer".[3] She received the BMI Pop Award in 2015[4] when Jeremih's hit "Don't 'Tell 'Em" incorporated her lyrics.

Originally, "Rhythm Is a Dancer" was going to be released as the lead single, but after objections from Turbo B, "Colour of Love", also co-written by Austin and with Austin's lead vocals, was released as the single. The song charted at number 6 in France and Sweden, number 9 in Germany and number 54 in the UK. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" fared better, charting at number 1 in the UK, France, Netherlands, Italy and Germany, and at number 5 in the US. Other singles from the album co-written by Austin included "Do You See The Light" which was later covered by Nikki Harris.

Soulsearcher

In 1999, Austin teamed up with Marc Pomeroy to form Soulsearcher,[1] which had a No. 8 hit on the UK Singles Chart with "Can't Get Enough"[5] which drew inspiration from and sampled Gary's Gang's "Let's Lovedance Tonight" and later on that year charted at No. 20 on the Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.[5][6] The duo performed at The Prince's Trust Party in the Park all-star concert in London in 1999.[1] Their second single, "Do It to Me Again", charted at No. 32 on the UK Singles Chart[5] (The AllMusic entry for Soulsearcher states that the song charted at No. 13[1]) after which they split up.

Pusaka

Austin joined Pusaka and wrote and sung lead vocals for their 2001 hit, "You're the Worst Thing for Me", which was awarded the Best Underground 12" Award at the Winter Music Conference in Miami in March 2002[7] and charted at #34 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #1 on the Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.[8]

Boombox!

A May 2022 concert residency at the Westgate Las Vegas titled "Boombox!" had an alternating cast of hip hop artists, including Austin, accompanied by a live DJ and drummer.[9]

Charted singles

Original artist Year Title Peak chart positions Album
FRA SWE GER UK NETH ITA U.S.
Hot 100		 U.S.
Dance		 U.S. Dance
Singles Sales
Snap! 1991 "Colour of Love" 6 6 9 54 6 The Madman's Return
1992 "Rhythm Is a Dancer" 1 2 1 1 1 1 5 1[10]
Soulsearcher 1999 "Can't Get Enough" 66 84 8 46 20 Non-album singles
2000 "Do It to Me Again" 32
Pusaka 2002 "You're the Worst Thing for Me" 34[8] 1[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ankeny, Jason. "Soul Searcher Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Biography". Thea Austin. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Repertoire Search". BMI. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  4. ↑ Bouley, Charles Karel (May 14, 2015). "BMI Pop Awards Focus Attention on the Writers". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 "Soulsearcher". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Hot Dance Music chart". Billboard. November 6, 1999. p. 38 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Bonacich, Drago. "Pusaka". AllMusic. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 Bonacich, Drago. "Pusaka | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  9. ↑ Ruggieri, Melissa (February 22, 2022). "CeeLo Green, Treach of Naughty By Nature lead Vegas 'Boombox!' show: 'Doing the thing we love together'". USA Today.
  10. ↑ "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. September 5, 1992.
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