Scherrie Payne

Early life

Scherrie Ann^{[citation needed]} Payne was born on November 4, 1944, to Frederick Payne and Charcle Lee Farley (c. 1920-1977), in Detroit, Michigan. Payne graduated from Central High School in 1961 and from Michigan State University in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Before she began her music career, she taught at the Grayling School of Observation. In 1964, she appeared on the Jet magazine as queen of the co-educational Cass Hall.

The Glass House (1969–1972)

Payne began her musical career as the lead singer for the group The Glass House. She performed alongside Ty Hunter (later with The Originals), Pearl Jones, and Larry Mitchell. The group signed with Invictus Records, formed by Motown songwriters Eddie and Brian Holland, and Lamont Dozier, in 1969. Another performer signed with Invictus Records, Honey Cone, had a No. 1 hit with the Glass House song "Want Ads", which originally had Payne on lead vocals, which the Payne sisters suggested to Honey Cone after being unhappy with their own recording. The Glass House saw their biggest hit in 1969 with the Payne-led track "Crumbs Off The Table", which appeared on the Billboard top 10. Between the years of 1970 and 1972, The Glass House released two albums and nine singles, including Payne's solo track "V.I.P.". Record World ranked The Glass House as the fifth 'Top Vocal Combination Group' in their 1970 R&B Awards. None of their subsequent releases saw the same success as their debut, and they disbanded in 1972 after the release of their album "Thanks, I Needed That."

The Supremes (1973–1977)

After The Glass House disbanded, Payne joined the Supremes and performed as the lead singer, with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong as background singers. Payne often remained quiet during interviews with the group and was often asked about her predecessor as lead singer of the Supremes, Diana Ross, even years later. Payne sang lead on the single "He's My Man" and "It's All Been Said Before", both taken from the album The Supremes. Payne was never able to write any material for The Supremes, which reportedly disappointed her.

Payne felt that Motown did not really care as much about the Supremes as they had in the 1960s, due to the changing musical tastes of the era. Her contributions moved The Supremes toward the disco era with songs like "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking", "You're My Driving Wheel", "Let Yourself Go", and "Love I Never Knew You Could Feel So Good". While each of these disco songs landed in the Billboard Dance Top Ten, they did not perform as well on the pop and R&B charts. The single "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking" was a No. 3 hit on the Disco chart, rose in the Billboard Top 40 to No. 25 on the R&B chart, and No. 40 on the Pop chart.

The final three members of the Supremes (Payne, Wilson and Susaye Greene) officially disbanded in 1977 with a farewell concert in London after Wilson, the last remaining founding member, announced that she would embark on a solo career. Payne and Greene tried to recruit a new third member, Joyce Vincent Wilson of Tony Orlando and Dawn, but Motown responded with that the Supremes would not continue with original members. Motown officially retired the Supremes in 1977, but offered Payne and Greene a contract to record as a duet. During this time, Payne released the solo single "Fly" b/w "When I Look at Your Face" in late 1977. As a duet, Partners, under the name "Scherrie and Susaye" was released in 1979. The album received mixed reviews and the two decided to part in order to embark on solo projects.

Former Ladies of the Supremes

In 1986, Payne joined former members of the Supremes, Jean Terrell and briefly, Cindy Birdsong, to form The Former Ladies Of The Supremes, also called FLOS. When Birdsong left to pursue a solo career, Lynda Laurence took her place and they renamed themselves "Jean, Scherrie, & Lynda of the Supremes", recording the single "We're Back', featuring Ali-Ollie Woodson of the Temptations. They performed through the 1980s and the 1990s. When Terrell departed, they continued with Laurence's sister Sundray Tucker, who was a former member of Stevie Wonder's back-up group, Wonder Love. This lineup worked with British record producer Steve Weaver, resulting in a catalogue of 40 new recordings, some of them re-recordings of the Supremes' original hits. Payne and Laurence continued to tour under the FLOS name with third new member Freddi Poole, who joined the group in 1996 to replace Sundray Tucker. In 2000, Payne and Laurence backed Ross on the Return To Love Supremes reunion tour, in which Ross allowed each of them to lead one of the classic Supremes songs. The group celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2006 (with Birdsong, Tucker and Greene in the audience), and around this time began using the group name "Scherrie & Lynda of the Supremes". In September 2009, Vincent joined Payne and Laurence in the group, replacing Freddi Poole, who departed to join the Three Degrees. In 2017, Laurence left the group after 31 years with her tenure in the group, and was replaced by Greene. In 2024, Greene departed, and Laurence returned. As of 2025, FLOS is still active with a lineup of Payne, Laurence, and Vincent.

Solo work

As a solo artist, in addition to "V.I.P.", which she recorded while a member of The Glass House and was featured on their second album, Payne has had club hits, such as a cover version of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" (featuring her sister [Freda], Edmund Sylvers, and Wilson on backing vocals) in 1982, followed two years later by "One Night Only", a song from Act II of the musical "Dreamgirls", which is a musical based loosely on the history of the Supremes and the advancing of the Motown sound into the disco era. The 12" Megatone Label Disco Single also featured Birdsong on background vocals. Both songs were produced by Rick Gianatos, whom Payne currently records with. Payne recorded a solo album for Superstar International Records which contained several duets with Phillip Ingram. The following year, Payne signed with British producer Ian Levine for his Motown reunion project, Motorcity Records. While with Ian, Payne released two solo singles "Chasing Me Into Somebody Else's Arms" (which was originally recorded in 1979 with Levine and Gianatos) and "Pure Energy" (co-written by Payne and released on Nightmare Records), as well as covers of two of Ross' songs, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "I'm Still Waiting". Other product recorded for Motorcity included "Who's Wrong, Who's Right"; "Hit & Miss"; and "One More Time."^{[citation needed]}

Later career

In August 2001, Payne was invited to perform at the annual open-air festival Sunset Junction Street Fair in Los Angeles. She performed Supremes' classics such as "Stoned Love" and "My World Is Empty Without You" in addition to her own solo hits, "I'm Not In Love" and "Another Life From Now". She made a return to performing at Sunset Junction the following year, performing a similar set. On January 14, 2007, Payne was the special guest star at the "If My Friends Could See Me Now" fund-raiser in Los Angeles, California. She performed her previous hit "One Night Only", from the musical Dreamgirls. Backing her were long-time friends Pam and Joyce Vincent. In 2012, Payne (along with longtime producer Rick Gianatos) recorded and released a version of the Supremes hit "Let Yourself Go" along with a music video. In late 2013, Payne lent her vocals to the Pattie Brooks single "I Like The Way You Move"; she can be seen in the accompanying video as one of the judges. On July 5, 2014, Payne along with Greene performed at the Sheraton in Los Angeles a concert program based on their album "Partners" which was released by Motown in 1979. They were subsequently featured in the magazine Daeida, with a photo shoot; the accompanying article chronicled her career with the Supremes and separately, as well as the re-release of their "Partners" album on CD.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, Payne was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Albums

With The Glass House

With The Supremes

With the Former Ladies of the Supremes

as lead artist

Singles