Everything SHE

The beautiful . . . beautiful Angela Winbush was born on January 18, 1955 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her career goal was to become an architect; as this is what she was studying for at Howard University. She only utilized her singing voice to help earn extra money while attending college. However, by 1977, Angela had changed her major to music education and recorded a demo; which proved fruitless while trying to introduce herself to various record labels.

However, in her adventures, Angela struck luck when respected industry veteran Wayne K. Garfield introduced her demo to New York disc jockey Gary Byrd, who in turn was able to land Angela a spot in Stevie Wonder’s background vocal group Wonderlove. This experience, while working so closely with Stevie Wonder, enabled her with how to write and arrange songs.

During Angela’s stay in Los Angeles with Stevie Wonder, she met Ivan ‘Rene’ Moore. They dated for a short while at the very beginning of their career as a duo. Because of the stress associated with their love-relationship, they decided to keep their relationship strictly business as duo music writers and performers. They released their first album in 1980. As a team, they produced songs for Janet Jackson, Stephanie Mills, and others.

In 1986, Angela was introduced to Ronald Isley, lead singer of the Isley Brothers, who later helped her with the release of her 1987 debut solo album, Sharp, which included the huge hit Angel. The song reached number one status for two weeks in 1987. Honorable mentions include the dance track, Run to Me, C’est Toi (It’s You), and the Ronald Isley duet, Hello Beloved. In 1988, she wrote and produced two tracks for Sheena Easton’s gold album The Lover in Me. In 1989, Angela released her follow-up to Sharp with It’s the Real Thing. The title track reached number two on the R&B chart while No More Tears and Lay Your Troubles Down continued Angela’s top 40 success on the R&B charts. She sang the song she wrote for Stephanie Mills I Have Learned To Respect The Power of Love” on the It’s The Real Thing album.

On June 26, 1993, Angela Winbush and longtime manager/collaborator/lover Ronald Isley, thirteen years her senior, married.

In 1974, Angela released her third self-titled solo album, which included the huge R&B hit, Treat U Rite.

In 2002, Angela and Ronald had a quiet divorce.

In 2003, the public learned that Angela Winbush was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. With all the blessings in her favor, her surgery was successful and the cancer in remission. That paved the way for Angela to return to her passion of performing on the road.

In 2010, Angela Winbush made a guest appearance on the Mo’Nique Show. Here’s the clip. Enjoy!