Tracie Spencer

Tracie Monique Spencer (born July 12, 1978) is an American multiracial pop/R&B singer. She released her self-tited debut album when she was 11. Her biggest hits were "This House" and "Tender Kisses", both of which were released from her sophomore album, Make the Difference. Biography: She was born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa. her parents were mixed of African- American, Caucasian, Polynesian, Asian, Spanish and Louisiana Creole descent. She began singing at the age of three and inspiration came courtesy of her father Malvin Spencer. Mr. Spencer was a singer with his own group The Cavaliers who opened for legendary singer Jackie Wilson. Preparing for a full time career in music, she would spend hours listening to musical legends like Billie Holiday and making home videos of herself singing tunes made popular by her idols Diana Ross and Mel'isa Morgan. At age five, Spencer began modeling in pageant competitions and in 1987 she won the syndicated television talent show Star Search singing Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" and a song from her debut album entitled "Lullaby Child". Shortly afterwards, she became the youngest female artist to sign a record deal with a major label, Capitol Records, and went on to release her self-titled debut album. She found success with singles "Hide and Seek", "Symptoms of True Love" and her remake of [John Lennon's "Imagine". Her second album, "Make the Difference" was released on August 27, 1990. The first single, "Save Your Love", showed an impressive standing at #7 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. Her following single, "This House" became her biggest hit to date reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Tender Kisses", one of her best known ballads, hit #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and made her the youngest female artist to receive the ASCAP songwriter of the year award. The other singles, "This Time Make It Funky" and "Love Me", charted relatively well on The Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. She attended Columbus High School in Waterloo, Iowa. She also served on the board of the Children's Defense Fund as a teen and was given Martin Luther King Christian Leadership Award for being a positive role model for youth and she also traveled across the U.S. and abroad as part of a "Stay In School" program. In 1993, she made a guest appearance on the hit ABC sitcom, Family Matters and recorded the song "I'll Be There for You" for the 1997 film, "Good Burger", "The Rain" for "A Smile Like Yours" starring Lauren Holly and Greg Kinnear, "Down In The Delta" and "Girlfight" starring Michelle Rodriquez. She also modeled for Tommy Hilfiger, Chanel and Dollhouse, which lead to her being a part of New York and Los Angeles' fashion weeks in 1999-2000, being styled by Derek Khan, being signed to "NEXT" modeling agency and appearing in numerous magazines. On June 29, 1999, she made a comeback to released "Tracie" and found success with the hit singles "It's All About You (Not About Me) peaking in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and "Still In My Heart", the latter showcasing her elastic soprano vocals. In the 2000s, she started singing background vocals on the Hip-Hop songs for rappers such as hip-hop artist Kanye West, 50 C and Eve as well as songwriting for other artist's projects. In 2004, she acted in the short film, "A Tale of Two Sisters and in 2006, she performed in a play called "Choices in Los Angeles. As of 2007, Ms. Spencer has taken a hiatus from music but still models and is also pursing other interests while living on both the west coast and working abroad, but there is talk of her working on a couple of different projects and a new album. As of 2008-09 Ms. Spencer started writing with producer Julian Bunetta who has produced hits for country artist Big and Rich and pop acts such as Natasha Bedingfield and Leona Lewis.