Marcella Detroit Biography
Marcella Detroit real name, Marcella Levy, is an American soprano vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter born June 21, 1952, Detroit, Michigan, United States. She co-wrote the hit “Lay Down Sally” by Eric Clapton in 1977 and released her Marcella debut album in 1982. She and ex-Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey joined Shakespears Sister in 1988.
Their first two albums, Sacred Heart (1989) and Hormonally Yours (1992), both reached the UK Album Chart’s top 10. Detroit sang the lead vocals on their biggest hit, “Stay,” who spent eight consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart in 1992 at number one. Detroit left the band in 1993 and hit the UK top 20 in 1994 with “I Believe.” In 2002, she formed the Marcy Levy Band, finishing third in Opera star’s 2010 ITV series Popstar.
Marcella Detroit Age
Marcella Detroit Family
Marcella’s family details are not known.
Marcella Detroit Husband
Detroit is married to Lance Aston.
Marcella Detroit Children
Detroit has one son with her Husband, Lance Aston. The son is called Maxwell, born in 1991.
Marcella Detroit Shakespears Sister
Shakespears Sister is a pop-rock act created by singer-songwriter Siobhan Fahey, a former Bananarama member, in 1988. Shakespears Sister, based in the United Kingdom, was initially a solo act, but by 1989 with the addition of American musician Marcella, it had become a duet.
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Marcella Detroit Songwriting Career
Detroit co-wrote a lot of songs for other artists, beginning in the 1970s when she was part of the backing band of Eric Clapton. She most famously co-wrote for him “Lay Down Sally,” a 1978 U.S. hit #3 and contributed other songs to his albums No Reason to Cry, Slowhand, and Backless.
She formed a lasting partnership in songwriting with songwriter Richard Feldman during the 1980s, co-writing many songs for other artists. Feldman and Detroit also collaborated on Shakespeare’s Sister’s songs and co-wrote most of Marcella’s 1982 album from Detroit, both of which appear on the cover art album.
Among the artists both co-wrote for are:
- Bobbi Walker, “You’re the One” (1980)
- Patty Weaver, “Somebody’s Gonna Get Hurt” (1982)
- Three Dog Night, “Somebody’s Gonna Get Hurt” (1983)
- Jennifer Rush, “Nobody Move” (1984)
- Eric Clapton, “Tangled in Love” (1985)
- Eric Clapton, “Walk Away” (1986)
- Chaka Khan, “So Close” (1986)
- Amii Stewart, “Sometimes a Stranger” (1988)
- Belinda Carlisle, “Little Black Book” (1991)
Marcella Detroit Net Worth
Detroit has an estimated net worth of between $100K-1M in 2019.
Marcella Detroit Songs | Marcella Detroit Discography
Marcella (1982)
Ballerina (1985) [9] (Diane Reeves, Marcy Levy)
Jewel (1994)
Feeler (1996)
Dancing Madly Sideways (2001)
The Vehicle (2013)
For the Holidays (2013)
Gray Matterz (2015)
Marcella Detroit Jewel
Jewel is American singer Marcella second studio album and her first since band Shakespears Sister left. Under London Records, it was released in March 1994 to moderate commercial success.
Marcella Detroit Feeler
Feeler is British-based American musician Marcella third studio album. It was first released by AAA Records in the UK in September 1996, ironically, the lead single “I Hate You Now…” was released in the same month as “I Can Drive,” the lead single from the third album #3 of Detroit’s former band Shakespears Sister.
Marcella Detroit I Believe
“I Believe” is a song by singer Marcella Detroit, released in February 1994 under London Records as the lead single from her album Jewel.
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Marcella Detroit On Working With Eric Clapton, Recreational Drugs And ‘Insanity’
Adopted From forbes.com
In 1992 “Stay”, a brilliant and unusual single from the duo Shakespears Sister, stayed at number one for eight weeks in the UK, achieved Gold sales status in the UK, US, and Australia and reached the Top 10 music charts in 12 countries. The band was comprised of Irish-born ex-Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey and Marcella, an American singer-songwriter who came to the band after a series of tours and collaborations with rock and soul royalty such as Eric Clapton, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Burt Bacharach, Alice Cooper and Chaka Khan.
Shakespear’s Sister famously imploded shortly after the massive success of “Stay”, and the ladies didn’t speak with each other for some 25 years, but this year they are back on speaking terms and back on the road, albeit separately. Siobhan is touring with the original lineup of Bananarama, and Marcella is in London for a 10-day residency at Boisdale’s in Canary Wharf.
I spoke to Marcella about her considerable career achievements, wild times, and the man she simply refers to as her “old boss” Eric Clapton.
Oisin Lunny: You were pretty young when you were touring with people like Eric Clapton and Leon Russell in the 70’s, and this was arguably a peak time for live and recorded music sales and the importance of music as entertainment. How would you sum up this period in your life?
Marcella: I would venture to say they were wild times! Lots of music, traveling, recreational drugs and insanity. But it was all so exciting and inspiring.