Martha Wash

Martha Wash

Martha Wash is a singer and songwriter from San Francisco, United States, whose work spans soul, R&B, pop, house and dance music. Born in 1953, she begins her career as a backing singer for Sylvester before forming a duo with fellow backing singer Izora Rhodes. The pair are first known as Two Tons O' Fun and later renamed The Weather Girls.

The Weather Girls and early success

As part of The Weather Girls, Wash helps provide vocals on early Sylvester releases, with the duo sometimes heard prominently while Sylvester's voice is mixed into the background. After leaving to pursue their own career, they record disco-oriented material and achieve international success with It's Raining Men in 1982. The song becomes a major hit in several countries and remains closely associated with late-disco and Hi-NRG music. The Weather Girls also record Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man for Christmas) and No One Can Love You More Than Me in 1985.

Session and featured vocal work

After The Weather Girls disband, Wash continues in dance and house music, appearing on a series of high-profile records. She sings lead vocals on all three of Black Box's U.S. top-forty hits: I Don't Know Anybody Else, Everybody Everybody and Strike It Up. She also sings on Black Box tracks including Fantasy, Open Your Eyes and Hold On, all of which appear on the album Dreamland.

Her vocals also appear on Seduction's You're My One and Only (True Love) and on C+C Music Factory's Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now), which reaches number one on the Billboard Hot 100. She later receives proper credit and royalties for these recordings after legal action, and the case contributes to legislation requiring vocal credits on compact discs and music videos.

Solo career

Wash signs to RCA Records and releases her self-titled debut solo album in 1992. The album produces club and dance hits including Carry On and Give It to You, both of which reach number one on the dance chart. Her later solo releases include a cover of Jean Knight's Mr. Big Stuff for Disney's D2: The Mighty Ducks in 1994 and a version of Elton John's I'm Still Standing for The First Wives Club in 1996. She also releases The Collection in 1998 and Something Good in 2013 on Purple Rose Records, her own label.

Chart success and later recordings

Wash earns repeated dance-chart success across her career, including Keep on Jumpin' with Todd Terry and Jocelyn Brown, Catch the Light, Come, Listen to the People, You Lift Me Up, Keep Your Body Working with Tony Moran, I've Got You and It's My Time. Her 2014 remix release of I'm Not Coming Down also reaches the dance charts. She is known for a powerful soprano voice and receives two Grammy nominations.

Live performances and activism

Wash performs at the opening ceremony of the world's first OutGames in Montreal and at a range of LGBT and human-rights events, including Human Rights Campaign appearances in the United States. She also appears on I've Got a Secret, performs at Big Gay Day in Brisbane, Chicago Gay Pride Street Fest, Birmingham's bank holiday festival, Washington, DC Capital Pride, and the opening ceremony of the NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series. She is a guest with the New York City Gay Men's Chorus in Big Gay Sing 6: Club Night Out and appears on The Late Show with David Letterman for the 30th anniversary of It's Raining Men.

Associated acts

Wash is associated with The Weather Girls, Black Box, C+C Music Factory, First Ladies of Disco and We Are Family Collective.