Born in Miami Florida, Judy is the daughter of Gospel legend Rev. Julius Cheeks. Her early life was greatly influenced by the likes of Mavis Staples, The Staple Singers, Edna Gallman Cooke, The Dixie Hummingbirds, her God father Sam Cooke and many other Gospel greats who were regular visitors at the Cheeks home. Singing came naturally to her. She performed in churches and functions in her community as early as 7 years old.
Her professional singing career took off when she was discovered by Ike and Tina Turner at 18. She recorded her first solo album “Judy Cheeks”, which although a Blues Album made her gospel roots very recognizable.
Judy then started writing songs for Jobette Music – Motown. The Jackson 5 recorded one of her songs “We’re Gonna Change Our Style”, as their last ever recording on the Motown Label.
Judy then moved to Munich Germany where she recorded a duet with the Austrian singer Udo Jurgens and became an overnight sensation throughout Europe. Her performance together with Udo on The Rudi Carrell was featured in the list of best performances of the year for 3 years running. Her first European solo release Mellow Lovin’ entered charts worldwide and led to the successful album Please Give Me This Night. The second single “The Little Girl in Me” became a huge hit in South Africa as well.
Her time in Germany also led to many acting jobs. Caribbean Rhapsody was her first film which starred the Italian actor, Rozano Brazzi. She also featured in Playa Del Mor, which was filmed in Argentina . Judy was a regular on the German TV Show SOKO 5113 and cohosted the TV game show Vier Gegen Willi.
Judy’s first love was always singing. When not recording her own material, she lent her voice as a backing singer on the recordings of many other artist such as Stevie Wonder, Donna Summer, Thelma Houston, Amanda Lear, Boney M, Alphaville and many others.
Judy moved to London after securing a record deal with Polygram the first record company to fully believe in her not only as a singer but as a brilliant songwriter and producer. She wrote and produced Her album No Outsiders which included the hits, I Still Love You and Just Another Lie. Judy then took Dance Music by storm with her hits and Club Anthems from her album Respect…, So In Love, Respect and Reach which soared in Dance and Pop charts.
Judy founded The School Of Miracles, “SOM”, a charity which enriched the lives of intercity children of London greatly through Art and Music. In 2013 Judy wrote a book about her father and released a Gospel Album in his honor. “Love and Honor the life of Rev. Julius Cheeks”, is a very intimate look inside the life of Judy’s father as he travelled the treacherous roads of America during the Jim Crow era, spreading the Gospel and encouraging generations of struggling Black people before the Civil Rights Movement had taken affect. Judy returned to her Gospel roots and wrote and produced True Love Is Free, a Gospel tribute to her father and all those who greatly influenced her life. Two singles and remixes of “Happy” and “Without Love We’re Lost” were released.
Her 2018 releases, ‘Crying In The Rain’ and the album “Danger Zone,” produced by her South African friend Shaun O’Shea thrilled her fans and left them wanting more. “So Close” from the “Danger Zone”album was voted by some UK radio stations as the “best soul single of the year”.
Shaun and Judy collaborated again on the 2019 album “A Deeper Love” once again proving popular amongst fans around the world. Judy made her first visit to South Africa in 2019 and with Shaun started working on the new 2020 album “Love Dancin’.” The album’s title track is co-written with Judy’s longtime friend Stevie Wonder and the opening track “Safe In Your Arms” with Betty Wright another long-time friend. The album is already receiving extensive airplay with the songs “I See The Sunshine” and “Leap Of Faith” proving very popular.
In January 2021 Judy released a new Single “Within” once again a collaboration with Shaun O’Shea … Judy describes “Within” as having special words of courage for anyone facing hard times, and now she has released “Same Pain” as a tribute to her friend Shaun. For more than four decades Judy has graced the world with her talent and special gift of love continues.
Alan Mercer: Judy, with the release of your last two singles, I am hearing a return to your earlier musical styles of blues and rock.
Judy Cheeks: Now that I’m not under the control of record companies and the industry, I do whatever I feel. What you are hearing is all the parts of Judy Cheeks. You know my background is gospel and my father was the Rev. Julius Cheeks, lead singer of the Sensational Nightingales and that they influenced a lot of people like James Brown, Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett.
AM: What amazing people to grow up around.
JC: The thing is I grew up around a lot of people who didn’t use a lot of instruments, especially when they were rehearsing. I was just a kid hanging around and stomping my feet to the rhythm. It was very pure, very raw and organic. So, this has always been inside me since I was a child.
AM: I know Ike and Tina Turner produced your first album.
JC: Yes, Ike Turner heard me sing and said he was going to produce a Blues album on me. I was 18 years old, and I didn’t know anything about the Blues. I was a girl from Miami and Los Angeles, what would I know about the Blues? So, anyway, I did the Blues album and moved to Germany where I sang a duet with the Frank Sinatra of Germany, Udo Jürgens.
AM: I love that song too.
JD: I don’t know why, but he wanted to sing a duet with me. That was another direction of music, then disco was starting to be popular, and they wanted me to record a disco album, and that was another direction.
AM: You sing with a lighter voice in the disco songs, right?
JC: The Germans weren’t keen on hard singing. They didn’t want Soul, they wanted Pop music. I was disciplined in that regard. Before I left LA, I had done a lot of writing for Jobette music and was doing a lot of Motown demos. Those producers were also very keen on the sound being very poppy. I felt like they were suppressing everything I had. I notice even in those pop songs I would throw in a little Gospel run.
AM: I do enjoy hearing you sing these pop songs.
JC: My delivery is based on the story of the song.
AM: You are a well-rounded musician.
JC: That’s why I never wanted to be placed in a box. I don’t believe any creative person should be placed in a box. I think you should do what comes through you. Whatever the spirit dictates is what you should put out. Our gifts are meant to be appreciated and accepted. I never had a say so when I was signed to any major record companies.
AM: Of course you didn’t.
JC: I had record company people tell me they didn’t know what to do with me because I could sing in different styles. If you are a creative person, you should be allowed to let that creativity flow freely. Also, when things that are from the heart and organic get mixed with money, they get toned down. Then, as the years go on, we move further and further from the source. When things become mechanical and have no rawness or soul attached to it, then our souls are in trouble.
AM: I put you in the category of soon to be a legend because you keep going.
JC: I keep exposing these musical parts of myself. I actually thought I was done with the business, but then Shaun O’Shea, who had been a fan of mine since he was 12 years old, became my friend on Facebook and we became very close. In 2013 he became very ill, so I started sending him songs that I was writing, just to cheer him up. He had been diagnosed as only having a short time to live due to a heart condition. I told him he was going to live, and he started getting more and more into the music. He told me the world needed to hear these songs. I told him I had enough of the business. He really wanted to put them out, so I finally said OK.
AM: Why do you think he was so insistent on you releasing these songs?
JC: He told me it gave him a reason to fight and a reason to live again. He recovered from that for the most part. The last song we put out was ‘With In’ and then he was diagnosed with cancer. This time the doctors gave him no time. I’m over here saying, No, no, no. He is so very dear to me. I love him like a brother.
AM: I love that.
JC: We’re so close and so in sync. But, anyway, here I am praying and asking God for the biggest miracle and Shaun is listening to other songs that I sent him. He asked me if we could release more songs and I told him to get well and OK, OK, OK, we could put some more music out. He has astounded the doctors. He just needed a purpose, and he feels this is his purpose. He said he wants the world to know me.
AM: He sounds like the perfect creative partner for you.
JC: We work so well together. Some people complain about me doing things really fast, my energy is so high. He is the same way. I have trouble working with people who are really slow.
AM: I’m faster also, so I understand. I love your newest song, ‘Same Pain.’
JC: Shaun was playing some of my songs and ‘Same Pain’ came up and I said, we have to release this song because it’s about right now and he agreed. I sent him a picture and some press material and said go ahead. It was all set up in one day. That’s how we work.
AM: How fortunate for both of you. More people love your music than you might think.
JC: Because now the public has a choice. Before now, record companies just threw promotion down everybody’s throat. It would be whoever the company decided they were going to push. It wasn’t based on talent or the quality of the product. Let’s be honest, it was based on behind the door deals. I never fell into the category of she’s the one we’re going to push, which I am thankful for because I would have had to sell my soul to make it in that world. Now, people don’t have to listen to a song on the radio and go out and buy it. They get on their computer, and they examine things. It’s allowing younger people to look back into older music because a lot of times they steal little bits and pieces and make it their own, but that’s OK because they are getting the rawness. This has created a new audience and pushing away all the categories. I find young kids who are into Sam Cooke now and I ask them what do they know about Sam Cooke? They don’t know much but they know they love him. If record companies still ruled a child of six probably wouldn’t hear these other songs and artists.
AM: The direction your music is going sounds young and fresh to me. It’s got a rock blues quality.
JC: And Country & Western.
AM: Yes, very Country & Western as well.
JC: A lot of people don’t know that a lot of Gospel singers are into Country & Western music. Both genres use three chords.
AM: You can sing Country & Western.
JC: What I’m saying is I don’t consider it Country & Western. It’s just music. I don’t get into that because I might put out a dance record next. I refuse to be under the confines of what people in the industry think I should be. I’m not worried about getting a Grammy or a Number One. I’m not worried about the kinds of things that people crave when they enter show business.
AM: You’re not playing the game.
JC: No, I am not. Using your gift to make money is not its soul purpose. We all need money, but it shouldn’t dictate what your soul is into doing.
AM: Creativity and money have nothing to do with one another.
JC: What I don’t like is when people steal like releasing my product and I know nothing about it and don’t receive any royalties. That isn’t fair. You do get it back from the Universe in other ways, but it’s just not fair.
AM: I can understand why so many people give up.
JC: We can’t just give up. We still have to send out positive energy for things to get better.
