Joi Cardwell

Before pursuing music professionally, Joi Cardwell sang purely for enjoyment and supplied backing vocals to LL Cool J, the Pointer Sisters, and Jermaine Jackson. A New York City native, she appeared on the Carnegie Hall stage at age five, delivering “Three Blind Mice” in a school performance. During her teenage years the ambition to perform took hold, prompting enrollment at New York University as a liberal-arts student concentrating in philosophy and literature. While at NYU she entered a talent contest at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre and captured the top prize five times, the first with “For Your Eyes Only.”

She soon turned professional and toured with Ben E. King. In 1989 producer Kashif placed her in the all-girl group the Promise, which completed one album that was never issued. Within two years Cardwell left to launch a solo career. In 1992 she sang on the dance tracks “Saved My Life” and “Club Lonely.” While continuing to supply backup vocals for others, she released solo singles across several labels: “Was It Something I Said” on Epic, “Holdin’ On” on Freetown Records, and “Hot Little Body” on Tribal America, the last featuring Behavior and Fred Jorio.

A new chapter opened in 1994 when she signed with the New York independent label Eightball Records. Cardwell wrote every song and produced her debut album, The World Is Full of Trouble. The 1995 release yielded the hit single “Trouble” and was followed by further successes with “You Got to Pray,” “Run to You,” “Jump for Joi,” and “Soul to Bare.” A self-titled album appeared in 1997; the remix collection Clubland’s Greatest Hits followed in 1998. In 2000 “Last Chance for Love” received the Glama Award for Best Dance Song. She stayed active with 12-inch releases on Junior Vasquez Music, Twisted, Curvve, and King Street Sounds. Cardwell, who came out at age twenty-one, is openly gay.