Rena Scott

Rena Scott, recognized as a soul vocalist, has appeared at venues across the United States and Europe alongside leading R&B and jazz performers such as the Temptations, Natalie Cole, and Aretha Franklin. Yet her most tangible accomplishments arose through commercial jingles created for Levi and Sunny Delight, together with her appointment as national spokesperson for Harvey's Bristol Cream wines. Extended intervals between recordings, coupled with near-total withdrawal during the 1990s, coincided with personal difficulties, episodes of depression, and a succession of unproductive label agreements. More than twenty years after issuing her debut album, she secured steadier ground by launching her own independent imprint, Amor Records, and reemerged with the charting single "Remember" in 2006.

Detroit, Michigan native Scott first sang inside the Baptist church. Music offered this gifted performer an outlet from the abusive dynamic between her parents. Industry exposure arrived at age thirteen through an opening slot for the Temptations, followed by similar appearances with additional Motown acts including the Four Tops and the Originals at Detroit-area clubs. She maintained a professional trajectory by performing steadily through high school and college. While enrolled at Wayne State University, she secured backup vocal duties for Aretha Franklin—an experience that ranked among her most memorable. The association spanned only a handful of concerts and one album, yet culminated in a Carnegie Hall appearance in New York City.

Scott achieved her initial major success via the 1978 duet "Take Me I'm Yours" with urban funk artist Michael Henderson; the track climbed to number three on the Black Singles chart and was included on his album In the Night-Time. After signing with Buddah Records, Henderson's label, she delivered the disco-inflected 1979 album Come on Inside, produced by the R&B songwriting team of Mtume and Reggie Lucas, whose credits encompass hits for Stephanie Mills and Roberta Flack. The 1980s brought extensive tours with pop-jazz band the Crusaders, where she assumed front-stage lead after Randy Crawford's exit. Another album did not surface until the 1989 Sedona Records release Love Zone, which placed three singles on the R&B charts. The momentum generated by that project went unexploited by Sedona and further labels throughout the 1990s. After founding her own label in the early 2000s, she issued the throwback quiet storm album Let Me Love You in 2004. Two years later its single "Remember" connected with smooth jazz and adult contemporary listeners, illuminating the depth of Scott's prior accomplishments.