The Emotions

Growing up in Chicago with deep gospel roots, the three Hutchinson sisters who performed as the Emotions ranked among the foremost female R&B ensembles of the 1970s. Lead vocalist Sheila Hutchinson and siblings Wanda and Jeanette were still teenagers when they scored their first soul-chart entry in 1969 with the memorable single “So I Can Love You.” The sisters had already sung gospel as children and built a local secular following before signing with Volt in Memphis and recording under producers Isaac Hayes and David Porter. After Stax ceased operations in 1975, the group began working with Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, a collaboration that yielded the number-one pop and R&B smash “Best of My Love” in 1977.

Two years later Maurice White and the Emotions reunited for “Boogie Wonderland,” which peaked at number two R&B and number six pop. Three additional albums appeared on White’s ARC label between 1979 and 1981, yet none matched their earlier commercial peak. The quartet next moved to the Red imprint for the 1984 LP Sincerely, which contained the single “All Things Come in Time.” Three more tracks from that project charted, though none registered substantial impact. A subsequent Motown contract produced only one album, If I Only Knew.

Sheila Hutchinson appeared as featured vocalist on Garry Glenn’s 1987 recording “Feels Good to Feel Good.” Younger sister Pam—who had joined the lineup temporarily in the late 1970s and became a permanent member after 2000—joined Jeanette Hutchinson in supplying background vocals on Helen Baylor’s 1990 gospel track “There’s No Greater Love.” Wanda Hutchinson and Jeanette also sang on Earth, Wind & Fire’s Heritage album that same year. Pam Hutchinson died on September 18, 2020, at age 61.