Thornetta Davis

Thornetta Davis ranks among the Midwest's foremost blues divas, delivering powerhouse vocals anchored in blues and vintage R&B while also contributing her skills to several prominent rock acts. Born in Detroit, Michigan, on August 11, 1963, she first performed publicly at age 15 after friends urged her to enter a local talent show. She soon became part of the vocal group Jas, later assembling Chanteuse to perform soul and R&B covers once Jas disbanded.

Her affinity for blues singing surfaced in 1987 upon joining Lamonte Zodiac & the Love Signs as a backing vocalist; the group was led by the ex-frontman of Detroit's Buzztones. After Zodiac departed, the remaining musicians reorganized as the Chisel Brothers and elevated Davis to lead singer, resulting in a cassette-only album issued in 1990. She captured her first Detroit Music Award for Best Blues Vocalist in 1991, initiating a streak that would exceed 25 DMA honors overall. Bob Seger enlisted her that same year for backing vocals on The Fire Inside and later recalled her for his 2007 release Face the Promise. Also in 1991 she provided backup on Face, the debut album from Michigan's funk-meets-metal outfit Big Chief. Her involvement deepened on the band's subsequent Mack Avenue Skullgame and Platinum Jive projects, prompting Sub Pop Records to offer her a solo deal.

With Big Chief supplying support, she recorded the 1994 EP Shout Out (To the Dusthuffer). Two years afterward, several Big Chief members collaborated with other Midwest musicians, among them an emerging Kid Rock, to create and produce her first full-length effort, Sunday Morning Music. Although the album earned strong critical notice, commercial returns stayed modest, prompting Davis to concentrate on live performances, including a weekly residency at Detroit's Music Menu. One of those club sets yielded the 2001 release Covered, Live at the Music Menu, which received the DMA for Best Blues Album of the Year. Her distinctive voice also featured in numerous regional and national television commercials and scores. Kid Rock tapped her again in 2001 for a track on the Osmosis Jones soundtrack and later included her on the albums Kid Rock and Rock N Roll Jesus, as well as his 2006 touring lineup. She self-released the seasonal EP Remember Love on Christmas Day in 2009.

Davis maintained a steady schedule of Midwest festival and blues-event appearances while making occasional trips to Europe and the Netherlands. In 2014 she presented a special concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra during the city's annual Concert of Colors festival. Her 2015 set at the Michigan Blues Fest was taped for broadcast on the PBS series Backstage Pass. The album Honest Woman appeared in September 2016 and was named Best Soul Blues Album of the Year by Blues Blast magazine, collected eight Detroit Music Awards, and received the Best Blues Album honor from France's L'Academie du Jazz.