Cynthia Johnson

Cynthia Johnson (born April 22, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the band Lipps Inc. with the worldwide smash hit "Funkytown".
Musical career
Beginnings
Prior to becoming the lead singer of Lipps Inc., Johnson had become well-known locally for winning the 1976 Miss Black Minnesota, USA pageant, and for being the lead vocalist of the well-known Minneapolis band Flyte Tyme for seven years. Being also an accomplished saxophone player, Johnson utilized her saxophone talents in Flyte Tyme, and she also wrote many of their songs. Johnson also co-wrote some songs with band members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, today a multi-Grammy award winning songwriting and producing team.
Johnson completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, Morris in 1978, and continued to perform with Flyte Tyme for a brief time. Shortly after she left Flyte Tyme, the band evolved into The Time, a side project of Prince.
Lipps Inc.
Johnson was the lead singer of the popular Minneapolis-based band Lipps Inc., best known for its 1980 song "Funkytown". The song hit No. 1 in 28 countries, sold more than 35 million copies worldwide, and earned a place in the "One-Hit Wonders" section of the Rock & Roll Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Other singles include "Designer Music" and "Rock It", but the group never matched the success of "Funkytown", which continues to influence popular culture. The group received several awards, among them three Billboard Music Awards and "Soul Record of the Year" by the AMOA association. Johnson left the band after the group's third album Designer Music was released.
Late 1980s to present
Johnson has continued her musical career and remains active as a member of the three-time Grammy Award-winning gospel group Sounds of Blackness, as a musician on albums by Maceo Parker and Prince, on labels such as Motown, and on projects of Grammy-winning producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. She also has worked as a jingle singer on commercials for products from 3M, Volkswagen, Nissan, Target, FedEx, Ford and McDonald's. She has also sung for U.S. presidents. Johnson was the host of the first episode of the FunkyTown TV series, produced by the Minneapolis-based production company, Megabien Entertainment.
Solo career
In addition to working with others, Johnson continues her career as a solo artist. Her debut album, All That I Am, was released on December 15, 2013 on the Megabien Music label.
Discography
Solo albums and lead vocalist
1979 Mouth to Mouth – Lipps, Inc. – Lead Vocals
1980 Pucker Up – Lipps, Inc. – Lead Vocals
1981 Designer Music – Lipps, Inc. – Lead Vocals, songwriter
1992 Funkyworld – Lipps, Inc. – Lead Vocals
2003 Funkytown – Lipps, Inc. – Lead Vocals, songwriter, composer
2013 All That I Am – Main Vocals, songwriter, producer
Additional appearances
1978 A Touch on the Rainy Side – Jesse Winchester – Choir/Chorus
1980 Billboard Top Dance Hits: 1980 – Saxophone, Vocals
1987 Kiss Serious – Chico DeBarge – backing vocals
1988 Just Like That – Brownmark – backing vocals
1988 Personal & Attention – Stacy Lattisaw – backing vocals
1988 When the Lights Go Out – Pia Zadora – backing vocals
1988 Carry On, Vol. 2 – Ipso Facto – Vocals
1988 Omaiyo – Robin Adnan Anders – Vocals
1990 I Am – Elisa Fiorillo – backing vocals
1990 The Brojos – The Brojos – Rap, backing vocals
1991 Here It Is – Jevetta Steele – backing vocals
1991 Imperial Bells of China – Hubei Song & Dance Ensemble – Photography
1993 Here It Is – Jevetta Steele – backing vocals
1994 African-American Music in Minnesota – Vocals
1995 It Must Be Christmas – Debbie Duncan – Choir/Chorus, Vocals
1996 Best of the Singer's Voice – Performer, Primary Artist
1996 Greatest Hits – Georgia Mass Choir – Choir/Chorus
1998 Lonnie Hunter & The Voices of St. Mark – Lonnie Hunter – Alto Vocals
1998 Lost in the Blues – Doug Maynard – backing vocals
1998 River of Song: A Musical Journey Down the Mississippi – Producer
1999 Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions – Shannon Curfman – backing vocals
1999 Billboard Top Dance Hits: 1976–1980 – Saxophone, Vocals
2002 Solid Gold Funk – Vocals
2002 Soul Symphony – Sounds of Blackness – Alto Vocals
2003 Angels on the Freeway – Kevin Bowe – Vocals
2003 Cross N Water – Ford – Vocals, backing vocals
2003 David Young – David Young – backing vocals
2003 Made by Maceo – Maceo Parker – backing vocals
2003 Sweet Talk – Reneé Austin – backing vocals
2004 Deliverance – Shane Henry – backing vocals
2005 In the Fellowship – Patrick Lundy – Tenor Vocals
2005 Right About Love – Reneé Austin – Vocal Harmony, backing vocals
2005 School's In! – Maceo Parker – Vocals, backing vocals
2005 Unity – Sounds of Blackness – Alto Vocals, Primary Artist, Vocals
2005 Unity [2005] – Unity – Alto (Vocals), Primary Artist, Vocals
2006 I'll Play All Night Long – John McAndrew – backing vocals
2006 Overflow – Kevin Davidson – Banjo
2007 Between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning – Mick Sterling – Main Personnel, Vocals, backing vocals
2007 Kings and Queens: Message from the Movement – Sounds of Blackness – Alto Vocals
2007 The One Who's Leavin' – Doug Spartz – backing vocals
2010 Chinese Whispers – Alison Scott – backing vocals
2010 Life's a Party: the Best of In Between – Primary Artist
2011 Hope One Mile – G.B. Leighton – Vocal Harmony
2011 Sounds of Blackness – Sounds of Blackness – Alto Vocals, Group Member, Vocals
2012 Natchez Trace – Kevin Bowe – Vocal Harmony
2012 Nothing But a Breeze/A Touch on the Rainy Side – Jesse Winchester – Choir/Chorus
2013 He's Faithful – James Pullin & Remnant – Soprano vocals
2013 Purple Snow, Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound – Lead Vocals, Songwriter (1970s recording on compilation)
Filmography
Live performance "Higher Ground" with ABC Youth Choir, Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, 2001
Funkytown, TV series, 2013
Les Annees Bonheur, French TV show, 2014
Awards and recognitions
Miss Black Minnesota USA, 1976
Induction into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame as a member of Lipps Inc
Recipient of Platinum in the US, Double Platinum in Canada, Gold in France and Germany, Silver in the UK, among others, as the lead singer on "Funkytown"
Three Billboard Music Awards, 1980
Three time Grammy Award Winner as a member of Sounds of Blackness, 1991, 1993 and 1998
References
External links
Cynthia Johnson is credited as a saxophonist on this compilation (containing "Funkytown")
Lipps Inc., Disco's Littlest, Oddest Conglomerate, Turns Minneapolis into An Unlikely 'Funkytown' (People Magazine – July 28, 1980)
TV show Funkytown (Video Production by Megabien Entertainment – Sept. 2012)
Washington Post article "Funkytown: Digging on the rise of soul music in 1980s Minneapolis"
1956 births
Living people
20th-century African-American women singers
Musicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota
American dance musicians
American television personalities
American women television personalities
American women singer-songwriters
Singer-songwriters from Minnesota
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American women singers
American funk singers
American disco singers
American women pop singers
African-American rock singers
University of Minnesota Morris alumni
20th-century American singer-songwriters
21st-century American singer-songwriters
African-American songwriters
21st-century African-American women singers