Jessica Sutta

**Jessica Lynn Sutta** (born May 15, 1982), also known as J Sutta, is an American singer, dancer, songwriter and actress. She joined the group in 2003 after catching the attention of Robin Antin. She was the second member to leave the group after Carmit Bachar, following her injury while on the Doll Domination Tour. After leaving the group in 2010, she released her debut single, "Show Me", which reached number one on the *Billboard* Dance Club Songs Chart in the United States. Her official debut solo album *I Say Yes*, was released on March 3, 2017. She rejoined the Pussycat Dolls in 2019 and will be on the 2020 reunion tour, Unfinished Business. She is nicknamed the "Pin-Up Doll".

While Jessica was primarily a dancer in the group, she can be heard in "Top of the World" and "Painted Windows". She also had a solo song on *Doll Domination*, "If I Was a Man" and provides background vocals of the music video version of "When I Grow Up".

## Early years

Jessica was born in Miami, Florida on May 15, 1982. Her mother is of Irish descent and of Catholic faith and her father is Jewish (of Russian, Romanian and Polish origin). She grew up in Cutler Bay, Florida with two older brothers, Billy and Kevin. She started dance classes at the age of three. She was a child model in a dance wear catalog/magazine in Miami called Star Style. Sutta studied dance at Miami City Ballet in Miami Beach, Florida. At New World School of the Arts, she studied dance. She tore the ACL on both knees and switched to theater studies, before returning to dance. She joined the NBA's cheerleading squad Miami Heat in 1999 and became captain in 2001.

## Career

After leaving The Pussycat Dolls, Sutta released her first solo single, "I Wanna Be Bad", on September 19, 2010. The song was wrote and produced with Tearce Keaz. On September 24, 2010, she debuted the song at the West Hollywood Gay bar, *Here Lounge*. On October 18, 2010, the music video for the single directed by Frank E. Flowers, premiered on Radar Online. On December 26, 2010, she debuted and performed two new tracks titled, "Good Boy" and "Jack in the Box", at the Dolphins vs. Lions Game at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida. On March 3, 2011, she revealed a collaboration with DJ Erick Morillo on a track titled "Pin-up Girl". The song was written by VASSY & Jamie Hartman, and produced by Morillo, Harry Romero and José Nunez. It also features American rapper Stone Wallace. On March 27, 2011, she performed the track alongside Wallace and Morillo at Ultra Music Festival.

Cedric Gervais' "Where Ever U Are", which features Sutta, was released on August 2, 2011 and appears on Gervais' album *Miamication*. On June 3, 2011, she announced on Twitter that she had signed to "Hollywood Records", home to several Disney artists. Sutta's first single with the label, "Show Me" premiered on Idolator on August 3, 2011. The video premiered three days later on ABC Family. Following that, the song became available digitally on August 23. The song peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs in the United States, becoming Sutta's first number-one single as a solo artist. She then began working on her debut solo album, *Sutta Pop*, which was shelved.

In 2012, she performed at various corporate and other performance venues, achieving critical acclaim for her performance at Chicago's Halsted Market Days. In June 2012, Sutta revealed to The Morning Show that she was working with RedOne on her upcoming album. On August 5, 2012, Sutta announced that she was planning to release, "Make It Loud", as her second single in September of the same year. However, the single was not released. On October 6, 2012, Sutta revealed on Ustream that she was no longer working with RedOne and had left Hollywood Records. On December 13, 2012, Sutta revealed that she would be releasing new music in early 2013.

In February 2013, Sutta announced the release of her new single called "Again" in March.It was released on March 26 via Citrusonic Stereophonic. "Again" peaked at number 4 on the Hot Dance Club Songs in the United States. The song received fan and media praise, while Billboard Magazine called "Again" an intriguing next step. The third promotional single "Lights Out" was released via Citrusonic Stereophoic on August 20, with a bright, glow in the dark lyric video. It later peaked at number 3 on the Hot Dance Club Songs in United States.

Sutta continued to put various singles out and stay active throughout 2014–2015 and reached the top of the Hot Dance Charts once again as a featured artist on Dave Aude's cover of "Gonna Get U". In February 2016 she released what has arguably been her most successful mainstream single yet titled "Forever" The song received radio play nationally and Sutta was the No. 1 Independent artist for 4 weeks straight on the Top 40 Radio Chart peaking at No. 56 and No. 57 on Rhythmic. In the same year Sutta released her mixtape *Feline Resurrection*, composed of discards from her official debut studio album *I Say Yes*, via Premier League Music. She released one new song from the mixtape for free download every Friday from April 8 to June 9, 2016, starting with the first track "I Tried" with a total of 17 tracks.

"Forever" premiered on more than 15 media outlets internationally including Bustle, Idolator, The Sun (U.K.), Galore, EDM Sauce, Fox News Magazine, Perez Hilton, EDM Tunes and more. The single was also featured on Spotify's 'Weekend Buzz' playlist and iTunes 'Top Track This Week' in Pop. The single's videowas released exclusively on VEVO's homepage on March 21, 2016 and reached 1.17 million views within the first two weeks. The "Forever" remix features rapper Meek Mill on her forthcoming solo album *I Say Yes* which debuted on March 3, 2017.

## The Pussycat Dolls

In 2003, Sutta moved to Los Angeles, and landed a PSA job as a dancer for Smokey Bear and met choreographer and the Pussycat Dolls creator, Robin Antin. Antin took a likening to Sutta and invited her to be part of the burlesque troupe. She began performing with the Dolls towards the end of the burlesque act at The Viper Room. During this time, Antin struck a joint venture with Interscope Geffen A&M Records's Jimmy Iovine to develop the Pussycat Dolls into a brand and create a separate recording group. After a series of changes, the final line-up consisted of Sutta, Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Nicole Scherzinger, Melody Thornton, and Kimberly Wyatt. April 2005 saw the release of their debut single, "Don't Cha", which topped the charts in 15 countries and peaked at number two on the US *Billboard* Hot 100. Their debut album, *PCD*, was released in September 2005 to commercial success, selling nearly three million copies in the United States and exceeding seven million copies worldwide as of September 2008. *PCD's* following singles, "Stickwitu, "Beep", and "Buttons" topped the charts in New Zealand, becoming the most successful new act in local chart history. The foremost, earned Sutta a nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards (2007). Sutta's first projects outside the group were features on Dave Audé's "'Make It Last" and Paul van Dyk's "White Lies", which were released in 2007. Both songs reached number one on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, making Sutta the first member to have a number-one single as a solo artist in the US, and one of the few artists to have two concurrent top-ten singles. The latter song was also a moderate success in Europe.

Bachar's departure preceded the release of their second studio album, *Doll Domination*. Released in September 2008, the album attained their highest peak position on the US *Billboard* 200, but it is considered a commercial disappointment selling less than 400,000 copies in the US. *Doll Domination* included the singles "When I Grow Up" and "I Hate This Part", which reached the top twenty on the US *Billboard* Hot 100 chart. In January 2009, the group embarked on the Doll Domination Tour, their second headlining concert tour, which highlighted stops in Europe, Oceania and Asia, and grossed over $14 million. Due to Bachar's absence, Sutta sung her parts during "I Don't Need a Man" and "Beep". In the meantime, tensions erupted within the group as Sutta and other members where dissatisfied with the label's decision to credit Scherzinger as featured artist on "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)". The singer later suffered a back injury during the first Sydney show, leaving the group performing as a foursome throughout the following dates. Sutta revealed that she was sent home, but ended up staying with a friend because she had nowhere to live due to being on tour. The injury and Scherzinger's over-emphasis as the lead singer where factors in Sutta's exit from the group. Sutta explained that living in "the shadow of [Scherzinger] [...] wasn't a joyful experience" adding that her broken rib "sent [her] over the edge" and influenced her decision to leave the group.

Sutta returned to the group for their 2019 performance on *The X Factor: Celebrtiy*, where they performed a medley of their hits, and a new song titled, "React". The Dolls announced their reunion tour, set for 2020. "React" was officially released on February 7, 2020, along with its accompanying music video. Sutta provided background vocals for the song.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the reunion tour was postponed until 2021, but after several more delays and the rising cases of the virus, it was announced by Scherzinger that the tour was officially cancelled. However, according to a joint statement by Sutta and Bachar, they were unaware of the cancellation until they saw Scherzinger's Instagram post and that no official announcement was made. "Either way, it seems as though it's the end of a chapter to an incredible, life-altering experience full of some awesome memories that we will forever be grateful for," Sutta and Bachar added.

As of February 2020, The Pussycat Dolls have sold more than 15 million albums and 40 million singles worldwide, becoming one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time.

## Songs

This is a list of songs that Jessica can be heard in

Songs from ***PCD***:

* "Right Now"

Songs from ***Doll Domination***:

* "Elevator"
* "If I Was a Man"
* "Painted Windows"
* "Top of the World"
* "When I Grow Up" (music video version)
* "Love the Way You Love Me"
* "Whatcha Think About That"
* "In Person"

Other:

* "React"
* "Santa Baby"

## Personal life

Sutta is married to Mikey Marquart, a drummer, whom she started dating in 2016. At the height of the Pussycat Dolls popularity, Sutta was struggling with alcoholism, remarking that it would have destroyed her voice and life. "I didn't realize how destructive alcohol was. I was confused and broken, and it was like I had to kill that part of me and be reborn." Sutta has abstained from alcohol since 2016 after entering a Beach House Rehab Center in Miami, Florida.

It was announced on March 5, 2021, through a burlesque inspired dance, that Sutta was pregnant with her first child, a son. Sutta gave birth to her child, Michael "MJ" James Marquart, on June 2, 2021.

Sutta revealed she suffered negative side effects that she believes were from the COVID-19 vaccine. She explains after she got her second Moderna shot, she started developing a tremor and getting involuntary leg and head jerks.

## Trivia

* The Dolls and herself describe her as the "girliest" of the group.
* Nicole says she has a "heart of gold".
* Jessica broke her 11th rib during the Doll Domination Tour because the dancer didn’t hold her back correctly.
	+ Because of this, she got sent home but she didn’t have a place to live. She ended up staying with her best friend for the time being.
* Carmit attended her wedding.
* Her favorite snack food is salt and vinegar chips.
* Jessica confirmed that even if the Dolls reunite again, she will not return and that chapter in her life is "closed".

## References

1. ↑ https://www.insider.com/nicole-scherzinger-announces-pussycat-dolls-reunion-tour-is-cancelled-2022-1