Patti Austin

Patti Austin (born 10 August 1950) is an American R&B, pop and jazz singer. 2Music career 31960s–1980s Austin was born in Harlem, New York to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist, and Edna Austin and was raised in Bay Shore, New York on Long Island. Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington have referred to themselves as her godparents. When she was four years old, she made her debut at the Apollo Theater and the next year had a contract with RCA Records. During the 1960s, she was a session musician who sang background vocals and commercial jingles. She was known as "Queen of the Jingles," appearing on commercials for Almay, Avon, Burger King, Impulse, KFC, Maxwell House, McDonald's, Meow Mix, Stouffer's, and the United States Army. In 1969, she made the R&B Top 50 with the single "Family Tree". Her debut album, End of a Rainbow, appeared in 1976 on the jazz label CTI Records. Two years later, she sang on the song "Love Light" by Japanese musician Yutaka Yokokura. She and Michael Jackson performed a duet on "It's the Falling in Love", which appeared on his album Off the Wall, and in 1980 she and jazz guitarist George Benson performed a duet on "Moody's Mood for Love