The Manhattans featuring Gerald Alston, Deniece Williams, et The Manhattans

Deniece Williams first began singing at her church, performing as part of their gospel choir. WIth her mother being an established singer, Williams always looked up to her, whilst finding influence from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Earth WInd & Fire and Patti LaBelle. Upon adulthood, Willaims worked several low paying jobs, finding little energy to try her hand at music, which soon changed after being introduced to Stevie Wonder by her cousin. Six months later, Williams flew to Detroit, US for an audition, becoming the successful candidate through her rendition of "Teach Me Tonight." Williams became part of a trio of backing singers for Wonder, known as Wonderlove.

Gaining this first exposure to the music business, Williams toured with Wonder over several years, helping to develop her talents as an artist whilst also juggling these commitments with raising her two sons. In 1975, Williams left the group, having teamed up with producer Maurice White for her first solo release. Distributed through Columbia Records, "This Is Niecey" was a hit, featuring the single "free" which reached number two on the Billboard R&B Chart.

In 1977, her second effort arrived, with "Song Bird" again delivering a number of hit singles, including a duet with Johnny Mathis, which broke into the Top Ten. Moving to ARC, Williams continued to release records, unable to find another hit until "Silly" broke into the Top Ten, with Williams gathering steam and finding a number one single in 1982 with "It's Gonna Take a Miracle." Hits continued throughout the early '80s, moving to a gospel sound in 1987 with "From the Beginning." The album was critically acclaimed, earning Williams a Grammy Award for the single, "They Say," also winning at the prestigious awards ceremony for two further singles, "I Surender" and "I Believe In You."

Focusing on gospel, album releases continued throughout the 1990s, again being awarded with a Grammy Award in 1999 for 'Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album' with "This Is My Song." Whilst her output slowed down into the new millennium, Williams was still scoring hits, breaking into the Billboard R&B Singles chart with her 2007 song, "Grateful- The Redication," her first charting single since 1989.

The Manhattans were formed in 1962 with members George "Smitty" Smith, Edward "Sonny" Bivins, Winfred "Blue" Lovett, Kenny "Wally" Kelley, and Richard "Ricky" Taylor. In 1964 the group released their first single entitled “For the Very First Time,” by Carnival Records. By 1968 the group received “Most Promising Group” award by NATRA and the following year they signed with De Luxe Record Label. Unfortunately George Smith became unable to perform forcing the group to look for a new lead vocalist, eventually settling on Gerald Alston. Throughout the 1970s the group continued to record and release new music. Their song “Kiss and Say Goodbye” became their second single to go platinum in 1976. Shortly after, Taylor left the group and they continued on as a quintet.

The group celebrated their 20th anniversary making music together in 1985 and released “Too Hot To Stop It,” and was dedicated to George Smith. During the early 90s the group had some disagreements resulting in two separate groups named The Manhattans. One version features Original Founding Member Bivins, Hardy, Hemphill, Pazant & Williams, and the other version included Original member Blue Lovett and Gerald Alston,Troy May and David Tyson. If you spot them on tour, be sure to grab a ticket.