Helen Baylor Biography
1953, Los Angeles, California, USA. Baylor's start in music came at the age of 12 when her parents pushed her on stage to accompany a B.B. King performance. She became a regular backing singer for King, also singing with Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan. Later she toured in the rock musical Hair, before joining the disco group Side Effect, with whom she enjoyed two minor hits. However, when that group expired she descended into a cycle of drug addiction and breakdowns. She discovered a way out through the church. She sang regularly in a Los Angeles choir for the next four years, until the rest of the choir members realized how talented their fellow singer was. Encouraged to record a demo tape, this was circulated throughout Los Angeles and was played repeatedly on local gospel radio. By chance, a tape was then passed to an executive of Word Records, who promptly offered her a contract in 1989. Her debut album, Look A Little Closer, duly received a Grammy nomination. Two Dove awards were won by the follow-up collection, Start All Over, which featured the single "Sold Out". Her 1995 album, The Live Experience, was recorded at her home church, the Earthdome, in the Crenshaw Christian Center.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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