She is a singer-songwriter born in the Bronx and raised in Queens, New York who started out with a local dance group and auditioned for a touring company for a Broadway play. This led to her becoming a professional singer and dancer who performed in theatre shows, with many bands and recording sessions in the local area.
She worked with Norma Jean Wright in the group ESP and toured Canada with them, later becoming a member of the successful group Chic in 1978 after being suggested as another lead singer by the vocalist Norma Jean following the release of Chic’s debut album.
Norma Jean Wright had released her debut solo album so the band had to replace her, for legal reasons, with the singer Alfa Anderson who had been one of Chic’s backing singers.
The group went on to achieve major success nationally and internationally and topped the charts in many countries with Luci as one of the lead singers. Some of these songs include “Le Freak”, “I Want Your Love”, “Good Times” and “My Forbidden Lover”.
The band have been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame eleven times.
After Chic broke up in the early 1980s she went back to her studies which led to her being a carer in the healthcare system. She didn’t, however, totally give up music and still worked as a background singer and songwriter. She wrote the song “Let’s Bounce” for the Japanese band GTS.
She and Norma Jean Wright and Alfa Anderson joined up again and, with the addition of the singer Lisa Fischer, recorded “In My Lovers Arms”. The trio, later known as Next Step, debuted live at the 21st Annual Evening Under the Stars benefit show in Palm Springs in 2014. They have headlined several shows and recorded “Get On Up” in 2015 with Kathy Sledge which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Dance chart. The trio continue to perform and appeared on an Italian TV New Year’s Eve show.
She has performed and recorded with many artists with some of the albums she has sung on as a lead singer or backing vocalist include C’Est Chic, Risque, Real People, Take It Off, Tongue in Chic and Believer by Chic, Second Cup by Coffee, Where Do We Go From Here by Deborah Cox, Grand Cayman Nights by Charles Douglas, Glad To Be Here by Bernard Edwards, Fantasy by Fantasy, Re-Birth 2 by GTS, King of the Blues 1989 by B.B. King, I Love My Lady by Johnny Mathis, Until the End of Time by Joey Negro, Diana by Diana Ross, Show Me Love by Robin S, Love Goes All the Way by Shannon, Love Somebody Today by Sister Sledge, Candi Staton by Candi Staton, This World by Sylvano and My Temptation by Vivienne Williams along with many others and numerous compilations.
Sources:
- https://wbssmedia.com/artists/detail/3400
- http://www.formerlyofchic.com/lucimartin.asp
- https://ultimatediscocruise.com/lineup/norma-jean-wright-luci-martin-formerly-of-chic-with-special-guest-chinadoll/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/210258-Luci-Martin?type=Credits&filter_anv=0&page=2
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/luci-martin-mn0001558267/credits