Thornton, Fonzi

He s a singer-songwriter, producer, backing vocalist and vocal contractor born Alfonzo “Fonzi! Thornton in East Harlem, New York City who began singing in church when he was around 5 years old.

As a teenager he joined the group Shades of Jade and made friends with Luther Vandross. They sang with Apollo Theater’s artist development workshop’s Listen My Brother and appeared on an episode of Sesame Street.

He later became popular on the New York City club circuit with his vocal trio called Fonzi, which he renamed F360. The trio appeared in a Miller Lite commercial and worked with The Stylistics and Candi Staton on their tour of England.

In the 1970s he became a member of Chic after being approached by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards and performed on singles such as “My Forbidden Lover” and “Good Times” as well as the national tours and six albums After the group disbanded he worked as a backing singer for many top artists on chart topping songs. After the resurgence of Chic by Nile Rodgers in 2010 his singles “I’ll Change My Game” and “I Work For a Living” were remixed and included on the Chic box set Savoir Faire. He later sang backing on Chic’s “I’ll Be There” in 2015.

From 1980 he was a backing singer for Luther Vandross on his first tours and performed on all of his platinum and gold records. He was also his vocal contractor and on his last four albums was a co-writer of several songs.

In 1982 he backed Roxy Music on Avalon and the following world tour. He also went on to appeared on several of Bryan Ferry’s solo albums and sang with him on Live Aid in 1985. He later worked again with Bryan when he toured in 2011 and sang in the studio with him in 2014 and toured with him in 2016.

Venturing out as a solo artist he released his debut album The Leader in 1983 which produced the single “Beverly” that reached No. 43 on the Billboard R&B chart. He followed this with Pumpin’ in 1984. In 2014 both albums were re-released.

His work as a session singer continued and in the new millennium he performed several times in events at the Kennedy Center Honors and Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2008 he worked with Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden for two nights and started working with Aretha Franklin, appearing with her in recordings, concerts and recordings until her death in 2018. In 2019 he performed at Roxy Music’s inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

During his career he has worked with numerous artists on countless recordings and in many film and television productions.

Some of the recordings, of which there are in excess of 500, he has performed on include Not That Kind by Anastacia, Good Stuff by The B-52s, Inside Out by Philip Bailey, Soul Provider by Michael Bolton, Sound + Vision by David Bowie, The Complete Artista Albums Collection by The Brecker Brothers, Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades of Influences by Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey, Miracles by Change, Genius Loves Company by Ray Charles, Risque and Real People by Chic, Joe Cocker Live by Joe Cocker, Snowfall on the Sahara by Natalie Cole, Eternity by Norman Connors, 1986-1991 The Warner Years by Miles Davis, Move to This by Cathy Dennis, Unison by Celine Dion, Invitation Only by Will Downing, Kamakiriad by Donald Fagen, Boys and Girls and Avonmore by Bryan Ferry, Coming In for the Kill by Climie Fisher, Set the Night to Music by Roberta Flack, Jump To It and Get It Right by Aretha Franklin, Freeze Frame by J. Geils Band, M.Y.O.B. by Debbie Gibson, Don’t Look Back by Al Green, Koo Koo by Debbie Harry, She’s the Boss by Mick Jagger, L is for Lover by Al Jarreau, Keepin’ Love New by Howard Johnson, R. by R. Kelly, Burnin’ by Patti Labelle, Manzanera Collection by Phil Manzanera, I Love My Lady by Johnny Mathis, Thighs and Whispers by Bette Midler, The Other Side of the Rainbow by Melba Moore, The Best Of Van Morrison Vol. 3 by Van Morrison, Emotionally Yours by The O’Jays, How Sweet It Is by Joan Osborne, Riptide by Robert Palmer, Contribution by Mica Paris, Love Language by Teddy Pendergrass, The Power Station by The Power Station, Chic & Beyond and Adventures in the Land of Good Groove by Nile Rodgers, Diana by Diana Ross, The High Road by Roxy Music, Cupid & Psyche 85 by Scritti Politti, Hello Big Man by Carly Simon, Love Somebody Today by Sister Sledge, Phoebe Snow by Phoebe Snow, The Best Of... by Candi Staton, Free Spirit by Bonnie Tyler, Romancing the ’60s by Frankie Valli, Never Too Much and Busy Body by Luther Vandross, How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye by Dionne Warwick, Dream Harder by The Waterboys, Jody Watley by Jody Watley, The Sweetest Days by Vanessa Williams, BeBe Winans by BeBe Winans, Other Voices by Paul Young and countless compilations and collections.

Diana Ross recordings
Give Up (Bernard Edwards/Nile Rodgers)
Motown (M 1491F) (US 45)

Sources:

Thornton, Fonzi

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