 | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Durga McBroom" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Durga McBroom | |
|---|---|
 McBroom in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | Mooremapp |
Durga McBroom is an American singer who has performed backing vocals for Pink Floyd and is a member of the house music band Blue Pearl, best known for their hit single "Naked in the Rain". She works as an actress, dancer, and singer in the United States and internationally.
Career
After working as an actress (most notably playing "Heels" in the 1983 blockbuster Flashdance), dancer, and singer, McBroom and her sister Lorelei McBroom worked with Pink Floyd as backing vocalists. She went on to have a long stint with them, being the only backing vocalist to appear consistently on all of their shows starting from the November 1987 concert at Omni Arena of A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour up to the final concert of The Division Bell Tour in October 1994. She also performed on their appearance at the 1990 Knebworth festival and has provided vocals for the Pink Floyd live albums Delicate Sound of Thunder, and Pulse, and the Pink Floyd studio albums The Division Bell, and The Endless River, as well as David Gilmour's 2001 solo tour.
Blue Pearl
Around 1989, McBroom formed the band Blue Pearl with record producer Youth, singing, playing some keyboards and co-writing all of their material. As part of Blue Pearl, she had several hit songs in the early 1990s, including "Naked in the Rain" (UK #4 in July 1990), "Little Brother" (UK #31 in October 1990), and a cover version of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", all taken from the album Naked, released in 1990 on the Big Life label. Subsequent singles included "(Can You) Feel the Passion" (UK #14 in January 1992) Can You Feel The Passion had better success in the United States, hitting No. 1 on both Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart and the UK Dance Chart.
Other activities
She provided backing vocals to the song "Don't Wait That Long" featured on the James album Seven released in 1992. She also sang a duet on "Mother Dawn" with Billy Idol for his Cyberpunk album, a self-penned song that was originally released as a Blue Pearl single. In addition, she sang backing vocals on several other songs on Cyberpunk, including a featured performance on "Heroin", and participated in "No Religion" tour.
In addition to her music career, McBroom performed as an actress in the movies Flashdance, The Rosebud Beach Hotel, the episode "Lullabye" of the TV show Hunter (with Gary Sinise), and several other less notable appearances. She also appears in many videos, including "California Girls", "Yankee Rose" and "Just a Gigolo" for David Lee Roth; "Would I Lie To You" for Eurythmics; "Day In, Day Out" for David Bowie and "When I Think of You" for Janet Jackson.
In April 2010, she started to work with the Argentinian band "The End Pink Floyd" show in Buenos Aires, including some appearances with Guy Pratt and Jon Carin. In October 2011, McBroom joined her sister Lorelei to sing "The Great Gig in the Sky" in Anaheim, California with the Australian Pink Floyd Show. 2017 saw her reunite with Gary Wallis, Scott Page, and Claudia Fontaine in several Italian shows.
She tours the world singing with various bands (Shpongle Live / May 3–4, 2019). She also recorded a second Blue Pearl album with Youth.
February 2020 saw her return to the big screen in the controversial film Sammy-Gate, premiering in the Netherlands at IFFR (Rotterdam). She and her sister Lorelei are also featured on Steve Hackett's album At the Edge of Light, being featured on the chart-topping single "Underground Railroad", as well as on the single "Wingbeats" from his subsequent album,"Surrender Of Silence". A single written with Graziano Regoli and Vittorio De Scalzi (New Trolls) called "American Big Top" came out in June 2020 on Supa Qween Records, a fiery protest song reflective of the times. Another album, Black Floyd, was recorded with her sister Lorelei (co-produced by Dave Kerzner), and released in July 2020 as The McBroom Sisters. It includes some cover songs as well as original material.
Personal life
McBroom was married to Mark Hudson from May 10, 2008, until his death on July 5, 2015.
See also
References
- ^ "BLUE PEARL | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
- "Pink Floyd singers join The Australian Pink Floyd for a very special performance of Great Gig in the Sky". Aussiefloyd.com. October 18, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
- Green, Thomas H (March 12, 2016). "theartsdesk Q&A: Musician Youth". The Arts Desk. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- Kudlac, Martin (July 6, 2020). "Interview: SAMMY-GATE, Noel Lawrence and Darius James Talk Their Psychedelic History Film and Sammy Davis Jr. Himself". ScreenAnarchy. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- Durga McBroom at AllMusic.
External links
- Official website
- Durga McBroom at AllMusic
- Durga McBroom discography at Discogs
- Durga McBroom at IMDb
- Living people
- 20th-century African-American women singers
- 20th-century African-American actresses
- 20th-century American actresses
- 20th-century American musicians
- 20th-century American women singers
- 20th-century American singers
- 21st-century African-American women singers
- 21st-century African-American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- 21st-century American musicians
- 21st-century American women singers
- 21st-century American singers
- African-American songwriters
- American film actresses
- American house musicians
- American keyboardists
- American rock singers
- American techno musicians
- American women songwriters
- Big Life artists
- Songwriters from California