Music
Thornetta Davis
born 1963 · blues and R&B singer, songwriter
Detroit blues and soul singer who came up through the city's club bands, recorded for Sub Pop, and has won a long list of Detroit Music Awards.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 63- Detroit years
- 1963–
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Davis was born in Detroit and began singing at fifteen. She worked her way through the local scene as a backing singer for Lamonte Zodiac & the Love Signs, which became the Chisel Brothers, and then fronted Big Chief, a Detroit soul-rock band signed to Seattle's Sub Pop label. Sub Pop released her solo debut, Sunday Morning Music, in 1996, and its song "Cry" was used in an episode of The Sopranos. She sang backing vocals on Bob Seger's album The Fire Inside, worked with Kid Rock and with Detroit blues matriarch Alberta Adams, and has opened for Bonnie Raitt, Gladys Knight and Etta James. Her 2016 album Honest Woman brought national blues recognition, and in 2014 she performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at the Concert of Colors. She has collected dozens of Detroit Music Awards and was named Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year at the Blues Music Awards in 2023 and 2025.
Highlights
- Solo debut Sunday Morning Music on Sub Pop (1996)
- Her song "Cry" was featured in The Sopranos
- Backing vocals on Bob Seger's The Fire Inside (1991)
- Album Honest Woman (2016)
- Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year, Blues Music Awards (2023, 2025)