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Artist
Brenda K. Starr
12+ albums
female vocalistssalsalatinpopfreestyle
about
Brenda K. Starr (b. Brenda Kaplan on 14 October 1966) is a pop/salsa singer from New York City, New York, United States who is best known for her 1988 hit single "I Still Believe". In recent years, Starr has switched her musical genre from pop music to salsa and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for her salsa recordings. Starr was born as Brenda Kaplan to a Jewish American father, organist Harvey Kaplan (also known as Harvey Kaye of the 1960s band the Spiral Starecase) and a Puerto Rican Roman Catholic mother. In the early 1980s, through a chance meeting with Harry Belafonte, Starr landed a role in his 1984 hip hop film, Beat Street. Starr's appearance in the movie garnered attention, leading to a recording contract on Mirage Records, through Arthur Baker, who enlisted the help of two production teams to complete the album: Lotti Golden & Richard Scher, and Carl Sturken & Evan Rogers. The lead single, from (I Want Your Love) Starr's debut album, "Pickin' Up Pieces" written by Arthur Baker and Lotti Golden was a local club sensation and national hit, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Charts and on the Maxi Single's Chart. "Pickin' Up Pieces" also cracked the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs reaching number 83. Starr's eponymous sophomore LP, released in 1987 on MCA, included, what is considered her signature song, the power ballad "I Still Believe", which peaked at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Starr's first and only top 20 single
