 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Táta Vega" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Táta Vega | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Carmen Rosa Vega |
| Born | (1951-10-07)October 7, 1951 (age 73) Jamaica, Queens, New York |
| Genres | R&B,contemporary gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels | Tamla,Qwest, Prophesy |
| Website | tatavega |
Táta Vega (bornCarmen Rosa Vega,[1] October 7, 1951) is an Americanvocalist,[2] whose career spans theater, film, and a variety of musical genres.
Vega was born inJamaica, Queens, New York and raised between New York, Chicago, Texas, Panama and Puerto Rico.[2] She is of African-Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Spanish descent.[3][4] Her parents are Luis Alfredo De La Vega, who served in the United States Air Force, and Rosaura Maltés. As a result of her father's work, the family moved frequently. Before she was even a teenager, the family lived inPanama,Puerto Rico,San Antonio, Texas, andColorado Springs, Colorado. Her father nicknamed her Táta, because that was the first word she uttered as a child.[5] At the age of 17, she had her name legally changed.[6]
Vega began her professional singing career in 1963. In California (1969–70) she was cast in the Los Angeles,California production of theBroadway musical,Hair.[5] From there went on to join the group Pollution (managed byMax Baer Jr.), led byDobie Gray[2] (who also appeared in the Los Angeles cast ofHair). While performing in another group with vocalists Brie Brandt and Laurie Ann Bell at the Troubadour, Berry Gordy was in the audience and signed them on the spot. As Earthquire, the group released a self-titled album produced byTom Wilson in 1972 on Motown's Natural Resources label.[2] After the album failed to make a commercial impact, Motown dropped the group, but retained her.[2][6]
After the demise of Earthquire, Vega continued to work steadily in Top 40 bands and occasionally with some former members of Pollution. After hearing her voice on a demo for Jobete, Motown's publishing wing, producerWinston Monseque and Motown executiveIris Gordy, were interested in managing her.
Vega went on to release four solo albums on the Tamla record label:Full Speed Ahead (1976),Totally Táta (1977),Try My Love (1978), andGivin' All My Love (1981).[2]
She is probably best remembered in the UK for her 1979 release, "Get It Up for Love",[2] from the album,Try My Love written byNed Doheny. This was released a year later than the LP on 12" format (Motown 12 TMG 1140) as well as 45 RPM. It proved to be popular in the discos in the late 1970s in the UK.
She has had an active career as a lead backing vocalist, working withRuss Taff,Stevie Wonder,[2]Andraé Crouch,Chaka Khan,Patti LaBelle,Michael Jackson,Ray Charles andMadonna, singing duets withLou Rawls,[2]Jermaine Jackson, Peter Rivera withRare Earth andMichael Sembello. Vega is featured on the 2010Elton John andLeon Russell CDThe Union. She also worked in film, performing the voice of Shug Avery inThe Color Purple;[2] she is featured on four songs on the 1986soundtrackalbum, one of which, "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)", was nominated for anAcademy Award in the Best Song category. Táta still remains uncredited for her contribution to writing some of the lyrics to 'Maybe God Is Trying To Tell You Something (Speak Lord)' for the film.
In 1985, Vega was nominated for Best Soul Female Gospel Performance at the27th Annual Grammy Awards for her vocals on "Oh, It is Jesus", written byAndrae Crouch.[7] In 1994, she recorded two Spanish versions of the song "Circle of Life" from Disney'sThe Lion King, one for Latin America ("Ciclo Sin Fin") and the other one for Spain ("El ciclo de la vida"). In 1998, she signed withQuincy Jones'Qwest Records and released a gospel album,Now I See, which was nominated for aStellar Award.[citation needed]
In 2006, Vega signed with Do Rite Records, releasing a gospel album entitledThis Joy on October 27, 2009.[8]
In 2010 Tata joined Elton John's band as a full-time backing vocalist along withRose Stone, Lisa Stone andJean Johnson Witherspoon.
In 2011, her first two solo albums,Full Speed Ahead andTotally Táta (1977), were reissued on CD by soulmusic.com records.[6]
On January 18, 2013, Vega, alongsideDarlene Love,Merry Clayton,Lisa Fischer andJudith Hill, premiered20 Feet from Stardom, a documentary aboutbackground singers, atRobert Redford's annualSundance Film Festival.[9]
On February 18, 2014, in the wake of20 Feet from Stardom's success, her solo albums at Motown were released digitally.[10]
Táta’s music has been sampled byDaft Punk and rappers such asEminem,Drake andJim Jones.Teena Marie credited both Táta and Iris Gordy for publishing one of her first songs on Táta’s debut album in 1976. Teena and Táta reconnected through her longtime manager, Lee Cadena, in the late 2000s and were in talks of forming a supergroup withShirley Murdock shortly before Teena’s death.
In 1975, while departing from a gas station in West Adams, Los Angeles, en route to a writing session withCarmen Twilie, Vega was shot in the back of the head by a young sniper on a shooting spree positioned atop a nearby building. Following the incident, Vega remarkably walked to a hospital located adjacent to the gas station.
Vega has two daughters, Angelica, Chloé and step son, Jeffrey. Táta was married to fellow musician Jeffery Vanderplate whom she met at Andraé Crouch’ home. Vanderplate is credited working with Sly Stone from the legendary groupSly and The Family Stone,Bobby Womack,Andraé Crouch and others. He later owned a Winery and Brewery in Northern, CA. He was close withBilly Preston. He died in 2004 from small cell lung cancer.
Chloé’s Godmother is long time collaborator, Rose Stone fromSly and The Family Stone and her Godfather was legendary gospel music pioneer and songwriter,Andraé Crouch.[11]
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 20 Feet from Stardom | Herself |
Tata was actually christened Carmen Rosa Vega when she was born back on October 7, 1951, in Queens, Long Island. It was her father who dubbed her Tata because they were the first words she learned to utter as a baby.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
