Early life

Payne was born Scherrie Ann Payne on November 4, 1944, to Frederick Payne and Charcle Lee Farley (c. 1920-1977),^[2][3] in Detroit, Michigan. Payne is a graduate of Central High School, where she graduated in 1961, and Michigan State University, where she also graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Before she began her career, she taught at the Grayling School of Observation.^[4] In 1964, she appeared on the Jet magazine as queen of the co-educational Cass Hall.^[5]

Glass House

Prior to her tenure with The Supremes, Payne was the lead singer for the group Glass House.^[6] Other members included Ty Hunter (later with The Originals), Pearl Jones, and Larry Mitchell. The group signed with Invictus Records, formed by longtime Motown songwriters Eddie and Brian Holland, and Lamont Dozier, in 1969, among other popular acts of the early 1970s, including Freda Payne (who had a #1 hit in 1970 with "Band Of Gold"), and Honey Cone, who had a #1 hit with "Want Ads". In an ironic twist of fate, "Want Ads" was originally recorded by Glass House with Scherrie on lead vocals. The Payne sisters together made a new version, but did not like the song and when Honey Cone's lead vocalist Edna Wright walked by in the studio they suggested she should sing it. Unfortunately, The Glass House did not meet this same success. The group saw their biggest hit in 1969 with the Payne-led track "Crumbs Off The Table" ^[7] which managed the Billboard top 10. Between the years of 1970 and 1972, The Glass House released two albums and nine singles, including Scherrie's solo track "V.I.P.". Record World ranked The Glass House as the fifth 'Top Vocal Combination Group' in their 1970 R&B Awards.^[8] However, they never really repeated the success of their first single release. They quietly disbanded in 1972, after the release of their album "Thanks, I Needed That."

The Supremes (1973–77)

As a new member of the Supremes when their popularity was waning, Payne often remained quiet during interviews with the group; mainly because four years later, reporters were still asking about Diana Ross. When she arrived, Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong were the other two members of the group, which were her bandmates. Payne contributed as the lead singer to the group, with Birdsong and Wilson singing background. Payne sung lead on the single "He's My Man" (which also featured vocals by Mary Wilson) and "It's All Been Said Before", both taken from the album The Supremes. An accomplished songwriter, Payne was never able to write any material for The Supremes, which reportedly disappointed her.

Payne began to realize that Motown did not really care as much about the Supremes as they had in the 1960s, due to the changing musical tastes of the era and due to the fact that they were focusing to further the solo career of Ross. Payne's contributions did enable The Supremes to enter the disco era, however, with such dance hits as "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking" from the album High Energy, "You're My Driving Wheel", "Let Yourself Go", and "Love I Never Knew You Could Feel So Good". While each of these disco songslanded in the Billboard Dance Top Ten,^[9] they did not perform as well on the pop and R&B charts. The single "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking" ^[10] was a #3 hit on the Disco charts, rose in the Billboard Top 40 to #25 on the R&B chart, and #40 on the Pop chart. The final three Supremes (Payne, Wilson and Susaye Greene) officially disbanded in 1977 with a farewell concert in London, with Supremes founding member Mary Wilson announcing that she would embark on a solo career. They then tried to replace her with Joyce Vincent Wilson of Tony Orlando and Dawn, but Motown responded with that the Supremes would not continue with original members. Motown decided to officially retire the Supremes, so Payne and Greene recorded an album together on the Motown label, Partners, under the name "Scherrie and Susaye" in 1979.^[11] The album received mixed reviews and the two decided to part in order to embark on solo projects. Prior to the release of Partners, Payne released a solo single for Motown called "Fly" b/w "When I Look at Your Face" in late 1977.

Former Ladies of the Supremes

In 1986, Payne joined former members of the Supremes, Jean Terrell and briefly, Cindy Birdsong, to form The Former Ladies Of The Supremes or by its abbreviation, FLOS.^[11] When Cindy left to pursue a solo career, Lynda Laurence took her place and they renamed themselves "Jean, Scherrie, & Lynda of the Supremes", recording the single "We're Back', featuring Ali-Ollie Woodson of the Temptations. Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, they traveled worldwide to continue the Supremes' legacy. When Terrell departed, the group continued with Laurence's sister Sundray Tucker, who was a former member of Stevie Wonder's back-up group, Wonder Love, and this lineup worked prolifically with British record producer Steve Weaver, resulting in a catalogue of 40 new recordings, some of them re-recordings of the Supremes' original hits. Payne and Laurence continued to tour under the FLOS name with third new member Freddi Poole, who joined the group in 1996 replacing Sundray Tucker. In 2000, Payne and Laurence backed Ross on the Return To Love Supremes reunion tour, in which Diana allowed each of them to lead one of the classic Supremes songs.^[11] The group celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2006 (with Birdsong, Tucker and Greene in the audience), and around this time began using the group name "Scherrie & Lynda of the Supremes". In September 2009, Vincent joined Payne and Laurence in the group, replacing Freddi Poole, who departed to join the Three Degrees. In 2017, Laurence left the group after 31 years with her tenure in the group, and was replaced by Greene. The group (now consisting of Payne, Greene, and Vincent) was renamed "Scherrie & Susaye, Formerly of The Supremes".^{[citation needed]}

Solo work

As a solo artist, in addition to "V.I.P.", which she recorded while a member of the group Glass House and was featured on their second album, Payne has had club hits, such as a cover version of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" (featuring her sister [Freda], Edmund Sylvers, and Wilson on backing vocals) in 1982, followed two years later by "One Night Only", a song from Act II of the musical "Dreamgirls", which is a musical based loosely on the history of the Supremes and the advancing of the Motown sound into the disco era. The 12" Megatone Label Disco Single also featured Birdsong on background vocals. Both songs were produced by Rick Gianatos, whom Payne currently records with. Payne recorded a solo album for Superstar International Records which contained several duets with Phillip Ingram. The following year, Payne signed with British producer Ian Levine for his Motown reunion project, Motorcity Records. While with Ian, Payne released two solo singles "Chasing Me Into Somebody Else's Arms" (which was originally recorded in 1979 with Levine and Gianatos) and "Pure Energy" (co-written by Payne and released on Nightmare Records), as well as covers of two of Ross' songs, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "I'm Still Waiting". Other product recorded for Motorcity included "Who's Wrong, Who's Right"; "Hit & Miss"; and "One More Time."^{[citation needed]}

Later career

In August 2001, Payne was invited to perform at the annual prestigious open-air festival Sunset Junction Street Fair in Los Angeles. She performed Supremes' classics such as "Stoned Love" and "My World Is Empty Without You" in addition to a couple of her own solo hits, "I'm Not In Love" and "Another Life From Now". She made a return to performing at Sunset Junction the following year, performing a similar set. On January 14, 2007, Payne was the special guest star at the "If My Friends Could See Me Now" fund-raiser in Los Angeles, California. She performed her previous hit "One Night Only", from the musical Dreamgirls. Backing her were long-time friends Pam Vincent and [Joyce] Vincent, both formerly of Tony Orlando and Dawn. In 2012, Payne (along with longtime producer Rick Gianatos) recorded and released a version of the Supremes hit "Let Yourself Go" along with a music video. In late 2013, Payne lent her vocals to the Pattie Brooks single "I Like The Way You Move"; she can be seen in the accompanying video as one of the judges. On July 5, 2014, Payne along with Greene performed at the Sheraton in Los Angeles a concert program based on their album "Partners" which was released by Motown in 1979. They were subsequently featured in the magazine Daeida, with a photo shoot; the accompanying article chronicled career highlights with the Supremes and separately as well as the re-release of their "Partners" album on CD.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, Payne was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.^[12]

Albums

With The Glass House

With The Supremes

With the Former Ladies of the Supremes

as lead artist

Singles