Chic lead vocalist Alfa Anderson dead at 78
Alfa Anderson, the former lead singer of the legendary disco group Chic, has died at the age of 78. At this stage, no cause of death has been revealed.
In a statement, Nile Rodgers shared on Instagram: “Thank you for everything. RIP Alfa Anderson. CHIC Organization. Forever loved (heart emoji) (praying emoji)”. He set the music on the post as ‘At Last, I Am Free’ by Chic, which features Anderson on vocals, and also shared two images of them together.
Anderson, born in Georgia in 1946, moved to New York City to become a lecturer at Hunter College, where she also began singing regularly in her spare time. She sang as a background vocalist for Dionne Warwick and lent her voice to Quincy Jones’ soundtrack to The Wiz.
Thanks to striking up a friendship with Luther Vandross, she got an opportunity to audition as a background singer for Chic. Following Vandross’ encouragement, she started out as a background vocalist for the group before being promoted to lead vocalist alongside Luci Martin during the group’s most commercial period.
Explaining her role as lead vocalist to Pop Matters in 2013, Anderson said: “In Chic, the singers didn’t get the songs in advance. You’d walk into the studio, listen to the track, read the lyrics, work out the vocals in the control room, and go out into the booth and put it down. To help us get the groove, we would usually start at the end. Usually the hook or the outro gave you plenty of chances to ride the groove.”
Anderson continued: “We’d start at the end and then go back to the top. It’s during that repetition that you get the rhythm. Once you got that on the end, then you can go back to the top and sing the song. At that point, you have the song’s DNA.”
Her most notable vocal contributions with Chic include singing on hit songs such as ‘Le Freak‘, ‘Good Times’, ‘I Want Your Love’ and ‘At Last I Am Free’.
When Chic disbanded in the early ’80s, Anderson began touring with Vandross from 1982 until 1987. She also worked as a session vocalist, assisting on records from celebrated artists such as Mick Jagger, Bryan Ferry and Sheena Easton.
In 2013, Anderson launched a solo career with her debut single, ‘Former Lady of Chic’. She released her only solo album, Music from My Heart, in 2017. She also reunited with Rodgers in 2015 for the Chic song, ‘I’ll Be There’.
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