The wait is over as she steps into the spotlight with her solo debut album, Shine. The project will feature Francis—accompanied by a full orchestra—wrapping her amazing voice around timeless pop classics by legendary songwriters including Burt Bacharach & Hal David and Alan & Marilyn Bergman, as well as introducing new songs they’ve composed especially for Shine. Previously, the New York Times has praised her, “vocal pyrotechnics and a range that runs from chesty depths to unearthly heights, and stated that, “Stacy Francis has a powerhouse voice.” On Shine, it will be radiant.
The concept of mixing Francis’ interpretations of iconic American popular songbook standards with newly-penned future classics came from award-winning album producer Tena Clark, who is overseeing Shine’s artistic direction. All phases of the development and recording of the album—including sessions with celebrated songwriters and behind-the-scenes moments with Stacy and her circle of famous friends—will be filmed for The Making Of A Diva, which will air as an episodic series on cable television.
As part of the project, Francis will also establish the Shine Foundation, focusing on programs directed towards empowering young girls and women. “Through art and music,” she says, “there is a lot of healing that we can do. I believe that as artists, as celebrities, we need to be role models. We have a voice, and it can be a powerful force to help people feel better, to be better, and to remind them about who we are—of our shared humanity.”
Music and connecting with people have been constants in Francis’ life. She was raised in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn by her uncle, a preacher. By age four, she was singing in church, and this early immersion in gospel connected her heart and soul to the power of song—that authenticity and passion remain at the core of her art. Over the summers, she went around the country with her uncle, driving from church to church for revivals, where she’d sing for large crowds. “Looking back,” Francis says, “I see that’s how I got used to performing in front of an audience. I’ve always felt truly comfortable onstage, much more so than in a studio.”
The immediate feedback of live performance energized her, and her love for it translated into lead roles in school musicals and, when she was 16, membership in the R&B/hip-hop girl group Ex-Girlfriend. The first of the quartet’s two albums, the 1991 Billboard Top 40 R&B title X Marks The Spot, was the debut release on Forceful Records, the Warner Bros. imprint launched by Brooklyn hip-hop icons Full Force. Their first single, “Why Can’t You Come Home,” was a #5 R&B hit. The group toured internationally and went on to release It’s A Woman Thang in 1994 before parting ways.
Francis’ next triumph was starring in the West End production of Mama, I Want to Sing opposite the legendary Chaka Khan. During her run on the London stage, Prince came to see the show, and invited her to perform with him at an after-hours club where he was holding court. Every night for a month, between the hours of 1-7AM, she would do a number with him and his band. “I didn’t know that many songs,” says Francis, “because my background was in gospel. But he urged me to listen to Miles Davis, to Rufus—to lots of classic music. The whole experience was like being outside my body—was this really happening to me?”
Back in the States, Francis had the opportunity to sing with gospel greats CeCe Winans and Shirley Caesar—two of her lifelong inspirations—in a production of Born To Sing at Madison Square Garden. It was another dream come true, as well as a major turning point for Francis. Stellar notices for her performance drew a call from an old friend who was the casting director for the Broadway smash Smokey Joe’s Café. “He said, ‘I think you’re ready,’” remembers Francis.
She joined the cast as an understudy in 1995, and later stepped into the lead role when B.J. Crosby left the show. “To this day,” says Francis, “she’s one of the most amazing sopranos I’ve ever heard. A lot of people just couldn’t sing those same notes. No one could fill her shoes, but I was honored to have the chance to carry on her tradition—I was also scared to death.” Francis went on to make her own memorable mark as a celebrated cast member in what eventually became the longest-running musical revue on Broadway. Her credits on the Great White Way also include parts in Street Corner Symphony and the hit musical Footloose, in which she originated the lead role of Rusty.
Francis left Broadway in 2001 to move to Los Angeles and explore a career in acting. Her credits include roles in the network television series Third Watch, Fastlane, Yes, Dear and Strong Medicine. “I love every aspect of the entertainment industry, being an artist is the most amazing thing ever. But my first passion is singing, and I realized that what I really needed to do was make a record.”
In her first go-round as a recording artist with her girl group, Francis didn’t see herself as a solo artist. “I didn’t think I could be like Beyonce and go off on my own,” she says. “I was young and green and I wasn’t ready.” Years of theatrical success gave her the confidence to shine—“If you hold on and keep believing—every day—that your time is going to come, it will. My time is here.”
WOW! 
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