Marcia Hines
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MarciaHines.jpg
Marcia Hines album cover 1999
Marcia Hines (born July 23, 1953) is an American born singer who achieved great success in her adopted homeland of Australia.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she began singing as a child in her local church choir and by her teens was performing with groups in her local area. At the age of 16, she was discovered by Australian entrepreneur Harry M. Miller who was visiting the United States in preparation for an Australian stage production of Hair.
She moved to Australia and became the youngest person in the world to play a featured role in any production of Hair. The show was a major success and Hines was very well received. Miller then approached her to play Mary Magdalene in the production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Hines became the first black woman to play Mary Magdalene and achieved a second major success which made her one of the most discussed entertainers in Australia.
A record contract followed and her first single released in 1974 was a cover version of James Taylor's Fire And Rain. It would be the first of her major hit singles, and during the late seventies she dominated the Australian music charts with such diverse recordings as a cover version of the Dusty Springfield song, I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, The Rolling Stones Jumpin' Jack Flash and What I Did For Love from the Broadway musical A Chorus Line. Her biggest hit was the number one single You which was in turn covered in the United States by Rita Coolidge.
She continued to record and achieved a few more hits including the dance track Your Love Still Brings Me To My Knees in the eighties. Flashdance, What A Feeling which was originally recorded by Irene Cara and Time of Our Lives were both hits for Hines in 1999.
In 2003 she returned to the public eye after a period of inactivity, with her role as judge on the television show Australian Idol. Her blunt but compassionate treatment of the contestants, her championing and nurturing of those with potential, and her emotional reactions to their personal victories or subsequent eliminations once again endeared her to the Australian public.
In 2004 she released an album of cover versions, titled Hinesight - Songs from the Journey.
She is the mother of singer Deni Hines.
External links
Marcia Hines' official site (http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/3902/index.html)