Stevie Vann is a Zambian-born British singer and vocal coach best known for her work as a backing vocalist and studio singer. She was born Stevie van Kerken and is also known as Stevie Lange. Her interest in music began at an early age.
The 72-year-old was formerly married to Mutt Lange, who left her to marry singer, Shania Twain.
The Zambian vocalist now runs a website as a professional vocal coach for beginners and intermediate singers. She has coached quite a number of famous artists including Tina Turner, Jamie Cullum, and Marvin Gaye.
Who is Stevie Vann?
Born Stevie van Kerken on January 01, 1953, Stevie Vann was raised in a small village close to the Congo border, Mufulira, Zambia. Her father was a copper miner while her mother worked as a doctor. Her parents encouraged her to play the piano at the early age of 6. At the age of 12, she started singing in a dance band.
Since she was too young to drive, her father used to take her to gigs. As soon as she was 16, she started her own television show in which she danced and sang.
She Released Two LPs as a Teenager
Stevie Vann released two LPs in her late teens. For that, she was voted as Top Female Vocalist in South Africa. After winning, she was presented with the Sarie Award by Peter Sellers. Also, Vann’s fame as a teenager made her one of the best TV and radio jingle singers in South Africa.
While attending Belfast high school in South Africa, she met her future husband, Mutt Lange. Together they formed the band Hocus before they both migrated to the United Kingdom in the 1970s.
Soon she started working as a studio singer as well as a backup singer for bands like Bones. She also worked with a few musicians before meeting Chris Thompson in 1978. The latter would later invite her to be part of a new band he was forming.
Upon joining Thompson’s Night, the band recorded two albums. The first album reached No.113 on the US Billboard album charts after it was released in 1979. The album also topped several music charts in the US and South Africa.
Despite the mainstream fame, Night later disbanded in 1982. Stevie Vann decided to continue her career as a solo artist, backup singer, and also commercial jingle singer. While in the UK, she worked for Trio and Bodyform.
Besides contributing vocals for acts like Chaka Khan, and Wildhearts, she toured with Elton John for two years as a backing vocalist. Then in the late 1990s, she worked with Lange on projects before he later produced her self-titled solo album.
Album Singles
The Singer’s Marriage with Mutt Lange
As it has been stated, Stevie met Mutt Lange(born Robert John Mutt Lange) while they were both attending the same high school. They married in the 1970s before moving to the UK.
However, while they were still married, Lange allegedly started a five-year relationship with his co-worker, Oonagh O’Reilly. The marriage later ended around the late 1970s and early 1980s. Although the preseason for their divorce was not revealed, there have been speculations that Lange cheated on Vann.
Following the crash of their marriage, Stevie’s ex-husband went on to date and marry singer Shania Twain. As for her, reports say she did not remarry but this cannot be verified. Vann might have moved on with her life but has kept it private. Whatever the case may be, she has not been linked to anybody since after Lange.
The Zambia-born singer and vocalist continued to work with Mutt Lange for years and are still good friends.
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Where is Stevie Vann Now?
Stevie Vann still goes by the name Stevie Lange. She hardly sings or lends her vocals in recent times but she has now focused on her career as a vocal coach. She has a website where she runs vocal coaching classes for beginners and intermediate singers.
According to stevielange.com, she also has an interest in vocal production and records production. The vocal coach claims she has coached some big names in the music industry. Some of them include Marvin Gaye Tina Turner, Rita Ora, Pharrell Williams, and Jamie Cullum.
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