Vivian Green
Saturday, November 24, 2018 at 8PM at the South Orange Performing Arts Center
Vivian Green’s sultry voice and charismatic presence has earned her a place as one of the country’s most captivating Soul singers on the scene today. “Emotional Roller Coaster” rocketed her to stardom in 2002, and she is now celebrated regularly on all the top R&B/Hip-Hop albums charts.
Born in Philadelphia, Vivian Green was raised in a home where Motown classics were always playing. She began singing at age five, started playing piano by eight, and by eleven began writing songs. By age thirteen, her career as a professional singer was on its way.
She honed her craft at the piano every day after school, writing mature love songs far beyond her years. At fifteen she began to record at multi-platinum group Boyz II Men’s studio. At seventeen she received her first professional songwriting credit co-writing the song “Dear God” on their Platinum album Evolution.
Her mature, sultry voice and knowledge of material allowed her to sing in some of Philadelphia’s premiere Jazz clubs despite her age. Her break-through moment came at age nineteen when Vivian Green sang background for renowned Soul singer-actress Jill Scott on an international tour.
Vivian Green teamed up with Grammy Award- nominated Eric Roberson to create the demo that would win her a deal with Sony Music. The demo contained the first smash hit “Emotional Roller Coaster,” from her debut album A Love Story released in 2002. This album was certified Gold and received rave reviews from People, Billboard, Rolling Stone, and USA Today . Her second album Vivian released in 2005 and produced “Gotta Go Gotta Leave (Tired)” a no.1 Adult Contemporary /Dance hit. The New York Times called the album a “stellar sophomore performance.”
Vivian Green has several notable features and collaborations. She made her film debut in the Oscar-nominated biopic De Lovely. She also appeared in the TV Series American Dreams, portraying Brenda Hollaway singing “Every Little Bit Hurts”. Green wrote the songs for playwright-film-maker David. E. Talbert’s stage play Love in the Nick of Thyme. She is featured on Cyndi Lauper’s album The Body Acoustic and the late Guru’s Jazzmatazz 4. She was also featured on Soundtrack to a Revolution, a compilation of spiritual songs featuring artists Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, The Roots, and Mary Mary. Most recently she collaborated with Jazz pianist Brian Culbertson for his album Dreams and produced the top 10 Adult Contemporary hit “Still Here”. The song also appeared on her 4th album The Green Room.
In 2014, she became the first artist signed to rapper/producer Kwamé‘s record label, Make Noise Recordings. Vivid, her fifth studio album was distributed via Caroline Records. In April 2015, the first single released from the album was “Get Right Back to My Baby” which climbed to #2 on Billboard’s Urban Adult Contemporary chart. She was also nominated for a Soul Train Award.
In 2016 Vivian Green released “Grown Folks MusicWork” which went to the top 15 on Billboard’s Urban Adult Contemporary chart. And in 2017, six albums into her illustrious career the aptly titled, VGVI [Make Noise/Caroline]—pronounced “vee–gee–six,” has earned her highest chart entry in over a decade on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart, garnered acclaim from Vibe and YouKnowIGotSoul, and yielded a bona fide hit in the form of “Get Right Back To My Baby.”