Patrice Rushen
About this Artist
Patrice Rushen is an award-winning musician and composer who is also one of the most sought-after artists in the music industry. She is a classically trained pianist who originally found success in the ’70s and ’80s with her signature fusion of jazz, pop, and R&B. During this era, she composed and recorded the hit song “Forget Me Nots,” which has been frequently covered and sampled by other artists.
Rushen is also a four-time Grammy nominee who has composed scores for movies and television. She was the first female musical director for many of the entertainment industry’s top award shows, including the Grammy Awards, the Emmy Awards, the People’s Choice Awards, the NAACP Image Awards, and HBO’s Comic Relief V.
Considered one of the world’s top jazz pianists, Rushen has performed with and produced for such esteemed artists as Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Prince, Lionel Hampton, Carlos Santana, Boys II Men, George Benson, Jean-Luc Ponty, Tom Jones, Nancy Wilson, Michael Jackson, Dianne Reeves, Sheena Easton, Stanley Turrentine, Joshua Redman, and on and on. She has played at some of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and events.
Rushen has performed with symphonic orchestras and has written an award-winning symphony. She served as Composer in Residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the 2000/01 concert season. She has composed several symphonic works since 2000, each commissioned by a major orchestra, and the world premiere of each of the works has been performed to rave reviews.
She has 14 solo albums to her credit and a greatest-hits anthology released on Rhino Records in 1997. She has also recorded two albums with The Meeting, the world-renowned jazz supergroup, which includes Rushen, Ndugu Chancler, and Ernie Watts.
Rushen is an Ambassador of Artistry in Education at Boston’s Berklee College of Music and was the chair of the Popular Music program at the USC Thornton School of Music.
Rushen also spends time working with the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ Grammy in the Schools program, and other organizations dedicated to establishing music education and mentorship programs for underprivileged youth.