Born Brenda Shannon Greene in 1958, Shannon spent her childhoodyears in Washington, D.C., and New York City's Brooklyn borough.While attending college, she joined the New York Jazz Ensemble as asinger, which led to a chance meeting with drummer Lenny White andsome recording sessions. One single, 1983's "Let the Music Play," wasissued on the New York-based dance label Emergency as a 12" singlewith Shannon listed as the artist. Produced by Mark Liggett and ChrisBarbosa, the track's heavyupfront staccato beats and synth bassmarked it as an early freestyle single.The record became a monsterclub hit, pumped its way up to the pop Top Ten, and sold a millioncopies.Shannon's debut album, Let the Music Play, was issued onMirage in February1984 and went gold, peaking at number 32 pop inMarch 1984. Shannon followed that up with the Top Ten R&B hit "GiveMe Tonight," as well as "My Heart's Divided"