Alicia Myers (born November 20, 1957) is an American R&B musician. Beginning her music career with the band Al Hudson & the Soul Partners, who later evolved into One Way, Myers went on to a moderately successful solo career in the early 1980s, scoring hits such as “I Want to Thank You”, “Don’t Stop What You’re Doin'”, and “You Get the Best from Me (Say, Say, Say)”.
Myers was born on November 20, 1957, in Detroit, Michigan, to Lawrence and Margaret Myers, as one of their nine children. Her older brother, Jackie Myers, also a musician, would later become part of the beach band Chairmen of the Board. The two siblings competed in a local talent competition in April 1968 at Detroit’s Martin Luther King Jr. High School, where they sang, “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”, originally performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and they were awarded first place. She attended Lee University for her collegiate studies.
She is a survivor of childhood tuberculosis. She later survived breast cancer in 1998 and has since become an advocate for the disease.
In 1978, she departed her hometown to start her music career in Los Angeles, California, with Al Hudson & the Soul Partners. With Myers in the lineup, they released the album Happy Feet as Al Hudson and the Partners in 1979; this record includes the R&B hit “You Can Do It”, co-penned by Myers and featuring her on lead vocals, which was a big club/disco hit. Soon thereafter, the group changed their name to One Way featuring Al Hudson and, eventually, simply One Way.
After her stint in the band, she started her solo music recording career in 1981, with the release of Alicia by MCA Records. This album achieved a Billboard magazine R&B Albums chart peak of No. 41 and featured two of her biggest hits, “I Want to Thank You” and “Don’t Stop What You’re Doin'”.
Her follow-up album, Alicia Again, released later the same year, failed to chart. Her subsequent album, I Fooled You This Time appeared the following year under the same label, and it surpassed the R&B Album chart placement of Alicia, reaching number 27. The high charting success of I Fooled You can be attributed to the inclusion of the aforementioned “I Want To Thank You”, which had gained popularity due to DJs such as Tee Scott playing it in heavy rotation, where it was discovered by those who missed it the previous year upon its initial release. Her fourth album, 1984’s I Appreciate became her highest-charting album on the R&B chart, peaking at number 12, while also heralding her only appearance on The Billboard 200, where it peaked at No. 186. I Appreciate would be her last album of newly recorded material released in the 1980s.
Universal Special Products re-released her debut Alicia album, with the same exact track listing, as Don’t Stop What You’re Doin’ in 1986, without further chart success.
In 2011, Myers released her first album of new material in 27 years, entitled Peace of Mind.
In October 2019, a mural by artist Stephen Powers was unveiled on Pier 40 in Manhattan, New York consisting of “I LOVE TO THANK YOU,” inspired by Myer’s song.
Written by Dianne Washington