Loleatta Holloway (, ; November 5, 1946 â March 21, 2011) was an American singer known for disco songs such as "Hit and Run" and "Love Sensation". Billboard ranked her the 95th most successful dance artist of all time. According to The Independent, she is the most sampled female singer in popular music; her vocals appear in house and dance tracks including the 1989 Black Box single "Ride on Time".
Holloway began singing gospel with her mother in the Holloway Community Singers in Chicago. From 1967 to 1971, she recorded with Albertina Walker in the Caravans. She was a cast member of the Chicago production of Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope.
In 1971, she recorded "Rainbow '71", a Curtis Mayfield song first recorded by Gene Chandler in 1963. The single was released on the Apache label and picked up for national distribution by Galaxy Records. Its producer, Floyd Smith, became her manager and later her husband.
In the early 1970s, Holloway signed with Aware, an Atlanta-based soul music label owned by Michael Thevis. She recorded two albums for the label, both produced by Floyd Smith: Loleatta (1973) and Cry to Me (1975). Her single "Cry to Me," a remake of the Solomon Burke hit, reached number 10 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 68 on the Hot 100, but the label soon went out of business.
Philadelphia producer Norman Harris signed Holloway in 1976 to his new label, Gold Mind, a subsidiary of Salsoul Records. Her first single from the album Loleatta, "Worn Out Broken Heart," reached number 25 on the R&B chart; its B-side, "Dreaming," climbed to number 72 on the pop chart and launched her as a disco act. In 1978, the ballad "Only You," written and produced by Bunny Sigler, reached number 11 R&B.
She contributed vocals to Dan Hartman's "Relight My Fire"; Hartman then wrote and produced the title track of her fourth and final Gold Mind album, Love Sensation (1980). In the early 1980s, she had another dance hit with "Crash Goes Love," which reached number five on the U.S. Dance chart. She also recorded "So Sweet" for the house-music label DJ International Records.
The Italian house group Black Box sampled Holloway's "Love Sensation" vocals for their 1989 single "Ride on Time". In the UK, it topped the singles chart for six weeks and became the year's bestselling single. The sample was used without permission. Several sources reported that Holloway reached a settlement and was paid damages, but the producer, Daniele Davoli, said in 2018 that only Salsoul Records, the owner of the master recording, received payment.
Holloway resented the use of her vocals: "I've been around for years trying to get this one hit record. It annoyed me knowing that Black Box were number one and I was not getting any credit for it." She also said Black Box was paid more for performances than her, even after she was billed as "the voice of Black Box". Davoli said he regretted not meeting Holloway before her death and would have liked to apologize "for how messy things got".
Holloway had her first US number one hit when Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch featured her vocals on "Good Vibrations" (1991). She performed with the group to promote the single and received full vocal credit and a share of the royalties. This followed a backlash against acts like Milli Vanilli and producers who had used Martha Wash's vocals without credit.
In 1992, she was billed alongside Cappella on the single "Take Me Away" (UK number 25). Later dance chart entries included "Share My Joy" and "What Goes Around Comes Around" (both credited to "GTS featuring Loleatta Holloway") in 2000, and "Relight My Fire" (credited to Martin featuring Holloway), which reached number five in 2003. "Love Sensation '06" reached number 37 on the UK Singles Chart.
Holloway met Floyd Smith, who would become her producer, manager, and husband, around 1971. The two later divorced. She had four children. Holloway died on March 21, 2011, in Chicago from heart failure. She was 64.