Brenda K. Starr

Early life Starr was born as Brenda Joy Kaplan to Jewish American organist Harvey Kaplan (also known as Harvey Kaye of the 1960s band the Spiral Starecase) and a Puerto Rican mother who was Catholic.

Career In the early 1980s, through a chance meeting with Harry Belafonte, Starr landed a role in his 1984 hip hop film, Beat Street; she appeared in it, as herself, as a singer at an open-microphone audition. Starr's appearance in the movie garnered attention, leading to a recording contract on Mirage Records, through Arthur Baker, who enlisted the help of two production teams (Lotti Golden and Richard Scher, and Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers) to complete Starr's debut album, I Want Your Love. The lead single, "Pickin' Up Pieces", written by Arthur Baker and Lotti Golden, was a local club sensation and national hit, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Charts

Awards and recognitions 1997: Lo Nuestro Awards: Nominated: Tropical/Salsa Female Artist of the Year. 2002: Latin Grammy Awards: Nominated: Best Salsa Album for Temptation.

"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles 1980s YearSinglePeak chart positionsUS Pop US A/C US R&B US Dance US Dance Singles Sales US Latin 1985"Pickin' Up Pieces"——8399—"Suspicion"——————"Love Me Like the First Time"——————1987"Breakfast in Bed"/"Desayuno De Amor"———182961988"I Still Believe"/"Yo Creo En Ti"1314———10"What You See Is What You Get"24——611—"Straight from the Heart"——————"Over and Over"——————1989"You Should Be Loving Me"—————— "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

1990s YearSinglePeak chart positionsUS Pop US Latin 1990"No Matter What" (with George Lamond)49———1991"If You Could Read My Mind"————1993"So in Love" (with Concept of One)————1995"Thank You"————1996"Feels So Good"————"I Don't Know What To Do"————1997"Only Love"————"Herida"—142811998"Si Me Preguntan Por Tí"——3110"I Ain't Gonna Settle For Less"————1999"I Still Believe"———20"Señor Amante"——3715 "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

2000s YearSinglePeak chart positionsUS Dance Singles Sales US Latin Airplay US Latin US Tropical 2000"Pétalos de Fuego"———20"La Razon"————"Hold Me"48———2002"Por Ese Hombre" (with Tito Nieves and Víctor Manuelle)—33111"Rabia" ———11"Gata Bajo la Lluvia"————2005"Tú Eres"———19"Atrévete a Olvidarme"———212006"Dámelo"———— "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

2010s YearSinglePeaksUS Tropical 2013"Yo te Extraño Tanto"—2017"Amor Mío"—"No Ves que te Amo" (with Domenic Marte)232018"Siento" (with Nino Segarra)—2019"Rendención"— "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

2020s YearSinglePeaksUS Tropical 2020"Tu Vida en la Mia"232021"El Pez Muere por la Boca"—"I Miss You"— "—" denotes releases that did not chart.