GET READY: House Music Legend Jeanette Thomas Returns with Hot New Songs

Written by Jon-Michael Foshee

Jeanette Thomas debuts hot new House EP Not Mine, the new club-shaker single, Relevant, and the beautiful, inspiring new Gospel song, Praise Him Through The Pain.

In 1987, a hot new track shook the burgeoning House Music scene; the playful voice of Jeanette Thomas rocked clubs across the world with the banging song, Shake Your Body. This song would go on to inspire multiple generations of song writers and beat masters of all genres and cultures, and it began with a talented, ambitious teenager who had to sneak out of her house to make her mark on the Chicago House Party scene with her finely-honed voice.

But it would be years before that voice would again appear on new records. Jeanette seemingly faded from the House scene, and her journey forward was fraught with deep personal loss and struggles with depression and alcohol addiction.

But God never gave up on Jeanette, and Jeanette never gave up on God.

Though her struggles mounted, Jeanette Thomas continued to write, to record, to praise, to fight, and her story is an inspiration of how she overcame the seemingly insurmountable, how she learned to trust herself, how she picked herself up and tried and tried again, all to fulfill that which God has created her to do.

Now she’s back, and she has many hot new tracks for you, so get ready.

Ask any DJ, pick up any early House compilation of the greats, and you will find Jeanette Thomas’s name in the conversation or on the track list. Her voice connected with people, it helped them personalize House music at a time when House was finally breaking out strong, and fans made her music their own.

That kind of emotional connection cannot be fabricated, it cannot be bought or acquired. Artists have to leave a part of themselves in the music, they have to give you their emotion for you to truly feel it in your heart, in your soul, in your hips and feet. If a song moves you, it’s because the artist laid their feelings bare for you, and that connection takes a special mix of vulnerability and talent and courage.

“Every word I sing, I want to make it come alive,” Jeanette said. “I want every word in the verse to be felt. When people dance to my music, I want them to feel I put my heart down on the verse. When you’re dancing to Jeanette, you’re dancing to an artist who’s truly giving you all of her.”

Jeanette Thomas was born down in the delta. Her father was a minister, and Jeanette began singing in the choir of his church at four years old. He would soon move the family from Mississippi to Chicago when Jeanette was five, and their family would eventually grow to sixteen children, nine of whom were girls. They come from a very musically-blessed family — all sixteen either sang or played different instruments.

As far back as she can remember, Jeanette has always been singing. Her origins were deeply rooted in Gospel music, and her strong faith and her close relationship with God would serve as the foundation for her rise to great heights in the early years of House music, where she became a worldwide phenomenon, and pick her up again years later when God called her to return to the music that made her a household name.

House music itself is so powerful because it was born of ambitious, creative, inventive people who wanted to move others, who wanted to make beats, who wanted to freestyle, who wanted an outlet for their talents. What began in house parties and basements became a movement. Resources were low, so they gathered the equipment they had, spread the word, and made it happen. They blazed their own path.

“Wherever we moved, there were so many House parties back in the early days,” Jeanette said. “We lived in Cabrini Green for quite a while. I lived on the west side of Chicago, the south side. I would always go where my friends were and other people would follow me.

“Mitchbal was trying to be my manager, but my family had a very strict foundation. We’re very close, we were Southerners, and God is everything. I was actually sneaking out to some of the early House parties. I had to sneak out sometimes, then I would have a whooping waiting for me when I got home.

“I had an interview one night, and I was supposed to be there at ten o’clock. I was stuffing pillows in my bed. I told my sisters to tell our momma I was asleep, and I snuck out. My sisters were younger than me, they were like, ‘You’re going? You’re really gonna go?’ Of course I went, I was super motivated. I still am now, but back then I was all out in the clubs. I used to go downtown to The Warehouse, The Music Box — I was everywhere.

“One time, when we lived on Drake off Chicago Avenue, I was scheduled to perform at a skating rink and they had me coming on at eleven o’clock at night. I thought I could get up there and get back before my parents could realize I was gone. I got caught coming through the back door and I got a whooping. Both my momma and my dad were up waiting right there when I came in. People don’t know how many whoopings I got, what I went through trying to perform. I got a lot of whoopings trying to get out and come perform for you all.

“When I was at Underground, sometimes my producer Mitch would bring me home as soon as I answered all their questions whenever they interviewed me over the radio, and he knew I had to get back home. I couldn’t dare stay there and shake hands and meet people, I wish I could have, but I couldn’t. I did a few times, but there were consequences,” Jeanette said.

Jeanette Thomas put in the work. She had faithfully sung with church choirs most of her life, and she made an immediate impression on the House party scene. The first record that brought her voice to the world at large was Shake Your Body, a song that is still considered one of the greatest House hits of all time and a true example of pure House Music.

“I went into a little studio named Tone Zone in Chicago and just freestyled the song,” Jeanette recalled. “I went in the booth and put my own little sexy touch on it, S-S-Shake, shake, body, shake your body, move your body.”

Shake Your Body and Jeanette Thomas both debuted on Chicago Connection Records in 1987, Produced and Mixed by Mitchbal, Tony Bowie, and Jimmy Polo. It was a sensation and is still a go-to jam for DJs today. The record was so hot it even reached Madonna’s ears, and she called it her favorite song.

Jeanette Thomas - Shake Your Body — Jeanette Thomas – Shake Your Body

Shake Your Body blew up all over the world, but Jeanette had no idea. She was deep into other things, recording Gospel, Jazz, singing with her choir. She was married and had given birth to a daughter.

“I didn’t even know! I was just living my regular, normal life, and I didn’t even know how popular I was really becoming,” Jeanette remembered. “People would come up to me and say, ‘Are you Jeanette?’ I didn’t know how big I was, especially overseas. That record is a phenomenon, a smash over there. I found that out from Jimmy Polo.

“There were a lot of House greats who moved Shake Your Body. One man on the north side took it to New York. There are a lot of people who are in House today who were moving my record and I didn’t even know it. They were taking it to New York to the Paradise Garage, they were taking it overseas, they were taking it to all kinds of places I’ve never even set foot in.

“I make music for everybody. I did what God created me to do and God took it around the world. And I didn’t even have to go with it. That’s amazing. We all have to find a way to work for Him.”

But Jeanette’s sudden fame would bring new struggles, and though her name was synonymous with a worldwide hit, it would be many years before a new record would again feature Jeanette Thomas.

“My producer Mitch came to the door one day and told my dad, ‘Your daughter’s record is really gaining a lot of momentum, she has to perform this record.’ It wasn’t really huge just yet at that point. My dad was like, ‘She doesn’t have to perform anything, so I need you to get off my step.’ He went and got his shotgun and told him never to return. I was crying. But it just wasn’t my time,” Jeanette remembered.

“I didn’t just stop — I had a lot of doors closed in my face. I was trying hard to be big here in Chicago and worldwide. I tried very hard for years. I didn’t know the business well and that ended up with me not making much money at all from Shake Your Body. But I learned a big lesson and now I know the business. I just got depressed. It wasn’t easy. I don’t understand people who have overnight careers. God bless them, but that didn’t happen for me.”

In the midst of her career pursuits, Jeanette’s family suddenly faced a tremendous loss when her husband passed away.

“Alcohol took over; I just wanted to drink instead of what I should have been doing. I allowed that to stop me, but I just want everybody to know that they can get up and start again. I was very scared at first. I asked a lot of people, ‘Do you think I can do this? Do you think I can make a serious comeback?’ I’m a serious artist and I get real involved in the whole process.

“I make music for everybody because I understand many situations. I’m ready to give music to the world and I hope they enjoy it. I have been busy doing other things, plus trying to get my head on straight. I have to be honest with my family, friends, and fans so they know I’m just a regular person who has flaws and has messed up.

“So, I’ve been working hard to get it back together. Even through my struggles with alcoholism and depression, my husband dying, helping my daughter out and raising my grandchildren, helping my family, I try to be unselfish. It’s not about how young or how old you are, things happen. But the moment you find your way back, that, to me, is what’s important.

“Eventually, I became the president of the church choir, and my sister was a director, so I took different offices in the church and let House music go, but it still held a very big spot in my heart. That’s why I’m back doing it today,” Jeanette said.

Her struggles to overcome closed doors and personal tragedies would create new opportunities for Jeanette Thomas to give back, to be an inspiration in even more ways. When she talks about her new performances, she often mentions others who are right beside her and who helped her when she needed it most.

Now she wants to be there to help others, to show people that no matter their past, no matter their struggle, they can try again, they can come back. That power is within them, and God is waiting to help them stand tall and fulfill their callings. It’s going to require work, but the work is what helps pull you up, what helps you keep going.

“People need to know that this is not easy; this is a serious struggle,” Jeanette said. “People do pull your leg and play games with you, they tell you lies, they do all types of things. You just keep going.

“I’m meeting a lot of people in the industry again. I’m so excited to work with great people in the music industry again, and I’m excited about what artists are doing right now and what I am led to do again after all these years.

“I pray daily that God directs me, and I just thank Him for all the future will hold,” Jeanette said.

Her faith is another source of inspiration, and you can feel the strength of her relationship with God in her lyrics, in the emotion within her songs.

“I’m led by God. He gives me everything; whatever I write, however I’m feeling, it actually comes directly from Him. Everything I write is from my heart, and it’s exactly how He directs me to write it and say it,” Jeanette said.

“I’ve been working diligently, and so has my sister, Creola, who’s also my manager. And we have regular jobs. We make it look easy, but it’s a lot of work. I write day and night. Sometimes the Lord will wake me up at one o’clock in the morning and there’s a song in my head, and I get right up and write down exactly what He gives me.

“One person asked me, ‘Is He really telling you stuff?’ Well, it’s kind of quiet, it’s just that things come into my mind. I didn’t think of it. Everything I write, I give the glory to Him. I’m just a vessel. And He’s powerful so look out! She’s bad because of Him!

“I want to be a motivational person to everyone who hears me or gets to know me. I want to be an inspiration for the world, for the youth.

“I was inspired by a lot of Gospel and secular artists. I don’t like to name drop because I have been inspired by so many artists, I don’t want to leave anybody out. With Gospel music, it’s about the feeling, it’s about what they’re saying, how they’re talking about God, their energy.

“With secular music, I love dance music; I love to dance and exercise. I’m a devout Christian, but instead of me feeling like I used to: ‘Am I wrong to write music that makes people dance or shake or move?’ I was so confused for a long time because I was told that was not good, that I shouldn’t do it. It deterred me another way where I didn’t want to fall out with the church and all that because I was so into it (dance music).

“Now I look at it as if they could be exercising or having fun, or they can just dance to it, I feel okay about that now. Some families are a little stricter, and there were a lot of us in that house with a big six-foot-four man and my momma, and when they said no dancing, there was no secular dancing. I didn’t do that with my children though, my daughter could go dancing.

“I’m moving forward, I have my head on straight. We are all soldiers in the army of the Lord. We all are of one accord. I’m just one of His soldiers, and I’m on the front line again,” Jeanette said.

That’s an understatement. Jeanette Thomas is on the front line indeed, as her new music has recently debuted in multiple genres: a hit Gospel song, Praise Him Through The Pain; a hot new single, Relevant; and a new EP of her new House song, Not Mine, with Vince Lawrence and K-Alexi in collaboration with FlameFire Music. And there’s much more coming soon.

“I’m just looking forward to my new music that’s still coming out,” Jeanette said. “Househeads, Christians, kids, teenagers, I want to inspire everybody. I really want to make a mark in this world, and I want everyone to know you can still be great. It doesn’t matter how young or how old you are. You are dynamic. You get out there and you put your first foot forward and you show them you are awesome, because God said so.

“I want to see everybody succeed and live their dreams. I don’t want anyone to give up; I love everybody. Somebody still loved me when I was a falling-down drunk. I look at it like this: we still have to love. We can’t beat everybody upside the head because we don’t like what they’re doing, or they don’t like what we’re doing. I’m just going to leave that alone and keep smiling and let them know how good God is, then you’ll be able to see Him shine straight through me.

“I love God, and He’s first in my life. I try to say the right things and do the right things, and I try and write to make sure I’m real, not disingenuous. That’s how you have to be in this industry. You have to be able to just truly love and look past things and still love people, still see the love of God through them.

“And people remember you. One woman said, ‘I remember you, I used to go to your church; you used to sing in the choir.’ I’ve sung for churches when there were only thirty or fifty people there, and I sang to them almost with tears in my eyes. I’ll go anywhere and do a performance for a crowd of any size because I want to give everybody excellence,” Jeanette said.

Jeanette’s work is rare because every performance holds her true emotions and feelings every single time, and that realness makes you feel her experiences and connects you to the music. House music itself can make anyone move, people of every generation, race, and creed. It is uplifting, it changes your vibe and your mood. Adding Jeanette’s honest emotions into the beat just enhances its power for good.

Jeanette brings her experience of both freestyle improvisation and her own scripted lyrics into a single package; you feel the work that is put in, both on the lyrical level and how she stays in the moment, feeling through her emotions to jazz on the track, improvising a real, electric moment, then returning to the lyrics.

The fact that she embraces those moments gives each song a personal element. For that instant you experience a piece of her heart, you feel the way she felt in that moment of creation, you flow with her, then you come back to the beat. That combination is powerful, it’s real, and it’s pure; it connects you to the music and you make it your own.

“I really listen to songs people write because they’re actually writing down their emotions,” Jeanette said. “When I wrote Praise Him Through The Pain, I was in severe, deep pain. I cried in the Praise Him Through The Pain sessions. If you listen to it, it’s saying you got to continue to praise Him even when you’re feeling low and down.”

You can stream Praise Him Through The Pain on Spotify right here, where she performs under the artist name, J.

“My sister, Creola, her daughter, and my granddaughter are my number one fans, they keep telling I can do this. They’re always motivating me. I can be scared and nervous when I meet anyone who wants to meet me again, because this is all still so real and surreal to me.

“When I see people hitting my songs like they are now, I’m like, ‘Wow, really? They still love me?’ It makes me scared and happy at the same time, but I know God is doing this, and I’m just so happy about it.

“I’ve worked with three great producers so far. I’ve worked with Vince Lawrence, Jimmy Polo, and Eric at Orchestration. I’m very loyal to who I work with, and I let each of them know that I have music finished and unfinished. I love whoever wants to take time to want to work with me, I’m that type of artist.

“I love my makeup artist — shout out Taylor! — and I’m working with some wonderful photographers who have taken amazing pictures. I’m just trying to do me and do a good job at it, be the best me I can now, and give the best music I can give,” Jeanette said.

While you can feel the joy in Jeanette’s new music, you can hear another more personal joy in her voice when she speaks of the meaning behind each song.

“On one of my songs I say, ‘I’m old school with it,’ and I really mean that, I’m old school,” Jeanette said. Not Mine is about me making music the way God gives it to me. Not Mine is based on the way I used to write music, with ‘S-S-Shake, shake, body — Shake your body, Move your body.’ With Not Mine I feel I can take my same approach as what I used to do.”

Not Mine EP - Jeanette Thomas — Not Mine EP – Jeanette Thomas

You can stream Not Mine on Spotify right here, or on iTunes right here.

“There are a lot of different types of House now, and that’s fine, I’m good with that. Maybe one day I could write closer to what they’re doing, but right now I feel like this is mine. This is my House. And I want to write my music the way I want to, and I feel very happy and diligent about that. I’m even happier now seeing how the people are reacting to what I’m throwing out there today.

“Relevant is about bringing me back, and it’s an homage to the DJs. It says, ‘Make me relevant again / DJs turn me up / Make me hot again / Spin me over and over and over…’ I want them to keep mixing and playing my record. Little kids are on this song — white, Hispanic, Black — whoever would come and audition we would let them dance.

“Another verse on Relevant is, ‘Look at me / Look at me now…’ This is a song for everybody, a fun song to dance with the family, the kids, at the club. I want you to see me again, I want you to look at me now, to look through me to know that you can come back, too.

“They can rule the runways with Relevant; I know New York will tear it up, Chicago, wherever the fashion industry is hot,” Jeanette said.

You can watch Relevant on YouTube right here.

Jeanette’s new releases are dropping hot and only getting hotter, and they’re just the beginning — she went on to describe a number of exciting new tracks that are in the works and will be released soon.

“Sharon is a song I wrote about Sharon Ridley, an artist who I thought has a lot in common with me. Her story inspired me, so I wrote a song about her, to show love back to her.

“I wrote How Can I, which should be dropping soon. ‘How can I love you if you won’t let me?’ It’s about, love me, or let me love you, and how can I love you if you won’t let me? That’s House music.

“Movement is about just keep moving, keep getting up, no matter your age, race, whatever. Get on up and keep moving, you can do it.

“And I have a Gospel EP coming. I’m excited, that’s my first love,” Jeanette said.

“I want to shout out Jimmy Polo, Vince Lawrence, Eric over at Orchestration. These guys are working really hard to capture what I want. When I come into the studio, I have a song in my head that’s already written and copywritten. I love working with producers who can really find that niche, that music that you’re really looking for in a particular song, because I already have a melody in my head before I go there. They have a real open mind to understand what I’m looking for. Everybody is different, so there’s going to be something out there for everybody to enjoy.

“I want to make music people can use; I want to make music for plays and films. A real powerful song in the story, or to open a film, or to run over the credits at the end — I think that would be powerful.

“Right now it’s just me and my sister, Creola, basically, and we’ve been working diligently to put me back out there on the platform. I want people to know it’s just her. And she’s a writer herself, she’s an awesome writer. She has books on Amazon. We have great support around us, and we know we have God in the midst of it.

“I can get frustrated sometimes, I have those days like anybody else, but Creola pushes me, she motivates me. I just thank her, because she’s the biggest part of the puzzle, and she knows what she’s doing. She gets out there and generates PR, she works, she moves that paper. I’m so glad she’s in my corner,” Jeanette said.

“From what I’ve seen, Jeanette is a musical genius, and I’m not just saying that because she’s my sister,” Creola Thomas said. “She’s the only person I know who can take any beat and put words to it.”

“She was never really trained in songwriting, but she just has a knack for it, she can do it almost flawlessly,” Creola said. “And she was doing that a very young age; she was able to go into a studio, listen to the music, and come up with a master jam. She freestyled that song, Shake Your Body. She was a teenager who was like, ‘I can do it!’

“No one gave her a clue about what that song should be like or how it should start. Yes, before she started writing she did a lot of sneaking out and going to House parties, so she was able to listen to how the songs flow and how songs make people feel, but, overall, she just got into the studio and did her thing. And I’ve seen her do that over and over. With Not Mine and Sharon she did that again, and that’s a real talent. I want the world to see that talent. I’m her biggest fan,” Creola said.

“It means a lot to me when people looked at me when I was just a little french fry,” Jeanette said. “It means a lot to me because they believed in me from the very beginning. It is my vision and my purpose to show people that they can rise up through the struggle. They still can rise.

“I just pray every night that God is directing us to people who love for real. It doesn’t matter how fast my career moves, just that it moves in the right direction. He’s watching over my heart.

“With all the violence going on in the music industry, I just want to be a bubble that can hopefully shine a light on all these kids. You should love people; you should work with who you want to work with. I don’t need anybody telling me who I can and cannot work with. When you have the love of God, people will feel that. People will tell others about you. If they like you, they like you, and people like me, so get ready, because I’m coming.”

Keep it coming, Jeanette. We’re Ready.

You can find Jeanette’s new music on Spotify and iTunes, watch her videos and hear her music on her official YouTube channel, and follow her latest updates on her official Instagram page.

If you or a loved one is battling addiction or depression, please know that it is never too late to get help and stage your comeback, and it is never too early to start.

Please visit the following websites or call their helplines immediately if you would like to speak with someone to help you get started on your comeback today.

For Substance Abuse and Mental Health / Depression:

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

SAMHSA’s 24-hour National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

www.samhsa.gov

If you are battling thoughts of suicide:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

24-hour Hotline: 1-800-273-8255

en Español: 1-888-628-9454

www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

If you feel you cannot talk, contact the Crisis Text Line

Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor for free 24/7 support.

http://www.crisistextline.org