MARTHA REEVES TO BE HONORED

​Martha Reeves and her fans will have ample reason to dance in the streets on May 22, 2019. That’s when Reeves, best known as the lead singer of Martha and The Vandellas, will be honored by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
Reeves, 77, is the 2019 recipient of the Alabama’s Distinguished Artist Award. The award acknowledges “a professional artist who is considered a native or adopted Alabamian and who has earned significant national acclaim for their art over an extended period," the council said via a press release.
Reeves, who was born in Eufaula, led the Vandellas to fame in the 1960s with radio hits such as “Heat Wave,” “Nowhere to Run,” “Dancing in the Street,” “Jimmy Mack,” “Quicksand” and more. Vandella, who moved to Detroit as a child, had grown up singing in church. Her powerful, gospel-infused vocals -- and her ability to translate that style to pop and R&B songs -- made her a valuable member of the Motown roster in the label’s heyday.
Reeves left Motown and became a solo artist in the 1970s. She reunited with the Vandellas in the 1980s, and was inducted with the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. “Martha and the Vandellas were the Supremes’ tougher, more grounded counterpart,” the Rock Hall website says. “With her cheeky, fervent vocals, Martha Reeves led the group in a string of dance anthems that are irresistible to this day
Reeves was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1995. She has more than a dozen albums to her credit, with the Vandellas and as a solo artist, and continues to perform at concert halls, nightclubs and festivals. Over the years, Reeves appeared on many television shows, performed at the Super Bowl halftime show in 1998 and toured in “Ain’t Misbehavin'."