Evelyn Thomas, the legendary disco singer and hi-NRG pioneer, has passed away at the age of 70. The news was confirmed by her producer, Ian Levine, via social media on July 21. Levine stated that despite his struggles in accepting the fact that “his lifelong protégé really has left us,” Evelyn Thomas’ music will outlive them all.
Born in Chicago in 1953, Evelyn Thomas was raised in a musical family. She moved to New York to pursue an acting career and eventually began singing in musicals such as Les Miserables and The Wiz. She was discovered by Ian Levine in 1975, who signed her as an artist and launched her career.
Thomas released two albums soon after, ‘I Wanna Make It On My Own’ and ‘Have A Little Faith In Me,’ and established herself as a member of the Chicago northern soul scene. However, it was her 1984 hit track ‘High Energy’ that made her a pioneer of the genre of hi-NRG, which blended disco with high-tempo dance music. The genre’s top ingredient, according to Smash Hits Magazine, was a mix of both gay disco and old Motown.
Ian Levine revealed that Thomas’ daughter, Kimberley, who is also a singer under the alias YaYa Diamond, was with her mother when she passed and desires to record a tribute song in her memory.
Following Thomas’ passing, many tributes were paid to her, including the acknowledgment from Dave Pearce that Thomas’ hit track ‘High Energy’ helped to spark energy in clubs in the early ’80s and shortly after the bpm began to slow in clubs post-disco era
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