Marcy Thomas was born in
Houston, Texas on December 8, 1950. She became the musical director for a youth choir at twelve years old. By the age of fifteen she was writing lyrics and performing. Thomas successfully auditioned for bandleader
Ike Turner to become an Ikette in 1974. She toured with
Ike & Tina Turner internationally and appeared on various television shows, including
Musikladen,
Soul Train,
The Midnight Special, and
Van Dyke and Company before leaving the Ikettes in 1975. In 1976, Thomas joined the touring musical production of
The Wiz. After two years, she left the production and joined the funk group
The Undisputed Truth, replacing
Chaka Khan's sister
Taka Boom. Thomas was the lead female vocalist on the album
Smokin' released in 1979. Thomas was a background vocalist on
Rick James' album
Street Songs which topped the R&B chart in 1981. As an actress, she had roles in the films
Penitentiary II (1982) and
Perfume (1991). Thomas rejoined Ike Turner as one of his Ikettes in 1988. Later going by the professional name Lyrica Garrett, she toured with Turner in 2006. They performed "
River Deep, Mountain High," "
Proud Mary," and "
Nutbush City Limits" at the
Night of the Proms. She also performed with
Tears for Fears. In 2016, Garrett joined the supporting cast of
Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, which stars her daughter
Lyrica Anderson. The show chronicled Garrett's strained relationship with her son-in-law A1 Bentley and his mother Pam Bentley. In 2019, Garrett released a music video for her single "Summertime Love" from her album
Ready. The album was produced by
Dalvin DeGrate. == Discography ==