Judith Hill: Jackson Memorial Mystery Singer
July 7, 2009
She commanded center stage during some the most memorable moments at this morning’s Michael Jackson Memorial, but her identity had most in attendance at Staples Center and millions of international television viewers baffled. Who was the young Asian woman singing lead on the moving “Heal the World”?
Thousands of Google searches ensued and the mystery was solved. She’s Judith Hill, a thirty-something singer from Pasadena, Calif. who was to be one of the backup singers on Jackson’s ill-fated 50-show “This Is It” concert series that was supposed to start July 8 at London’s O2 Arena. Jackson died June 25 at the age of 50.
Hill also participated in a rousing performance of “We Are the World” and earlier in the memorial program was a backup singer on John Mayer’s instrumental version of another Jackson hit, “Human Nature.”
From Ms. Hill’s bio:
Judith was born in Los Angeles and raised in a family of musicians. Her mother is an immigrant from Japan who met her African-American father in a funk band in the 1970s.
She laughs about her bi-racial experience, “I was a skinny mixed kid with a lot of hair that I didn’t know what to do with (and still don’t know what to do with it). And my mom could not help me with it!”
She admits that she never “fit in”. Depending on the social circle, she was labeled “too quiet”, “too loud”, “too black”, “too Asian” or too something. Judith expresses, “I was a traveler, kind of a drifter. But, looking back I see how all of those experiences, friends, and cultures made me who I am today.”
Hill lists three women vocalists as major influences—Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald—and she is a classically trained musician, having studied composition at Biola University. She won several awards for her chamber ensembles, orchestrations and composing for jazz bands, and quartets.
Did you notice that Judith Hill is also beautiful? She’s a statuesque 5-9 with a soulful vocal range from B2 to above C6 if you can dig it.
Watch and listen:
- Judith Hill MySpace Page
- Official Judith Hill Blog
- Judith Hill: The Amazing Singer From The Michael Jackson Memorial, Reflections On Media
- The woman who sang “We Are The World” at the Jackson Memorial, jozjozjoz.com
- Judith Hill – Heal the World singer at Michael Jackson Memorial, ChannelAPA
