Meet The Michael Jackson Memorial 'We Are The World' Singer Judith Hill

Access Hollywood - July 9, 2009 8:39 PM PDT
Story photo: Meet The Michael Jackson Memorial 'We Are The World' Singer Judith HillJudith Hill performs at the Michael Jackson public memorial service held at Staples Center, Los Angeles, July 7, 2009 Getty ImagesAccess Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Michael Jackson's former backup singer Judith Hill is taking center stage after performing "We Are The World" and "Heal The World" at Tuesday's public memorial to the late King of Pop.

Hill, just 25 years-old and a Los Angeles-raised musician, was set to perform with Jackson in London for his "This Is It" concert dates, which were to have kicked off next week. Instead, she channeled the rehearsals she put in for the concert series into her stirring performance at the memorial.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Michael Jackson's Public Memorial: The Moments You Missed

Rolling Stone's online blog was first to identify the singer, whose kind face and bouncy curls were just part of the friendly appeal of her Jackson memorial performance.

According to Hill's own Web site, her curls are the result of her bi-racial Japanese and black parentage.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Michael Jackson's Staples Center Public Memorial

"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," she said on her own Web site bio. "And my mom could not help me with it!"

Inspired by her Christian upbringing, Hill first began singing at the age of four. She doesn't, however, recall her early singing through rose colored glasses.

"It was painful," she said of her very youthful recordings. "I was my own worst critic and I knew that I sucked! People tried to sell me as a prodigy, but I wasn't ready."

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Pop Stars

But a host of legendary women -- gospel singer Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald -- helped send Hill on her musical path.

"I sang along with cassette recordings of them because the sounds they made with their voices gave me hope," she said in her bio. "It was something that took me away from my reality. It was something I had to be a part of."

Not just a singer, Hill is a songwriter as well - some of them coming to her when she is asleep.

"Sometimes I wake up because I hear songs in my dreams," she said in her bio. "I have to turn the lamp on and scribble the melodies down in the middle of the night. My dad always told me God told him I needed to be born. I guess there's a reason for my madness."

In April 2009, Hill wrote in the news section of her Web site that she finished recording her album, but no details were immediately available on when it was due for release.

To learn more about Judith and to hear her music on her Web site, Click Here.

Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
PLAY IT NOW: Access Extended: Meet The Man Behind The Michael Jackson Memorial
PLAY IT NOW: Michael Jackson's Public Memorial: The Unseen Moments

MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Michael Jackson - TV One - Pop - Music - Media

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comments 1-10 of 24  |< newest · < newer · older > · oldest >|  hide comments · post a comment
  • Destiny
    I'm glad to find out who she is. She was amazing at the memorial! I hope to hear more from her in the future.
    report abuseposted July 10, 2009 8:25 AM PDT
  • nycgrl09
    this girl was AMAZING at the memorial!!!!! i wish her the best!
    report abuseposted July 10, 2009 5:01 AM PDT
  • change
    Dannyzworld.....you are so right about Lucy...she keeps posting the same type of craziness on every Michael story...I think she's obsessed and needs a life....
    report abuseposted July 10, 2009 3:58 AM PDT
  • DanielleG
    dang lucy.. you just going to all the michael jackson posts and commenting on them. that's kind of pathetic... lol.
    report abuseposted July 10, 2009 3:34 AM PDT
  • God Is Real!
    DANG Tuch D! You over on this blog to with you negative comments!!! I told you to get think more positive.
    report abuseposted July 10, 2009 12:13 AM PDT
  • truthful
    The article was about Judith.....who has an amazing voice and presence. I hope she has a lucrative career.
    report abuseposted July 10, 2009 12:03 AM PDT
  • undisclosed
    Tuch D is like the other ROBOTS who repeat the filtered information the American media gives them about the Bush administration and MJackson. However, people are starting to wake up. Please read "Michael Jackson Conspiracy". If people did not have access to court docs or video, please SHUT UP w/ your GOSSIP. BTW, this singer's publicist tried to promote her at a memor
    report abuseposted July 9, 2009 11:14 PM PDT
  • undisclosed
    Tuch D, shut the F** up. NO ONE will remember you, when you die. Aphrodite Jones had access to HOURS of testimony, transcripts, etc. , granted by Judge Melville and overseen by court officers. She was a vicious Fox News reporter and New York Times best-selling author who changed 180-degrees and SUPPORTS Michael. She attacks the media FROM THE INSIDE in "Michael Jackson Conspiracy&
    report abuseposted July 9, 2009 11:11 PM PDT
  • ST.BLK
    If you dont like MJ why are you cliking on the taps to read about him? We all must atone for our sins when we die. God will judge him just like He will judge all of us. RIP MJ
    report abuseposted July 9, 2009 10:52 PM PDT
  • Tuch D
    MJ was a drug using pedophile. Any surprises? No, he was black. We should have had an autopsy before the memorial so everyone could see the %@!*#bag he was.
    report abuseposted July 9, 2009 10:29 PM PDT
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