Sue Ann Carwell is an American singer/songwriter who was a notable early contributor to the Minneapolis sound pioneered by Prince in the late 1970s.[1] In addition to working as a background singer with many prominent artists, she recorded two albums in the 1980s – Sue Ann (1981) and Blue Velvet (1988) – with a third album, Painkiller, being released in 1992, and in 2010 an album called Blues In My Sunshine, featuring Jesse Johnson.
Born in Chicago, Illinois,[6] Carwell showed musical potential when she was very young,[7] and as a teenager she began singing on the MinneapolisR&B scene,[1] working with the likes of Jesse Johnson.[8] After Prince attended one of her performances, she became a protégée of his; however, she resisted his suggestion that she used the name "Susie Stone",[9][10][11] and recordings Prince had been working on with her for a projected 1978 album ("I'm Saving It Up", "Make It Through the Storm", "Since We've Been Together" and "Wouldn't You Love To Love Me?") were not released.[12][13]
In 1981, aged 19, Carwell released a debut album, titled Sue Ann, on Warner Bros Records.[1] Her second album, Blue Velvet (1988), was produced by Jesse Johnson.[14]