Upon C+C Music Factory's emergence onto the scene in late 1990, Davis was marketed as the principal vocalist of the ensemble—despite there having been several other female vocalists, in addition to her, who had provided the vocals to various tracks on the group's debut album, Gonna Make You Sweat. Davis appeared in the music video for the album's number-one Hot 100-charting title track, where she lip-synched to vocals which had, in fact, been sung by Martha Wash.
Wash (who had also provided vocals to Black Box during the same period, and also saw that group use models to lip-sync to her voice in the music videos) did not appreciate the perception of Davis being the voice behind the hit song, and proceeded to file a lawsuit against the group. With this happening during the height of the Milli Vanilli lip-synching scandal, Davis found herself being accused of being a "no talent" who was being featured by the group only because of her looks – despite her having actually performed a number of songs on their studio album Gonna Make You Sweat.
In 1992, she made an appearance on the American sitcom Blossom.[1] In 1993, Davis performed a rendition of Dennis Edwards's song "Don't Look Any Further" for Dave Koz's album Lucky Man. In 1994, Davis reunited with C+C Music Factory to record their second album, Anything Goes!.[2] The album's lead single "Do You Wanna Get Funky", which featured Davis and Martha Wash, peaked at number-one on Billboard's Dance chart.[2] Davis also appears on the song "I Found Love".[2]
In 1997, she released a song called "I'm Calling (Say It Loud)" on the soundtrack for the documentary film, When We Were Kings.[3] In 2000, Davis released a single called "Power", which peaked at number-one on Billboard'sHot Dance Maxi-Singles Sales.[4]
In June 2008, Davis appeared on DJ Heavygrinder's single "Mind Reader".[5] In August 2008, Zelma Davis and Amber released a remake of Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand's "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)".[6] In 2009, she released another single with DJ Heavygrinder called "Chains of Love". In 2010, she released three singles: "Free Love",[7] "Touch the Sky",[8] and "Summer of Love".[9]
In January 2015, she released a single with Dank called "1994 (Rhythm Is Right)".[10] In 2017, Davis appeared in the TV series "Dr. Ken".[11]
^ abcPublished by Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (April 2, 1994). Clivilles and Cole retool C+C Music Factory. Billboard, Vol. 106: No. 14, Page 24. Retrieved from https://books.google.com
^Published by Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (October 21, 2000). The Dance Trax Hot Plate. Billboard, Vol. 112: No. 43, Page 33. Retrieved from https://books.google.com
^Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.