News

We are very pleased to announce that we have just signed a deal with Marcella Detroit a.k.a. Marcy Levy in which Music Sales acquired 50% of her back catalogue and has a co-publishing deal going forward for new works. 

Marcella/Marcy is gifted with multi-faceted musical talent.  Arguably one of the top popular music vocalists around, she is also an accomplished guitar player and a prolific songwriter.  Embracing blues, pop, rock, and everything in between, she has performed and written with an impressive A-list roster of music industry greats.  Both her work as a solo artist and as half of pop outfit Shakespear’s Sister has met with critical and chart success.  She has just starred on the UK’s hottest new TV show, Popstar to Operastar.  “Marcy is a great talent and we are thrilled that she has joined the Music Sales family,” says President Barrie Edwards.

Marcy Levy’s musical career hit the ground running.  She joined Bob Seger’s band in the early 70s and went on to tour with Leon Russell before becoming a member of Eric Clapton’s band in the mid-70s.  In addition to touring and recording with Clapton, she wrote several songs with him, including the million-selling hit “Lay Down Sally.”  Marcy then left Clapton to pursue her solo career – although she did perform with him again at Live Aid in 1985 – working with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Alice Cooper, Bette Midler, David Foster, Robin Gibb, and Belinda Carlisle, to name a few. 

In 1988 Marcy united and began songwriting with former Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey, and the enormously successful Shakespear’s Sister was launched.  It was during this period that Marcy adopted the name Marcella Detroit after the city of her birth.  The band’s debut album Sacred Heart made quite a splash in the UK top ten, as did the single “You’re History.”  1992’s follow-up Hormonally Yours was an even bigger success with four chart-topping singles including the worldwide megahit “Stay” which holds the record in the UK for the longest-running #1 single by a female artist.  The melodramatic ballad featuring Marcy’s soaring lead vocals and its very memorable music video secured Shakespear’s Sister’s place in pop music history. 

Despite their success, the band split up and Marcella moved forward with a planned solo release, taking a brief hiatus to record “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” with Elton John for his Duets album.  In 1994 Marcella Detroit’s Jewel was released to great critical acclaim and spawned two hit singles, “I Believe” and “I’m No Angel.”  Marcella then decided to showcase her rock credentials with the edgy album Feeler which she released on her own label; the album and particularly the single “Boy” were very well received and enjoyed exceptional success in Japan.  Next up Marcella further stretched her wings and released an experimental electronica album aptly titled Dancing Madly Sideways; US music industry trades declared the single “Lust for Like” her most commercial release yet and All Music gave the “brilliant, angry, aggressive, exciting dance/rock album” four stars.  Never one to rest on her laurels, Marcella then resolved to return to her roots and set out to make an authentic blues record.  She called in her blues connections and pulled together the Marcy Levy Band; the stellar result was 2006’s The Upside of Being Down.

Having mastered so many musical genres, it is quite apropos that Marcella has just finished up a triumphant run on the UK’s hottest new TV show, Popstar to Operastar.  The show saw Marcella – under the mentorship of star Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón and Welsh classical singer Katherine Jenkins and in front of a panel of judges including Meatloaf – tackling incredibly challenging operatic arias on prime time live television week after week. 

Whether under the moniker Marcy Levy or Marcella Detroit, this consummate artist continues to push her own musical boundaries.  

 Marcella Detroit Composer Page