Cindy Fee

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Cynthia "Cindy" Fee
Cynthia Fee, Photographed 2023.
Cynthia Fee, Photographed 2023.
BornDecember 6, 1954 (age 69) Detroit, Michigan
OccupationRecording Artist
Period1970–Current
Notable works"Thank You For Being a Friend," from the NBC sitcom, "The Golden Girls"

Cynthia L. "Cindy" Fee (born December 6, 1954) is an American singer and recording artist. She is best known for performing, "Thank You For Being a Friend",[1][2][3] the opening theme song for the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning sitcom,[4][5] The Golden Girls.

Early life

Cynthia L. "Cindy" Fee was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Raytown, Missouri, where she was active in music and theater at Raytown High School.[6]

Career

Fee started performing professionally at the age of sixteen, working Kansas City area restaurants, clubs, local theaters, and amusement parks. In 1973, Fee became a founding member, along with Eric Bikales, of the Kansas City band Hotfoot[7] and also sang with the jazz group, the Means/Devan Trio.[8]

Golden Girls theme song — "Thank You For Being a Friend"

Between 1985 and 1992, up to 25 million viewers[9][better source needed] tuned in weekly to the NBC television series, The Golden Girls, bringing the voice of Cindy Fee singing the Andrew Gould song, "Thank You For Being a Friend," to a national audience every Saturday night.[10] The show, and Fee's theme song, became so iconic that even U.S. President Barack Obama released a video of him[11] "grooving" to Fee's performance.[12] After The Golden Girls' star Betty White's death in 2021,[13] the popular sitcom and Fee's opening theme song was streamed 384 million times in one week alone.[14] During the COVID-19 "Lockdown TV Phenomenon"[15] in 2020, Hulu viewers streamed 11 million hours of The Golden Girls in April alone, providing extensive renewed exposure to Fee's performance.[16] Despite the show's more than 30-year tenure, The Golden Girls continues to attract a mass audience and Fee remains a fan-favorite. After going viral in 2022,[17] the Golden Con Convention,[18] which celebrates the popular sitcom, returned to Chicago in 2023 featuring Fee as a headline performer.[19]

Other recordings

Fee also recorded chart-topping records with some of the best-selling music artists of all time.[20] Her discography includes the duet with Kenny Rogers, "I Don't Want to Know Why"[21] from the platinum selling album, What About Me?[22] Fee is also a credited background singer on the album, Kenny Rogers — Christmas[23] which peaked at #34 on U.S. charts[24] and Share Your Love, the Kenny Rogers album that peaked at #6 on U.S. charts.[25] She also performed as a background singer for Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston, and Lionel Richie.[6] Fee also released her own albums Dancin In My Sleep[26] and Young at Heart,[27][28] the latter with noted rockabilly guitarist, Eddie Angel,[29] founding member of Los Straitjackets.

Jingles and television commercials

Fee is also a prolific jingle and TV commercial singer. Fee's commercial jingle credits include: for Hoover Vacuum "Nobody Does it Like You"[30][31] "Get on Your Pontiac and Ride",[32] and "What the Big Boys Eat",[33] from the Wheaties cereal campaign. Fee's voice was also featured in commercials for Chevy Trucks, McDonald's, Miller Beer, Chick-fil-A, Home Depot, Goodyear, Hot Pockets, Barbie, John Deere, NASCAR, Ford, Toyota, Purina, Avon, and American Airlines.[6] Fee's Wheaties and Hoover commercials were awarded Clio awards.[6][34][35]

Personal life

She is married to Robert Landis and has two adult children, Ethan and Rory Landis. Fee frequently performs a genre she calls, "country soul", a combination of Motown and country,[2] and has appeared live at venues including in Nashville, Chicago, Los Angeles, and in Europe. She is frequently recognized at events and conventions and interviewed about her career.[36]

References

  1. ^ Garber, Megan (2015-09-14). "A Brief History of 'Thank You for Being a Friend'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  2. ^ a b Arkush, Michael (1988-11-20). "Familiar Voice With New Slogan". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  3. ^ "Betty White celebration, set for Jan. 15 in Oak Park, to feature singer of 'Golden Girls' theme song". Chicago Tribune. 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  4. ^ "THE GOLDEN GIRLS". Television Academy. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  5. ^ "Golden Girls, The". Golden Globes. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  6. ^ a b c d "Meet the Class of 2022 - Raytown C-2 School District". www.raytownschools.org. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  7. ^ "Kansas City and other Midwestern Bands from the '50s, '60s & early '70s". www.oldkc.com. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  8. ^ Ritter, Jess (1975-09-26). "Going Out". The Kansas City Times. p. 32. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  9. ^ "The Golden Girls (1985–1992) ratings". Rating Graph. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  10. ^ Piepenburg, Erik (2022-05-04). "Golden-Con Threw a Party, Invited Every 'Golden Girls' Fan It Knew". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  11. ^ "President Obama wishes Betty White a happy birthday". POLITICO. January 17, 2012.
  12. ^ "President Obama wishes Betty White a happy birthday". POLITICO. 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  13. ^ Carlson, Michael (2022-01-02). "Betty White obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  14. ^ Dick, Jeremy (2022-02-05). "The Golden Girls Cracks Nielsen's Highest-Rated Shows List After Betty White's Death". MovieWeb. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  15. ^ Koblin, John (30 April 2020). "Lockdown TV: Netflix Dominates, News Surges and Bea Arthur is Still Golden". The New York Times.
  16. ^ Koblin, John (2020-04-30). "Lockdown TV: Netflix Dominates, News Surges and Bea Arthur Is Still Golden". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  17. ^ Finlon, Katie (2023-03-21). "'Golden Girls' Fan Convention Returns To Chicago After Going Viral In 2022". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  18. ^ "Golden Guests".
  19. ^ "Golden Guests". GOLDEN CON: THANK YOU FOR BEING A FAN. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  20. ^ "Kenny Rogers touches down in Cranbrook this week - Cranbrook Daily Townsman". 2014-07-14. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  21. ^ I Don't Want to Know Why by Kenny Rogers with Cindy Fee, retrieved 2024-01-04
  22. ^ "1984 Kenny Rogers – What About Me? | Sessiondays". Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  23. ^ "Kenny Rogers - Christmas | Releases | Discogs". Discogs.
  24. ^ "Christmas". Music Charts Archive. 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  25. ^ "Kenny Rogers". Music Charts Archive. 2016-04-30. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  26. ^ "Dancin In My Sleep". April 22, 2010 – via open.spotify.com.
  27. ^ "Cindy Fee and Eddie Angel on Apple Music". Apple Music - Web Player.
  28. ^ "Eddie Angel "Young at Heart" CD". Hi-Tide Recordings & Nu-Tone. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  29. ^ "Eddie Angel". www.eddieangel.com.
  30. ^ "1993 Hoover "Nobody does it like you" TV Commercial" – via www.youtube.com.
  31. ^ Rose, Devin (2012-06-05). "Former jingle singer from Oak Park has changed her tune". Oak Park. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  32. ^ Garber, Megan (2015-09-14). "A Brief History of 'Thank You for Being a Friend'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  33. ^ Elsmo, Melissa (2022-01-12). "Connecting to Betty with a single song". Oak Park. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  34. ^ "Collection: Clio Awards 2020/2021 Gold Winners • Ads of the World™ | Part of The Clio Network". Ads of the World™.
  35. ^ "JINGLE WRITER MAKES FINE-TUNED PITCH". Chicago Tribune. 1985-06-20. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  36. ^ "Cindy Fee, Voice Of The Golden Girls Them Song" – via www.youtube.com.
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