In pop and rock music, not every singer starts off fronting the musical performance. The road to stardom usually begins in the shadows.

A lot of recent and current top performers started behind the lead singer – harmonizing in the background and awaiting their moment to shine. Check out these backup singers who became stars themselves.

Backup singers who became famous

• Sheryl Crow
• Luther Vandross
• Whitney Houston
• Mariah Carey
• Phil Collins
• Pink

Sheryl Crow

Ahead of her breakout with “All I Wanna Do,” Sheryl Crow toured as a backing singer for Michael Jackson on his Bad World Tour in the late 1980s.

Crow also worked with a number of big-name acts, including Foreigner, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, Sting, and Don Henley.

It was Henley who encouraged Crow to perform her own music. Her strong vocals and stage presence attracted the interest of industry experts and got her a record deal.

Crow has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and won nine Grammy Awards from 32 nominations, with her most popular songs including “All I Wanna Do” (1994), “Strong Enough” (1994), “If It Makes You Happy” (1996) and “Everyday Is a Winding Road” (1996).

Luther Vandross

The “Velvet Voice” behind hits as “Dance with My Father”, ”Here and Now” and “Endless Love” initially supported many top performers.

A distinct vocal style made Vandross a well-known session singer during the 1970’s, appearing on albums by artists such as Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, Todd Rundgren, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Ben E. King, Stevie Wonder, and Donna Summer.

His work on David Bowie’s Young Americans album impressed many, with Bowie himself praising Vandross’s arrangements and backing vocals.

Vandross has been recognized as one of the 200 greatest singers of all time (2023) by Rolling Stone.

Whitney Houston

A member of music royalty (Cissy Houston was her daughter and Dionne Warwick was her cousin), Whitney Houston began to sing backup for her mom and other artists while she was in high school.

Her vocal range was impressive even then and she signed to the Arista Records label at the age of 19. With guidance by Clive Davis, Houston savored one of the best careers in music history.

She is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Saving All My Love for You”, “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love of All”.

Her career peaked with her role in “The Bodyguard” and the release of it’s hit song “I Will Always Love You”; which stayed in the #1 position for a then record 14 weeks.

Mariah Carey

Before becoming the “Songbird Supreme” with her five-octave range, Mariah Carey sang backup for Brenda K. Starr. By way of Starr, Carey met Tommy Mottola, who signed her to Columbia Records and the rest is history, as they say.

Carey rose to fame in 1990 with her self-titled debut album and became the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Carey’s holiday album Merry Christmas (1994) produced the singer’s perennial yule-tide classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You”.

Mariah is the second best-selling artist of all time, the best-selling solo artist of all time, and the best-selling female artist of all time, with over 220 million records sold worldwide.

Phil Collins

Collins was originally known as the drummer and backup singer for Gensis, with Peter Gabriel’s as the lead singer.

When Gabriel left for a solo career in 1975, Genesis auditioned hundreds of singers. After a lengthy auditioning process, during which he sang backup vocals for applicants, it was finally decided that Collins was the best option.

His change to lead singer for Genesis eventually led to the start of a meteoric solo career with hits like “In the Air Tonight”, “Against All Odds” and “Another Day in Paradise.”

Pink

Before becoming the acrobatic, outspoken pop rock star that she is these days, Pink (Alecia Moore) was in girl group Choice at the age of 15, where she mainly sang backup vocals. Before that she was a backup singer for a rap group, Schools of Thought and an R&B band, Basic Instinct.

After that group disbanded, she was signed as a solo artist where she found success blending R&B with powerful vocals and stage presence.

Some of her first solo gigs included opening for several major acts, including NSYNC and Justin Timberlake.

Pink shifted to pop rock with her second studio album, Missundaztood (2001), which sold over 13 million copies worldwide and yielded three top ten singles: “Get the Party Started”, “Don’t Let Me Get Me”, and “Just Like a Pill”.

VH1 ranked her 10th on its list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music.

Legacy & Inspiration

The rise of the backup singer to star has become a musical epic, told in documentaries like “20 Feet from Stardom.” Such success stories continue to encourage aspiring singers that often the path to center stage begins several feet behind it.

At your next concert, watch those backing singers: you might be watching a future star in the making.