Bonnie Bramlett is an
R&B/
rock singer. She moved to Memphis in the early '60s and became a session and backup singer for
R&B and
blues performers such as Fontella Bass and
Albert King. She then became a member of
the Ikettes, the backup singers for
Ike & Tina Turner.
That brought her to Los Angeles in 1967, where she met
Delaney Bramlett, who had been a member of
the Shindogs, the resident group on the TV show Shindig; they married within five days and formed a musical act,
Delaney and Bonnie.
Delaney and Bonnie cut an album for Stax Records in Memphis, backed by Booker T. and the MG's, but it was not released at first. They then formed a group called Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, who featured
Leon Russell among others, and cut Accept No Substitute (1969). After Delaney and Bonnie and Friends toured opening for
Blind Faith,
Eric Clapton left that group and joined them along with such notables as
George Harrison and
Dave Mason. This resulted in the On Tour album, after which members of
the Friends band worked with
Clapton and
Harrison, and on
Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
Delaney and Bonnie made several more albums before divorcing.
Bramlett then formed
the Bonnie Bramlett Band and released her debut solo album, Sweet Bonnie Bramlett, backed by
the Average White Band, in 1973. She then signed to Capricorn Records and made It's Time (1975), Lady's Choice (1976), and Memories (1978). She later became a born-again Christian and began singing
gospel music. She turned to acting in 1987, under the name Bonnie Sheridan, and has since appeared in the film The Doors and the TV series Rosanne. In 2002
Bramlett returned to the music world with the release of her first album in over twenty years, I'm Still the Same on Audium. The record features
Bramlett singing a variety of styles like jazz, blues and adult contemporary in a voice that has lost little of its power. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
