R&B, blues, and contemporary jazz singer-songwriter and keyboardist Vaneese Thomas came from a Memphis musical dynasty, while forging her own diverse career. ∙ One of her earliest gigs was singing background on older sister Carla Thomas’ hit 1966 single “B-A-B-Y,” which was cowritten by Isaac Hayes, a family friend and collaborator. ∙ Her self-titled debut album from 1987 had two hits that reached the Top 12 of Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart—“Let’s Talk It Over” and “(I Wanna Get) Close to You.” ∙ She has sung background for such artists as Aretha Franklin (2008’s This Christmas) and Bruce Springsteen (2019’s Western Stars - Songs From the Film). ∙ On her 2014 Blues for My Father album, she recorded a posthumous duet with her father, soul music pioneer Rufus Thomas, reworking his 1962 single “Can’t Ever Let You Go.” ∙ She was one degree of separation from Kevin Bacon when she sang with the actor-musician on her original song “Legacy of Pain,” from her 2019 Down Yonder album.