WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Joyce Sims

Joyce Sims debuted with “All And All” and didn’t “Walk Away” from a “Lifetime Love”, but where is she now then?

Pianist, singer and songwriter Joyce Sims (b.1959 in New York) studied and practiced her craft from college days and in 1985 she was signed to Polygram Records to develop her as a multi-talented, self-sufficient artist. Joyce released her debut single, “All And All”, the following year and while the song made it to No.51 in America, No.6 on the Dance chart and No.69 on the R&B chart, it was in the UK that she would have the most success. “All And All” made it to No.16 there, the first of five top 40 hits there that would come over the next three years. Joyce began writing for her first album throughout 1986 and into 1987 and it was some months after “All And All” that a follow up emerged.

Sims worked with then unknown produced Kurtis Mantronik as the producer of her first album and in mid-1987, she released “Lifetime Love”, which made the top ten on the US dance chart and No.23 on the R&B chart. Once again, it was the UK that would give the song commercial success, peaking at No.34. Joyce followed this in June with her debut album, “Come Into My Life”, which would only make a significant entry on the US R&B chart. The title track would become, and remains, Joyce’s signature tune and her only international hit of any substance. The song would reach No.7 in the UK when released there at the beginning of 1988. The album of the same name made it to No.5 in the UK and would gain a Gold certification for sales of 100,000 copies. Joyce followed this with two more singles into 1988, “Walk Away” (UK No.24) and “Love Makes A Woman” (US R&B No.29), before commencing work on her second album in 1988.

“All About Love” was the title of that album and it saw release in the Summer of 1989 together with the single “Looking For A Love”, which became her fifth UK top 40 charting single. The album made the top 75 on both sides of the Atlantic while the title track saw action on the US dance chart. Joyce left Polygram in the early 1990’s and signed to the independent label Warwick, where she released the single “Who’s Crying Now?” in 1994 together with a new mix of “Come Into My Life”, which scraped in at No.72 in the UK. Although big time commercial success has since eluded her, Joyce has continued to perform live and released a number of singles into the 21st century.

Her album “A New Beginning” in 2006 was her first since “All About Love”, seventeen years earlier and in 2014, she released a follow up, “Love Song”. In 2006, Joyce returned to the US Dance chart with “What The World Needs Now”. Joyce worked with British reggae singer Maxi Priest in 2014 on the “Love Song” album. Her most recent pressing was the single “Everybody’s Going Through Something” in 2020 on her own record label, August Rose, while 2022 has seen her return to live performing at a number of 80’s festivals in the UK.

Sadly it was announced on 15th October 2022 that Joyce had died aged 63. Rest well and thank you for the music and the memories.