PATRICE HAWTHORNE
“Well, probably should be asking my road manager about that,” laughed Patrice Hawthorne as she recounted the story of how she became “Peaches” of Peaches & Herb. “I was singing in a talent show down in D.C. and I can’t quite remember what happened but I remember that he told Herb to come to the show and when he heard me sing he said, ‘That’s my new Peaches,’ and that’s how it happened. I was young I was ready and I was inspired.”
Hawthorne has been involved in the entertainment field since childhood, attending the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts as well as studying radio, TV and film at Temple University. Past credits have included voiceover work for “House of Cards,” a commercial for S.I.D.S and multiple acting jobs, most recent in the role of Evil Wonderwoman in the 2017 movie, “Trick No Treat.”
“I’ve always loved to perform and sing,” she says. “When Herb spoke with me after the talent show, he said that out of all of the women, I was the absolute best and he asked me to be Peaches. I was Peaches from 1990 until 2002. I believe I was Peaches No. 4 and I think he is up to eight or nine now, but at the time I was having the time of my life. We were doing cruise ships, festivals, multi-act shows; there were hip-hop guys, we were all over the place. I was doing what I wanted to do with my life, I was an entertainer.”
Today, Hawthorne has allowed her past to mesh with her present as she is part of The First Ladies of Rock & Soul and has her own band called Patrice & the Show.
“Yes! Patrice and The Show is my own band and we have a lot of fun,” she says. “There is a lot of crowd interaction and we mix things up really well. The First Ladies of Rock & Soul, we all have our specific roles and that’s a show band. We perform at festivals, nostalgia events and larger rooms; always fun, too.”
“We’ve Got Love” and “It’s Gonna Be Alright” are two original works that have accompanying videos. She is quite proud that she has taken to writing some of her own material.
“I wrote these a while ago but really didn’t do to much with them, but we’ve released them over the past year and the response has been very positive. I have more but we’ll see what the future holds. I’m busy with the bands and sometimes other things take priority, so we’ll see. Who knows?”
Those other things include singing, acting, community work and even some modeling. Overall, this very busy lady thrills audiences wherever she goes with whatever she does. For more about her, visit patriceandtheshow.com.
