Whatever Happened to: Sunshine Anderson

I think I’ve mentioned this before on Georgia Mae, but your boy doesn’t really have a great track record in predicting the music industry’s next stars.

Back in 1996, I figured Ginuwine would go back to cleaning stables after his “Pony” ride was over. Even though he clearly had talent, I thought that single was just too gimmicky. He proved me wrong and went on to have a pretty solid run.

The next year, I expected Tracey Lee to be among rap’s elite but, uh, that didn’t quite work out. I bet 90% of y’all think he’s the lady who makes frozen cheesecakes.

Another artist who seemed poised for greatness was Sunshine Anderson. Let’s look back on her career.

Sunshine came into the game in the early 2000’s, managed by R&B’s Aunt Esther, Macy Gray, and was signed to Soulife records. For you trivia buffs out there, that was also the early home of scruffy soulman Anthony Hamilton.

In summer 2001, Sunshine’s debut single “Heard It All Before” exploded on the scene. It was essentially a loud lady telling off her boyfriend – always a winning combination. The song reached #3 on the R&B charts and was inescapable that summer. Its success pushed her album Your Woman to gold status.

You know, I think this is the perfect example of why iTunes is hurting album sales. If “Heard It All Before” was released in 2010, iTunes single sales would be through the roof and that ringtone would be blaring at every hair salon and nail shop in America, but the album itself would be collecting dust at FYE. In 2001, if you wanted the single, I guess you had to cop that album.

It’s not that the album was bad, however. In fact, I preferred the second single over its more popular counterpart. “Lunch Or Dinner” didn’t make as big a splash but I really enjoyed the earnest lyrics and laid-back groove. It’s pretty underrated.

Sunshine parted ways with Macy Gray and later teamed up with Beyonce’s rollin’ stone of a papa, Mathew Knowles, on his label, Music World Entertainment. In 2007 she released her sophomore effort, Sunshine At Midnight. The first single should have been named “Heard It All Before, But Here It Is Again.” Don’t get me wrong, I like “Something I Wanna Give You” – it’s in my iPod rotation – but Sunshine is back to dogging out her no-good dude. Why is she still messing around with scrubs? And we never find out what she wants to “give” the guy. Probably a hard time, as always.

The follow-up singles, “Force of Nature” and “Wear The Crown” didn’t measure up despite her very solid vocals. Maybe she should have stuck to rolling her neck at a her boyfriends.

Sunshine has since faded into the background.

Should She Come Back?: Sunshine is now married and a mother so she might not be in a rush to return to the crowded music scene. But if she did she’d be warmly welcomed – by the VH1 Soul/Centric set, at least. She might not have had the blockbuster career that I predicted but she remains entertaining – as long as she has a man to yell at.