Janice Robinson, iconic 90s singer behind worldwide hit ‘Dreamer’ with Livin’ Joy, has opened up that she was the live touring singer of another famous group.

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Credit: Janice Robinson

Snap! had hits including ‘I’ve Got The Power’, ‘Oops Up’, ‘Cult Of Snap’ and ‘Mary Had A Little Boy’.

On the You Know My Voice podcast, Robinson reveals the secret that she was the live vocalist for the group’s shows in their hey day.

“There was a group called Snap, you know, [sings] I got the power. Yes. So it was a really big group at the time. It was 1990, and I get a phone call and the singer had just had a blow up with the rapper and they needed a replacement singer. A lot of people don’t know this.

I was the replacement singer for the group Snap. And I did their first world tour with them, so when people came to see us, that was me singing those songs live. Still, respect to Penny Ford. But it was a part of my career where I’m just like I was on stage with Turbo B in a full band. It was 1990. 91, we did, you know, we did all the big, big, big countries. We travelled the world. But then it was time for me to go.

“ I pretty much didn’t show up for Wembley Stadium. They were opening up, they were kicking off the opening up for MC Hammer. It was just the work environment wasn’t unhealthy for me.

So I boldly like way before, way, way before all this Me Too movement and stuff. You know, there were things you experienced as a young woman. And I looked at my father, I was like, Dad, I don’t want to be on the road no more. It was just an 11 male band. It was just, it was just, it was time to go.”

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Credit: You Know My Voice podcast with Kelli-Leigh / photo: Instagram

During the podcast, Janice also shared the advice Tina Turner gave her, when the late ‘Simply The Best’ singer hand picked her to go on the road with her on her ‘Twenty Four Seven’ farewell tour.

”My idol, Tina Turner, heard my record [album, The Color Within Me, released in 1999], and just was like, yeah, I want her as my opening act on my farewell tour. So that acknowledgment, from a woman of that stature, it changed everything, it changed my whole relationship, I said, don’t nothing else ever have to happen. I have been acknowledged by the queen of rock n roll.

“That has given me a component of confidence, that has given me a component of strength, that here she is at 63 years old, acknowledging me, asking me to be on her stage, in front of her fan base, in arenas. Man, I was good, and that was 25 years ago, 2000.

Every day I would come out and watch her show and the time that I got to talk to her, she enriched my life, with words of wisdom.”

”One of the things she said to me, she was like ‘Always remember that as long as you have something to offer, the people, you can do this as long as your heart desires. Always offer them, all that you have got, every time you take the stage. Give it all, because it is not about you, it is about the gift you give’.”