Biography of Jessica Sutta
Jessica Lynn Sutta was born on May 15, 1982 in Miami, Florida, U.S., is an American dancer, showgirl, singer, recording artist, model, and actress. She is best known as a member of the American pop girl group and dance ensemble, the Pussycat Dolls. She left the group in January 2010 to embark her solo career. She is currently finishing her debut solo album Sutta Pop which is expected to be released in 2012. Sutta’s debut single, “Show Me”, reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Charts in the United States.
Sutta was born to a Jewish father of Polish and Russian descent and a Roman Catholic mother of Irish-Japanese descent. She grew up in Cutler Bay, Florida with two older brothers, Billy and Kevin. She started dance classes at the age of three. She was a child model in a dance wear catalog/magazine in Miami called Star Style among the child models was Melissa Pastrana who also graduated from NWSA New World School of the Arts. She was a Miami City Ballet dance student in Miami Beach, Florida among the alumni were Crista Villela, Melissa Pastrana, Kelly Hess, Patricia Delgado, Cherilyn Franco- Morroco, Jeanette Delgado just to name a few. At New World School of the Arts, she studied dance. She tore the ACL on both knees and switched to theater studies, before finally returning to dance. She joined the NBA’s cheerleading squad Miami Heat in 1999 and became captain in 2001.
In 2003, she moved to L.A. and three months later was on a dance audition for a PSA involving Smokey Bear when she came to the attention of choreographer Robin Antin, who cast her with the Pussycat Dolls in 2003.
From the moment Sutta joined The Pussycat Dolls, she says: “This is where I always wanted to be. I thought The Pussycat Dolls were genius. I am so blessed to be a part of this group.” Sutta sang co-lead along with Carmit Bachar and Ashley Roberts in the “Stickwitu” single B-side, “Santa Baby”. After the departure of Bachar from the group, Sutta took the parts that Bachar used to sing, and co-leads with Melody. Sutta also recorded a solo song, “If I Was a Man”, for the Deluxe Edition of the Dolls’ second studio album Doll Domination. The song is produced by Smidi, Ron Fair, and Stefanie Ridel.
During the hiatus of the Pussycat Dolls in 2007, Sutta was featured on two tracks, “Make It Last” and “White Lies”. Both managed to chart on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, reaching the top three while “White Lies” was successful in Europe. It made Sutta the second artist to have two concurrent top 10 Club Play singles. “White Lies” peaked at #1 for four weeks on Billboard’s Hot Dance Singles Sales chart.
On January 29, 2010, Sutta revealed she had been ousted from the group. In an interview with E! Online Sutta revealed that she broke a rib while on tour with the group and the group’s management failed to provide her with any accommodation, so the “almost homeless” singer had to crash on a friends couch as she recovered from a broken rib. In Life & Style magazine she stated: “I basically felt like nothing more than a glorified back-up dancer after seven years with the group. I wasn’t feeling like I was growing in the situation. It was something I had to do. Breaking my rib is what sent me over the edge.” Sutta told MTV News that she had the blessing of the Dolls to step out on her own. “They were really supportive of me. It was a big decision, but it was the best decision.” She also said she can be her own woman. “I think I was always in the shadow of Nicole, so I think it’s the chance for me to come out.”
On January 30, 2010, Sutta clarified her comments with ABC News regarding her leaving the Pussycat Dolls, stating that Scherzinger is like a sister and she has love for her. Sutta also said that the rib injury obtained during the tour made her realize she did not want to be with the group any more as she did not think it was her future. She said she was recording and writing her debut album and said that fans could expect music very soon.
In September 2010, Jessica revealed that her first solo single would be called “I Wanna Be Bad”. She debuted the song at the Truck Stop / Here Lounge in West Hollywood. “I Wanna Be Bad” was produced by Dutch producer Tearce Keaz and written by Jessica. Sutta performed during the Tailgate Show at the Dolphins vs. Lions Game at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida on January 19, 2011. She performed two new songs from the album called “Jack In The Box” and “Good Boy”. In an interview she said “Jack in the Box” might be her new single, stating that it’s her favorite song of the album alongside “Good Boy”, which she described as “sexy and fun”. Sutta also announced that she has a single coming up with DJ Erick Morillo, called “Pin-Up Girl” which also features American rapper Justin Oxley. The song was written by VASSY & Jamie Hartman, and produced by Morillo, Harry Romero and José Nunez. She performed “Pin-Up Girl” with Oxley and Morillo at Ultra Music Festival, on 27 March.
Jessica’s collaboration with Cedric Gervais, “Where Ever U Are” was released on August 2, 2011. The song appeared on Gervais’ new album Miamication. She officially confirmed on her Twitter that she had signed to “Hollywood Records”, home to several Disney artists. She also confirmed her album is nearly completed and it will be called “Sutta Pop”. Jessica’s official first single “Show Me” appears as a bonus track on Now That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 39, which was released on August 9, 2011. “Show Me” premiered on Idolator on August 3, 2011. The video premiered on Saturday, August 6 on ABC Family. Following that, the song became available digitally on August 23. The song peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs in the United States, becoming Sutta’s first number-one single as a solo artist.
“When the record went No. 1, I kind of had to stop for a second. I didn’t even know what to say,” Sutta tells Billboard.com. “The transitions are sometimes very hard, but it’s so worth it in the end because the hard work always pays off. I’m really grateful, and I’m working as hard as I possibly can because that’s how bad I want it.” Sutta’s debut LP will include the dance sounds of “Show Me”, as well as “Cry Wolf,” a “sexy, feel-good” collaboration with Swedish producer Harry Sommerdahl, but “Sutta Pop” will also explore R&B and pop territory. “I have tracks that are heavily dance-influenced, but then I have tracks that are full of 808 drums with a more R&B feeling to them,” she says to Billboard. Citing influences like Kylie Minogue and Madonna, and working with producers who’ve collaborated with Katy Perry and Lady Antebellum, Sutta said simply of her new album, “It’s pop music”. One song, “Matador”, she said, currently stands out amongst the rest as one of her favourites. “It’s about a relationship I had. It’s asking him not to tear my heart out of my chest,” Sutta said.
Sutta plays the woman who was abused by her husband in Ana Johnsson’s music video for “Don’t Cry for Pain”. As a freelance dancer, she appeared in music videos for Will Smith (“Miami”), Baby Bash (“Suga Suga”), Craig David (“Spanish”) and Gloria Estefan (“Don’t Let This Moment End”), among others.
As an actress, she was part of the original cast in the Swedish American soap opera known as Ocean Ave., along side Megan Fox, where she played Jody Starr, a pill-poppin’ Gothic teenager. She has also appeared in the movie From Justin to Kelly, a 2003 American romantic comedy musical film, and Bully where she played Blonde. Sutta had a brief role in the 2003 film Bad Boys II. She was also hosting a show for a Miami based cable network called “SoBe in the Night”. In 2007, she appeared on an episode of the game show Identity in disguise as a Pussycat Doll.
In 2007, Sutta appeared in a series of video ads on MySpace for Unilever’s Axe body spray, as part of their ‘Bom Chicka Wah Wah’ campaign. The ads took the form of instructional dance videos, with Sutta displaying ‘sexy’ dance moves.
In 2010, Sutta appeared in FHM Magazine’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World”, ranking at #71.
In December 2010, Sutta appeared in the YouTube video for non-profit organisation FCKH8, a play on the NOH8 campaign, of which she also shot a photo for.
In 2011, Sutta appeared in Capra’s music video for their new song “If I Was”. Sutta also guest featured in “HAHA,JK!”, an online hidden-camera show, in webisode entitled “The Assistant”, that stars Comedian Jamie Kennedy. Sutta has been confirmed as a guest judge for the next series of America’s Next Top Model.