“My boss is probably the nicest person I’ve ever worked with,” said singer and St. Louis native Montina Cooper. “She is truly a humble and down to earth individual. I’ve never, ever, ever had a bad encounter with her.”
Cooper’s boss is none other than the current entertainment industry “it girl” – actress and Grammy-winning multi-platinum selling R&B artist Beyonce.
“You always feel proud when you get to do something like this,” Cooper said. “It’s a whole different set of emotions when you’re home and your friends and family get to see you on stage.”
Cooper will be back home on Sunday with her boss at the Scottrade Center providing background vocals when the Beyonce Experience tour makes a stop in St. Louis.
“St. Louis is definitely home, I just live in another city,” Cooper, who resides in Houston, said. While she left the St. Louis area as a young child some years back, she says that she was never far away. “I came home every summer,” Cooper said.
“I’ve been singing since before I came out of my womb,” Cooper said jokingly and gave props to Deaconess Hospital as her place of birth. “I told my mama at age three that I knew I was going to be a superstar.”
Cooper admits that talent runs in her family. Her aunt is none other than local gospel legend Zella Jackson Price.
“I was just like every other girl with a dream,” Cooper said. “And I chased it until my shoes wore out.”
She finally caught up with her dream when she sang for Mary J. Blige’s father backstage at one of her concerts. “Mary came out of the dressing room and was like ‘who was that?’” Cooper said. “I raised my hand and she said that she said ‘I want to fly her to New York.’”
Cooper was signed to her label and sang backup for Mary and went on to work with Regina Belle, Jamie Foxx and others. Her Beyonce connection came through Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland in 2004. She did vocal production for Kelly and arranged the Destiny’s Child rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at the All-Star Game in Houston.
She has opened for artists like the late Gerald Levert and his dad Eddie, 112 and others. And while because of her career she has rubbed elbows with some of the biggest names in the industry one of her most special moments was her encounter with Natalie Cole.
After singing for Mary, she said she saw a woman run up to her and hug her. She didn’t recognize her at first, but it was Cole.
“I’m not really a big groupie but you could have bought me for a nickel and had change left,” Cooper said. “I grew up listening to her and consider her to be one of the great artists. It was so beautiful and sweet for her to acknowledge my gift.”
This is Cooper’s second tour with Beyonce and she considers herself extremely blessed to have the opportunity to work with her.
“Aside from my mother, she has the greatest work ethic I’ve ever seen,” Cooper said, who herself is the mother of a seven-year old son. “We’ll rehearse for hours and be ready to go home, and she’ll be like ‘okay let’s do it again.’”
The Beyonce Experience tour is scheduled through September, but Cooper says that the demand for Beyonce to stay the road for more dates is extremely high.
Cooper says that she will soon begin working to promote her own debut album. The CD is yet to be titled, but she says that she is has given it the working title of “Finally”.
“While everything has truly been a blessing, I’ve put my dreams aside,” Cooper said. “It’s finally time for me to be really pushing forward.”
The Beyonce Experience Tour with special guest Robin Thicke stops in St. Louis at 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 8th at Scottrade Center. For more information about the show or to purchase tickets, call (314) 241-1888.
