Biography
Táta Vega is an American singer and actress. Born Carmen Rosa Vega on 7 October 1951 in Jamaica, Queens, New York, she began her professional singing career in 1963 and appeared in the Los Angeles production of the musical Hair.
She released several solo albums on Motown's Tamla label in the 1970s and has provided backing vocals for artists including Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Madonna and Elton John. In film, she supplied the singing voice of Shug Avery in The Color Purple (1985) and appeared as herself in the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom (2013). Her later credits include voice roles in Rugrats (2021) and Swapped (2026).
