R&B singer Rebecca Crews just revealed her secret identity. Now she’s enlisted her actor and former pro football playing husband Terry Crews in a starring role in the video for her first release under her stage name, Regina Madre. She spent years holding The Family Crews together and now it’s her turn to follow her dreams.
… “a personal anthem about not giving up.”
At 55 years old, according to Google, the motivational speaker, wife and mother has a new outlook on life following a recent bout with cancer. Rebecca is now following her passion in the music industry with the release of the single Reachin For The Top, from her upcoming album.
Rebecca has her husband of over 30 years co-starring as the sleazy 70’s, gold chain-wearing, smooth-talking, moustachioed music industry executive Nate Sayer, President of Soothsayer Records, in her new music video, which just premiered on EXTRA TV.
Reachin For The Top has a neo-soul vibe while the rest of the album is said to be inspired by multiple genres, including jazz, electronic, and pop music.
The YouTube description of the video calls Reachin For The Top “a personal anthem about not giving up.” It sets a scene from childhood as if to remind us that she is just like you and me, those of us who once had dreams but abandoned them for whatever reason. Perhaps life just got in the way.
Music is something she has always been involved with since she childhood. She sang in the church choir and she later studied theatre. After college she got married and had children like many women do. Then she supported her husband’s dreams, which she seems to have no regrets about. It’s just a choice you have to make when you’re raising a family.
The couple have been married for over three decades now. They celebrated their 30th anniversary last year. And like it is with most women and their careers, Rebecca initially deferred her dreams of pursuing music to support her husband’s dreams. While Terry’s NFL career skyrocketed along with his career in Hollywood, Rebecca embraced the more traditional female family role on Team Crews.
It wasn’t until the mid-to-late 2000s that she started to pursue professional opportunities to perform. At one point she said that she started writing a script about her family. It’s possible that she manifested it or word got around, because the offer to do The Family Crews reality television series came shortly after that. It was during the series that Rebecca began to focus on her singing, acting, producing and writing career.
Their lives got so complicated during the making of the TV series that they almost didn’t make it as a couple. Terry sought treatment for his pornography addiction and the couple went for marriage counselling to resolve some very personal issues while on the show. But they made it through because of forgiveness, Rebecca told Rise Entertainment 360.
Rebecca wrote some of her music about those times. The video for the song Breathless features Rebecca and Terry in a troubled relationship.
It seems that Rebecca went back to the beginning, to her childhood, to pick up from where she first started dreaming.
The note on the video also says: “I want you to remember chasing the ice cream truck to get your superstar bomb popsicle, riding your banana seat bike with your sister in the back holding onto the seat for dear life, and blasting your radio into the backyard, with a long extension cord running from the kitchen while your parents barbecue.”
The lyrics are simple and innocent. It includes words of advice from her mother telling her she could do anything, even make it in Hollywood.
“Gonna make it to the top/And I wanna try/Can’t let go/Cause I gotta fly/Gary Indiana big dreams/And a big heart/Tryin’ to walk it in the dark/But my mama told me I can do anything I want/Mama said I can dream big and be a star/Tryin’ to make it Hollywood/Tellin’ me now I’m doin’ good”
At one point she sings in Spanish, which sounds very natural: “Volando en el cielo” (Flying in the sky).
The video is a pink and blue-hued dream of roller discos, take-out counters, soda pop dispensers, and Farrah Fawcett-inspired hair. Terry’s outfit is pure Richard Roundtree in Shaft. Rebecca’s is reminiscent of a Donna Summer video–“She works hard for the money.”
Rebecca plays a woman who works in a diner while trying to make it in the music business. She meets with a record executive who doesn’t want to listen to her demo record but wants to date her. She then changes out of her generic clothes into a multicoloured, sparkly, low-cut jumpsuit and transforms into her alter ego Regina Madre. Everybody wants to know her. Instead of chasing her away, Sayer chases after her at the roller rink.
Over the years, Rebecca has overcome loss, tragedy, financial hardship (and success), as well as marital struggles, grief and a recent battle with cancer. While going in for her annual check-up last year, she requested a mammogram. The doctor found a lump, which was later diagnosed as Stage-I cancer requiring immediate surgery and radiation treatment. She underwent a double mastectomy right before the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic. Thankfully, she is now cancer-free.
She tells her story in hopes of inspiring women everywhere to know the importance of early detection. Her fight with cancer may also be the reason why Rebecca is going after her dreams. She has discovered how to restore hope in her own life and wants to share what she has learned with others. Going after your dreams at any stage in life is definitely a part of the healing journey.
by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Twitter @ladycbird | Instagram @cherrylbird
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