Cat Glover

July 23, 1964 – September 24, 2024

Chicago, Illinois USA

Catherine Vernice Glover (July 24, 1962 – September 24, 2024) was an American choreographer, dancer, singer, and rapper. Born on July 24, 1962, in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago, Glover was raised first there and, from age 10 on, in Morgan Park, Chicago. The youngest of four girls born to Mildred Taylor and Doneall Glover, she was named after her maternal grandmother Catherine Taylor. Her birth date is given as July 23, 1964 in a number of obituaries; however, the date July 24, 1962 has been cited both after her death—by her manager, speaking with The New York Times—and during her life, by Glover herself, in a 1989 interview conducted by the performer's cousin, Chicago-based journalist Chinta Strausberg, then with the Chicago Defender. Glover began performing at age 5 in a group called the Soullettes, started by her eldest sister Mitlitha and featuring the other three, Cat, Cynthia and Christine. At the age of eight, she appeared at the Playboy Towers Hotel in Chicago. Her first taste of mainstream television exposure came on the hit talent show Star Search, alongside dance partner Patrick Allen in the duo known simply as "Pat & Cat". Their act was the first to ever achieve a "Perfect Score" of Four Stars on the show. Glover was the standout member of the duo, winning the crowd over with her trademark dance move "Cat Scat" Glover was best known for her work with Prince in the late 1980s. She choreographed and appeared in several of his videos and his concert film Sign o' the Times, traveled with him as a backing vocalist and dancer on the Sign o' the Times Tour and Lovesexy Tour, and rapped on both The Black Album track "Cindy C." and the Lovesexy song "Alphabet St." She was supposed to have released an album on Paisley Park, but the project was ultimately canceled. Following her work with Prince, she released the EP Catwoman in 1989. Subsequently, she worked in London and Los Angeles, recording her own material as well as continuing her choreography and performing Glover recorded with Tim Simenon of Bomb the Bass, Louie Louie, and Steve Hopkins. Glover had four children and died at her home in Los Angeles, on September 24, 2024, at the age of 62. Her body was discovered the same day. Glover's death was later revealed to be from congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).