Grace was born in Nottingham. Her father was a chef.[1] She began her career singing backing vocals for George Michael, Kim Wilde, Mari Wilson and Boy George, toured the world with Wham! for three years, and released a solo single "Heartbeat Radio" in 1988. She also sang vocals on a cover of the Donna Summer song, "Love To Love You Baby" by Euro House dance act Bali in February 1989. Her own chart success came in the summer of 1991 when she teamed up with Saint Etienne and local keyboardistAndrew Midgley to form the dance act Cola Boy, reaching No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart with "7 Ways to Love".[2] It also reached No. 9 on the U.S.Hot Dance Club Playchart in 1991. She also appeared on the follow-up single "He is Cola", released in September of the same year, and recorded a cover version of the Cyndi Lauper song "Time After Time" with Hyperstate which was released on M&G Records (MAGS 34) in January 1993 and reached No. 71 in the UK charts. In 1994 she co-wrote "Love Your Sexy...!!" for girl band Byker Grooove, a spin-off single from the BBC series Byker Grove, which reached No. 48 in the UK charts.
Janey had her own show from 4am-6am (later 3am-6am) on Saturday mornings, beginning on 11 February 2000[5] which lasted until late 2006, when she was replaced by her Steve Wright in the Afternoon co-host, Tim Smith.[6]
Grace covered Wright's Sunday Love Songs on BBC Radio 2 in December 2007 and January 2008.
In July–August 2010 and January 2011, she also sat in for Wright on his Sunday show while he was on holiday.
On 1 July 2022 Wright announced Steve Wright in the Afternoon was to end in autumn 2022. It was also announced that Grace and Tim Smith were also to leave BBC Radio 2.[7]
Janey Lee Grace ended her final programme on Steve Wright in the Afternoon on 30 September 2022, thus also leaving BBC Radio 2 after 23 years at the station.
Bibliography
Janey Lee Grace released four books as part of the Imperfectly Natural series. These include:
Grace, Janey Lee (2005). Imperfectly Natural Woman. Crown House Publishing. ISBN978-1-904424-89-5.
Grace, Janey Lee (2008). Imperfectly Natural Home: The Organic Bible. Orion. ISBN978-0-7528-8582-7.
Grace, Janey Lee (2024). From WHAM! to WOO: A Life on the Mic. McNidder & Grace. ISBN 978-0857162748.
In 2009, she collaborated on three pregnancy audiobooks with hypnotherapist Glenn Harrold, entitled Preparing for Pregnancy, Joyful Pregnancy and Blissful Birth.