FINALLY HOME: CECE PENISTON AND THE RHYTHM THAT NEVER FADES
THERE ARE VOICES THAT DEFINE A GENERATION — AND THEN THERE ARE VOICES THAT LIBERATE IT. CECE PENISTON BELONGS TO THE LATTER. HER SOUND DOESN’T JUST FILL A ROOM; IT RESURRECTS THE PULSE OF EVERY DANCE FLOOR THAT EVER BELIEVED IN JOY, FREEDOM AND RHYTHM AS A LANGUAGE OF THE SOUL.
BORN FROM THE HEARTBEAT OF HOUSE, CECE’S VOICE BECAME A BEACON — ONE THAT CARRIED FROM THE UNDERGROUND CLUBS OF THE ’90S TO THE GRAND STAGES OF TODAY, STILL SHIMMERING WITH THE SAME RADIANCE THAT GAVE US “FINALLY,” THE ANTHEM THAT TURNED RHYTHM INTO REVELATION. DECADES LATER, HER MUSIC REMAINS A CONVERSATION BETWEEN FAITH AND FIRE, BETWEEN WHO WE WERE AND WHO WE’VE DARED TO BECOME.
As she returns to New York City — the cradle of house, the cathedral of sound — for the all-star night “I Am House” at Sony Hall on November 20, she stands not just as a performer, but as a keeper of the flame. Around her, a constellation of legends — Crystal Waters, Robin S., Barbara Tucker, Inaya Day — all gather under the same groove, the same history, the same love that built this culture from heartbeat to beat drop.
For CeCe, the music has always been more than melody — it’s memory. It’s community. It’s divine reciprocity. Her foundation, CeCe Peniston Incorporated, echoes that same truth: that what’s given to her through music, she gives back tenfold — in food drives, scholarships and instruments placed in the hands of dreamers who might one day find their own voice in the rhythm.
And through it all, her laughter, her warmth and her gratitude fill every space she touches. Whether she’s performing with an orchestra or embracing fans after a show, CeCe Peniston remains a living bridge between eras — proof that house music is not nostalgia, but continuance.
Under the bright lights of Sony Hall, when she sings “Finally,” the walls will remember what freedom sounds like — and every soul in the room will rise to meet her there.
Hello, CeCe. The “I Am House” lineup features so many iconic voices. How does it feel to share the stage with other legends who helped define an entire era of dance music?It is so amazing to always sing with your peers. It’s people that you love, that have touched your heart and soul and have made an impact on your life. And they’re actually friends of yours, which is so cool because you get to see them do what they do outside of being your friend and be the superstars that they are. That is an amazing feeling. You know what, you are the soundtrack for some people’s lives, but then they are the soundtrack for yours. So you’re like, “I remember when so and so happened and I was here and I was playing.” It is a memory evoking moment.
You’re returning to New York for “I Am House” at Sony Hall on November 20. What does performing in this city, known as the heartbeat of house music, mean to you personally?
I feel that there can be no better place than New York. I feel like New York and L.A. are the places that like house the most. Atlanta, Vegas, those are iconic places on the map. People expect the arts to be amazing. So for it to be a mixture of house, along with an orchestra…I think it’s something that really hasn’t been done before. Maybe on a small scale here and there. There have been bits and pieces of it, but as far as an artist who is in the house genre, who is an icon already herself, which is Crystal Waters…To put on an event that people say, “Hey, I want to be a part of that” is such a big, iconic moment.
House music has always been about unity and self-expression. What do you think has kept the genre so powerful and relevant across generations?
It is funny. When it first started out, I feel that people felt it was the beat driving the music and not the voices. I think that is why the dance/house genre wasn’t as big as it was now. It is crazy that you see rappers and R&B artists who are slowing down actual house beats and making them other beats that people can listen to. I think the other thing is our bodies of work are being duplicated with other artists from this generation who have discovered house and dance music in a different way from the ’80s and ’90s ongoing. I think that’s what it is. Duplication. The sampling of our music that is being more well respected.
Your songs, like “Finally”, became anthems for freedom, love and empowerment. How do those messages feel today, decades later, when you perform them live?
I feel really grateful that people still are discovering. There are generations of kids now who did not know “Finally” in the ’90s. In fact, a couple of them were probably being born when that came out. But the thing about it is, we have different genres of people who are discovering “Finally”. The feel of it. The movement of it. And it’s like something that, in fact, when I first came out with it, I didn’t think it was going to last. I was living in an apartment at the time, which is funny. And I said, “Girl, if you don’t move to a house, you ain’t going nowhere. You’re still performing. People are loving you.” And I ended up moving into a house at the time. And now, I fast forward to 2025 and people are still wanting to hear “Finally” from 1990, which is such an amazing feeling. It’s such a blessing. At the end of the day, people don’t really have to book you. They don’t have to want to listen to you. There are a lot of other artists that are not on the road like I am. So I thank God all the time.
“I Am House” is a celebration of the artists who shaped the sound of the clubs and the culture. What’s one memory from your early club days that still makes you smile?
Probably the MTV/VH1 days. We have music channels. You had to have a video at the time. People would run to see what was going to be the next video. So when there were debuts on actually having music come out along with the video, it was a non-negotiable back then. So when people would run to see what the next body of work was going to be, that was so exciting. I can remember so vividly the Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson video “Scream”. When that came out, people were waiting by the TV to see what it was going to be. Those days were unmatched. It’s funny because I recently heard that MTV is shutting down its channels. So we’ve lost a little piece of our era. But with the changes, there is some good, where you can be an independent artist and own your own label and do your own music and all of those things. But then there are some bad changes because we have the AI, which is questionable. It pushes the human part of being an artist out of the way. The new Spotify rules are a little bit different than what we remember. Because your ownership is challenged. By not being able to own exactly what you put out. So it is hard on the artist because you spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to put out your products and then, for someone just to say, “Hey, we own this now”, it is a difficult transition. The other part is that back in the day, we had publicists. People that did the work for us. We had that human interaction when something happened, but now it’s on Instagram before you can get ahead of it. I think having the responsibility of having a publicist at the time was such a great thing because it put the artist in a continuous light to be great. Now, with Instagram and Facebook, sometimes situations happen and you can’t get ahead of it. So there are pros and cons.
You’ve influenced so many younger artists. Who among today’s new generation of singers or producers do you feel carries the house spirit forward?
There are so many different artists, it would be hard to say. My go-to is just our generation. Only because that is the authenticity that I know right in this moment. It was an artist I heard yesterday and forgive me if I can’t remember her name, but I heard her song and I had to Shazam it because it was great. It came up, but it was so quick that I forgot her name. My go-to’s are our girls. Robin S., Crystal Waters, Inaya Day, Barbara Tucker, etc. Those are the main girls that come to mind for me.
When you’re in front of a New York crowd, it feels like a mutual exchange of energy. What do you want your audience to experience on November 20?
That they will understand that house music resonates with so many different genres of music, along with the mixture of being with an orchestra. The mixture of house music along with an orchestra is such a great mix that is undeniable. People will want it over and over again. They will see that dance music is not just a small part of the music industry. It actually spans across different genres and different races of people. Different vibes of people. It’s like a family thing. It’s conjoined at the hip. Because people say, “I never expected house music to be something that I love. To be something that would mix so well.”
Beyond performing, you’ve always been involved in giving back and uplifting others. How does that sense of purpose connect to your life as an artist?
I think it’s the fact that God gives me so much. He blesses me all the time that it is my pleasure to give back. You know, I have my foundation, which is CeCe Peniston Incorporated. It’s a 501 3c. I do give back to the community, like when I sell merch at my shows, all the proceeds go to my foundation. I want people to feel when they’re giving to me, I’m giving it back. That’s just a small fraction of what I could do. There’s so much that can be done, and if you do your part as a human being and give back, that is a beautiful thing.
Talk about your foundation. What exactly do you benefit?
Different things. Like, if a family needs food. I’ve done food drives and given backpacks to kids. We did a food drive for Christmas and I had a DJ. We gave out candy canes and food to people. But also benefiting the arts, where I’ve given out instruments like guitars and trumpets. Because I feel there are a lot of kids out there that are dreamers like me and sometimes they need an instrument or a scholarship. Or they just might need a little bit of help, whatever that might be. Families in need who just might not have it. We try to span across the arts and give them back to the community as well.
After “I Am House” at Sony Hall, what’s next for CeCe Peniston—more new music, touring, collaborations or something unexpected?
The “Dance Now America” tour, which I am currently getting ready to do at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino. And then Atlantic City, along with some of the artists that I named before…Daisy Dee, Haddaway, Crystal Waters, Ultra Nate. I am getting ready to do something at the top of the year in Australia. I have four shows there. Then I have the Ladies of Soul event that I am going to be doing with Deniece Williams and some artists from Amsterdam in the middle of 2026. Also, the Jazz festival in Arizona on November 8th. Toronto, Canada on the 23rd of this month. So I am pretty busy moving around and doing shows.
