What The Women Of Exposé Look Like Today
"Point of No Return." "Come Go With Me." "Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue." "Let Me Be the One." Are you singing along yet?
Exposé had a slew of pop hits spanning from the mid-'80s to 1995, including two #1 singles on the Billboard charts, "Seasons Change" and the power ballad "I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me)." As noted on their website, they became "the first group in history to have four top ten hits on their debut album," which was titled "Exposure." They were also the "first girl group to have seven back-to-back Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100."
Jeanette Jurado, Gioia Bruno, and Ann Curless, along with later addition Kelly Moneymaker, are still actively touring today, and their music left a lasting mark on pop culture, as evidenced by their single "Point of Return" being featured in a 2018 episode of the FX series "Pose." Curless explained how the group has managed to stay together for so long in a 2006 press release (via Cision PR Web): "The chemistry between us is pure magic, plain and simple." Here's what we know about the super-underrated Exposé and what the ladies look like today.
Jeanette Jurado was the first new member of Exposé
Jeanette Jurado was originally a member of a band called Cool Breeze, and they landed a gig opening for Exposé one night in the '80s. Jurado said in a 2020 interview with the National Museum of Mexican Art that Exposé's original members – Sandeé Casañas, Alé Lorenzo, and Laurie Miller – later approached her and asked her to sing their dance hit, "Point of No Return." She recalled, "The girls from Exposé took me aside and said, 'Our lead singer is leaving. ... She no longer wants to perform, and we would really like it if you were to join our group.'"
Despite the amazing offer, Jurado initially turned them down. The self-described "tomboy" didn't see herself fitting in with the glam aesthetic of the group. But the original Exposé members wouldn't take no for an answer, and when Arista Records started courting the group — and Jurado — she eventually made the leap. She learned soon after that she'd be getting two new singing partners, Gioia Bruno and Ann Curless. "I don't know if the old girls knew that that's what was going to happen," Jurado said. The whole process took a few weeks, but to Jurado, it seemed like "all of a sudden, we were Exposé!"
The rest is pop music history. The new group re-recorded "Point of No Return," per the Los Angeles Times, and released their first album, "Exposure," which neared the 1 million mark in sales by the fall of 1987.
Gioia Bruno left Exposé in the early '90s due to illness
For Gioia Bruno, her time in Exposé seemed like it was over in 1991 when she developed a tumor on her left vocal cord and was declared medically disabled. "Thankfully [it] wasn't cancerous, but I was told that I wouldn't ever sing again," Bruno told Kickin' it Old School in 2012. "I try not to dwell on it and stay as positive as possible. I have completely recovered (I guess medical science isn't 100%) and thank God every day for my good fortune. Miracles happen!"
When Bruno left the group, Exposé had already released its second album, "What You Don't Know." For the "When I Looked at Him" group's third, self-titled album, Bruno was replaced by singer-songwriter Kelly Moneymaker, who joined Ann Curless and Jeanette Jurado on the record.
Despite the success of "Exposé," which featured the No. 1 hit "I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me" and the gems "In Walked Love" and "As Long As I Can Dream," Arista Records dropped the group in 1995. In 2006, the trio of Bruno, Jurado, and Curless reunited and began touring once again. "It is so unbelievably thrilling to be going out on the road and seeing all of our fans again," Bruno said at the time, per Cision PR Web: Another plus? More time with Jurado and Curless. "I'm constantly inspired and surprised by these two women," she told Kickin' it Old School. "Our friendship has grown immensely, and we've grown as people through it all."
Ann Curless loves touring and performing for fans
The lockdowns that were implemented in response to the coronavirus pandemic left scores of people itching to travel, and Ann Curless was one of them. "Next year, we have some shows lined up, and I hope so," she said on Exposé's Twitter page in October 2020. "Because when I look at planes overhead, I literally am like, 'Where ya going?' ... I wanna be there!"
Reuniting with her bandmates Jeanette Jurado and Gioia Bruno in 2006 and touring again as Exposé proved to be more enjoyable than singer-songwriter Curless had imagined. "I think I enjoy it more now than ever before," she said in a 2010 interview with The Exposé Epistle. "[In our heyday] I was focused on more 'How do I look?' 'How do I sound?' But now, my attitude is 'Wow, look at these fans,' 'Look at these people, coming and bringing their kids,' and the people we meet behind the scenes. ... Seeing the fans is the best part."
In that 2010 interview, Curless also talked about her love of songwriting and hinted at new Exposé music in the works. In 2012, the group released the EP "Shine On," on which she co-wrote the title track, and the record also featured re-recorded versions of some of Exposé's most popular songs.
Kelly Moneymaker replaced Gioia Bruno in 1991 and still performs with Exposé
When Gioia Bruno left Exposé in 1991 due to a vocal cord illness, singer-songwriter Kelly Moneymaker joined the group. It's Moneymaker who appears with Jeanette Jurado and Ann Curless on their third, self-titled album and on the cover of their 1995 greatest hits record.
Moneymaker, who is married to former "Days of Our Lives" star Peter Reckell, has continued to make appearances with Exposé since the group reformed with Bruno in 2006. She spoke to The Exposé Epistle in 2007 about her time with the band: "I count my blessings because I was experiencing things other people just dream of, and on top of that I gained two of the most incredible friendships in my life. Ann and Jeanette are like my sisters." According to her website, Moneymaker later found work creating original music for television, including a "Days of Our Lives" soundtrack album. Her songs have also been featured on "Gossip Girl," "Parenthood," and a number of other popular series.
From 1985 to 1995, Exposé lit up the pop charts with hit after hit (and even scored a performance on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve show in 1990 that you seriously have to see). With the ladies touring once again, fans new and not-so-new are getting their chance to jam with one of the most successful — and underrated — pop groups of all time.