Ultra Naté Wyche (born March 20, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ and promoter who has achieved success on the pop charts with songs such as “Free”, “If You Could Read My Mind” (as part of Stars on 54), and “Automatic”.

Born Ultra Naté in Havre de Grace, Maryland, United States, she displayed her singing talent at an early age. Growing up, Naté enjoyed a wide variety of music; she enjoyed listening to artists such as Marvin Gaye and Boy George, who Naté later said helped her become more open to being more experimental with her style and production of music.

Ultra Naté began her recording career on a major label, Warner Bros. Records, signed through its British offices. Through it, she released her first two albums. Her debut album, Blue Notes in the Basement (1991) was created along with the Basement Boys and it featured the singles “It’s Over Now”, “Deeper Love (Missing You)”, “Is It Love”, and the gospel-tinged “Rejoicing”.

In 1995, Ultra Naté contributed the song “Party Girl (Turn Me Loose)” to the soundtrack of the independent film Party Girl starring Parker Posey. The single was commercially released by the King Street Sounds label.

When Warner Bros. tried to push her in another direction, Ultra Naté left the major label and moved to the independent dance label, Strictly Rhythm. It was here that “Free”, her biggest mainstream hit, was released in 1997. The song, co-written by Naté, Lem Springsteen and John Ciafone while production was held by both Springsteen and Ciafone, enjoyed heavy airplay throughout the summer, not only in clubs, but on rhythmic and mainstream radio stations in America and Europe. “Free” peaked at number 75 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It became a substantial hit in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, helping its parent album ‘Situation: Critical’ reach number seventeen on the UK Albums Chart.