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Jamelia
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| Jamelia | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Jamelia Niela Davis 11 January 1981 Smethwick, West Midlands, England |
| Origin | Smethwick, United Kingdom |
| Genres | R&B, pop, hip hop, soul |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, entertainer |
| Years active | 1999- Present |
| Labels | Capitol Records (1999) Parlophone (2000–2007) |
Jamelia Niela Davis (born on 11 January 1981), best known mononymously as Jamelia, is an English singer-songwriter and model, most famous for her use of a capella and prolific work in the R&B genre. She has released three studio albums, each of which has reached the Top 40 in her native UK, which collectively have spawned eight UK top ten singles. In addition, Jamelia has won four MOBO Awards, a Q award and has received six BRIT Award nominations.
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Biography
Jamelia was born in Smethwick in the county of the West Midlands of the United Kingdom, to a Zimbabwean father and a Jamaican mother and raised in the Winson Green area of Birmingham. She was signed to Parlophone at the age of fifteen, after impressing record executives with self-written a cappella songs. Jamelia attended the The City Technology College in Kingshurst, Solihull. She gave birth to her first daughter Teja on 18 March 2001 and her second daughter Tiani on 21 October 2005. On 9 October 2007 she announced her engagement to footballer Darren Byfield, the father of Tiani. Jamelia is one of the UK's most successful female solo artists. Jamelia had three Top 5 hits from her album, 'Thank You'. Her UK success was emulated in Europe where she was a continual serious chart presence, and in Australia and New Zealand where she reached No 1.
Jamelia signed with Capitol Records in 1996, and her debut single, "So High", was released on 3 May 1999. It failed to chart and she left the record company before an album was released. Later that year, Jamelia released "I Do" with Parlophone, which was followed up in 2000 with her first top five single, titled "Money", and her debut album Drama.
Jamelia's second album, Thank You, released in 2003, is her most successful to date, peaking at number 4 on the United Kingdom Albums Chart, at number 16 in New Zealand, and at number 21 in Ireland. It also charted in Australia and mainland Europe, but in much lower positions. The album's lead singles were "Bout", a reggae-style song that features a rap from Rah Digga, and pop/dance song "Superstar". "Bout" charted at 37 on the UK Singles Chart, but "Superstar" fared much better, entering the singles chart at number 8 and climbing to number 3, its peak position, after four weeks.12 It was also the 26th best selling single of 2003.3 The next single taken from Thank You was the title track, which peaked at number 2 in the UK. Both "Superstar" and "Thank You" are Jamelia's most successful single releases to date, appearing in many singles charts worldwide. Thank You was subsequently re-released with two new songs: "See It in a Boy's Eyes" and "DJ".
In 2004, Jamelia performed "Universal Prayer" with Tiziano Ferro for release on his album 111 Centoundici. The song also appears on Unity, the soundtrack for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The song was released as a single in mainland Europe, and reached number 1 in Italy. Later that year, she recorded "Stop", a cover of the 1988 song recorded by Sam Brown. It is included on the soundtrack album to the feature film The Edge of Reason, and was released as a double A-side with "DJ". At the end of 2004, Jamelia recorded an updated version of the charity record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" as a part of Band Aid 20;4 it became the Christmas Number One.5 Jamelia's third and most recent album, Walk with Me, was released in 2006. It was not as commercially popular as Thank You, reaching number 20 on the albums chart in the UK; the three singles that were released from the album also fared worse than the singles from Thank You. "Something About You" and "Beware of the Dog" peaked just inside the top 10; "No More" fell short of the top 40. Despite being labelled a "one-hit wonder" by members of the UK music industry,6 Jamelia has had seven singles chart inside the UK Top 10, and only three chart outside the UK Top 40.78 Jamelia has announced that she plans to release her fourth album in 2009.9
Music career
Drama (1999 - 2000)
Jamelia was signed to Capitol Records at the age of fifteen after record producers were informed of her talents via her self-written a cappella music she recorded on a karaoke machine. Impressed music executives offered her a record deal and she was hot footed for success. In late 1999, Jamelia debuted on the music scene with the single "So High", a collaboration with fellow R&B vocalist Rosita Lynch. The single failed to chart in both the UK and mainland Europe, and did not appear on any of Jamelia's subsequent albums. Following the poor sales of the single, Jamelia left Capitol Records, but was quickly signed up with record company Parlophone, a branch of the EMI company.
Taking some time to record her debut album, Drama, Jamelia returned the music scene in early 2000 with the single "I Do", which became her first commercially successful single in the UK and mainland Europe, making the UK top forty and holding top twenty positions in France and Sweden. The single's mediocre chart success, however, led to the delay of the release of Drama. Jamelia's third single, "Money" (featuring rapper Beenie Man and co-written by UK The X Factor finalist Daniel De Bourg), was released in February 2000. The single was the singer's breakthrough in the UK, peaking at number five and spending nine weeks inside the UK top seventy-five; it later won a MOBO Award for "Best Video" in 2000. Despite the success of "Money", Drama did not make a major chart impression in the UK, where it peaked at number thirty-nine. The third single from the album, "Call Me", reached number eleven, and the fourth single, "Boy Next Door", peaked at number forty-two.
Thank You (2003 - 2005)
Jamelia recorded her second studio album, Thank You, in 2002 and early 2003 following the birth of her daughter Teja in 2001. The first single lifted from Thank You was the R&B-influenced "Bout", on which she collaborated with American rap star Rah Digga; it debuted at number thirty-seven in the UK. The second single, the much poppier "Superstar", became Jamelia's highest peaking at the time (it reached number three) and the twenty-sixth best-selling of 2003 in the UK. Thank You, released shortly after "Superstar", was widely expected to duplicate the single's success, but the album entered the UK chart at number sixty-five. Subsequently, a number of record producers worked with Jamelia on a re-release of the album that features new artwork and track listing, including two new songs: her collaboration with Coldplay's Chris Martin, "See It in a Boy's Eyes", and "DJ".
Promoting the re-release, title track "Thank You" was released shortly before. Known to be Jamelia's favourite of all her releases, the song became her highest charting single to date in the UK, where it peaked at number two and received the 2004 MOBO Award for "Best Single" and a BRIT Award nomination in the same category. Fourth single "See it in a Boy's Eyes" was released in mid 2004 and became Jamelia's third consecutive top five hit, winning a MOBO Award for "Best Video" and a Q Award for "Best Single". The success of Thank You resulted in five BRIT Award nominations for Jamelia in 2004 and 2005. The album became the thirty-fifth best-selling of 2004 and has been certified double platinum by the BPI in recognition of 600,000 copies shipped to retailers.
Jamelia also contributed a cover version of Kool and the Gang's "Straight Ahead for their Remix/Covers album The Hits: Reloaded .
In mid 2004, she collaborated with Italian singer Tiziano Ferro on "Universal Prayer" for the 2004 Olympic Games soundtrack. It became her first number-one single in Italy and Spain and was added to non-UK editions of Thank You. In late 2004, Jamelia was asked to contribute to the Band Aid 20 charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", on which she sang with Will Young. The single topped the UK Singles Chart and was certified platinum. Around the same time, Jamelia released the lead single from the soundtrack of the film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, a cover of Sam Brown's 1988 single "Stop!"; it was released as double A-side in the UK with the aforementioned "DJ", and peaked at number nine.
Walk With Me (2006 - 2007)
Following the birth of her second daughter, Tiani, in 2005, Jamelia began recording her third album, Walk With Me. Its lead single, "Something About You", was released in late 2006 and described as "less R&B, more experimental", with Popjustice hailing it as "one of the best pop singles for a long time". Walk with Me was released shortly after and drew critical praise, with many critics claiming that it marked a significant turn in the singer's career. The album did not emulate the chart success of Thank You; it debuted at number twenty on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold by the BPI. The second single, "Beware of the Dog", features a sample from Depeche Mode's 1989 song "Personal Jesus" and was heavily praised as being Jamelia's best single to date, with BBC Radio 1's "Chart Blog" stating that it "might just be one of the best pop songs ever made". The single reached number ten in the UK and was nominated for Popjustice's 2007 £20 Music Prize, coming in second place. "No More", the third and final single from Walk with Me that samples The Stranglers' 1981 single "Golden Brown", peaked at number forty-three in the UK despite being A-listed on BBC Radio 2.
Jamelia subsequently left Parlophone, citing their lack of support for and promotion of the album. She has since been offered several recording contracts that she is choosing between.
Superstar - The Hits (2007 - 2010)
Jamelia released a collection of her singles on a greatest hits album, Superstar - The Hits, in late 2007. The album features eleven of her fourteen releases, omitting the 1999 single "So High", Drama singles "I Do" and "Boy Next Door" and the non-UK 2004 release "Universal Prayer". Superstar - The Hits failed to attract any critical or commercial acclaim, peaking at number fifty-five on the UK top 100 albums chart. It is believed that because Jamelia left Parlophone earlier in 2007, the singles collection was released only so that contractual agreements could be met on both Jamelia's and Parlophone's side;citation needed consequently, the album contained no new material and had limited promotional support.citation needed.
New Album (2010 - present)
Jamelia will release her new album, currently untitled, in 2009. The album will be the first to be released by Jamelia since parting ways with former record label Parlophone. On 7 April 2008, Jamelia confirmed that she had been in the studio with producers Shea Taylor (Rihanna, Beyoncé, Janet Jackson) and Syience (Jay-Z, John Legend, Mary J Blige). On 8 July 2008, it was reported that hip hop producer Pharrell Williams wants to work with Jamelia on her upcoming album. As of October 2009, nothing about the album is known.
Other projects
In Spring 2004, Jamelia was signed by the prestigious model agency, ICM. Just a week later she was signed as the face and legs of Pretty Polly in a high profile advertising campaign and shortly afterwards was featured in a poster campaign for Reebok. Since pursuing work in modelling, Jamelia has also endorsed Listerine Softmint Sensation, Jaguar Cars and BMW, was the brand ambassador for the maternity wear line Seraphine, has appeared in print advertising for Oxfam and on the front cover of magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Company, Elle and Harpers & Queen.
On 9 November 2006, Jamelia joined Feeder on stage for the encore of Feeder's WAR Child gig at 'The Coronet' in London. They performed a cover of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" as well as "Beware Of The Dog".
In January 2007, Jamelia launched a new fragrance as part of a campaign to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS. Proceeds from the sale of every bottle of The Body Shop's Rougeberry will be donated to MTV's Staying Alive Foundation. In 2007 she appeared in a high profile poster campaign shot by Mary McCartney for the animals right charity PETA, she appeared naked under the headline "Be comfortable in your own skin and let animals keep theirs". The campaign group released her image to coincide with the start of London Fashion Week.
Jamelia appeared on the 4 March 2007 episode of Top Gear, where Richard Hammond drove her to Earl's Court Exhibition Centre for a Brit Awards show in his homemade stretch limousine.
On 27 May 2007, it was announced that Jamelia signed a £100,000 contract to launch a new range of products for Boots. On 31 July 2007, it was announced that Jamelia, along with Erin O'Connor and Helena Christensen, had teamed up with famous hairdressers Toni & Guy to promote Model.Me - a hair product created for women with ethnic hair. Jamelia comments: "I think it's about time that there was a haircare range specifically designed for ethnic hair available on every high street."
On 18 September 2007, Jamelia co-hosted the MOBO Awards 2007 for the BBC with Shaggy and on 20 September she walked the catwalk in Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief event at the Natural History Museum in London.
Jamelia appeared on ITV's "Saturday Night Divas" to mark the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She shared the stage with Jennifer Lopez, Girls Aloud, Celine Dion and Alicia Keys, amongst others and performed a cover version of Outkast's hit single Hey Ya.
On 1 December 2007, Jamelia was invited to perform on stage for Nelson Mandela's World Aids Day concert. She performed the hit singles "Something About You", "See It In A Boy's Eyes" and "Superstar".
Currently, Jamelia is deciding which new record label to sign with, and has begun work on her fourth studio album. Talking about the album, Jamelia commented that she is working with producers she'd have never had the chance to previously, and is eager to work with Timbaland and John Legend. When asked about the album's release, she said "next year at the earliest".
On 19 December 2007, Jamelia played Cinderella in Channel 4's The Paul O'Grady Show's Christmas Pantomime appearing opposite Joan Collins, Louis Walsh, Liz Smith, Jo Brand, Christopher Biggins, Cilla Black, Kate Thornton, Patrick McGuinness and Paul O'Grady himself.
In late January 2008, it was announced that Jamelia had signed a book publishing deal with Orion. She will be releasing her autobiography, currently titled 'Stronger',10 in September 2009. It will talk about the singer's struggle in both her personal & professional life amongst other things.
In February 2008, Jamelia announced in a podcast on her personal website (web.mac.com/jembalem) that she had "completed her first official acting role". It was also mentioned that she had landed a TV presenting job.
In July 2008 she appeared in a documentary about the international Hair Extensions trade Jamelia: Whose Hair is it Anyway? for BBC Three & guest presented a week of episodes of Big Brother's Big Mouth for E4. On 7 September 2008, she guest presented an episode of Something for the Weekend (2000s BBC TV series) with Tim Lovejoy.
A more recent project is The Really Good School Dinner. Jamelia is supporting the initiative which will see children and young people in England pledging to have a school meal and make a donation to provide some of the world’s poorest children with a nutritious meal.11
Jamelia starred in an episode of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word, where she and Gordon took part in a cook off competition. Also, she was a guest judge for BBC's, Let's Dance for Comic Relief.
Jamelia presents the The National Lottery some Wednesday evenings, which she has been doing since April 2008.
It has been announced that Jamelia would star in two upcoming movies. Jericho's Walls Are Falling is a film based on a true story about a young man who contracts HIV/AIDS and how it effects not only him, but the people closest two him. Jamelia will play the character of Nicca, and will star alongside Gideon Turner, Bernard Hill and Jason Flemyng. The film is set for a late 2009, early 2010 release. Magic Boys, to be directed by Róbert Koltai is a comedy feature which will star Michael Madsen who plays 'an American bad boy who gets entangled in a big scheme business fraud. Just by pure chance, two Hungarian factory workers get mixed in and before they know it they find themselves in a London Chippendale show'. Jamelia will play the character of Cherry Valentine, which is likely the stripper character that she has mentioned in the past. The film is set for a 2010 release.
Personal life
Jamelia has also appeared on the Disney channel show Under Cover Coach and coached a girl called Amy in singing.
In August 2007 Jamelia split from boyfriend Darren Byfield. The couple are parents to daughter Tiani. Jamelia also has another child, Teja, from a previous relationship. The couple were reconciled a couple of months later. and in October 2007 they announced their engagement. On 15 June 2008 it was reported the couple wed on the previous day in West Sussex. On 3 November 2009 it was announced that the couple was filing for divorce.
She participated at the Peta's campaign "Would Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur"12.
Jamelia was good friends with the late Jade Goody and attended her wedding to Jack Tweed in February 2009 and her funeral in April 2009 alongside her husband and Davina McCall.
Discography
Studio Albums
- 2000: Drama
- 2003: Thank You
- 2006: Walk with Me
Compilation Albums
- 2007: Superstar - The Hits
- 2009: Jamelia - The Collection
Filmography
- Jericho's Walls Are Falling (2009; In production) - Nicca13
- Magic Boys (2010; filming) - Cherry Valentine13
Awards and nominations
| Year | Institution | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Won | ||
| 2000 | MOBO Awards | Best Video - "Money" |
| 2004 | TMF Awards(Belgium) | Meest Belovend |
| 2004 | Q Awards | Best Single - "See It In a Boy's Eyes" |
| 2004 | MOBO Awards | Best British Female |
| 2004 | MOBO Awards | Best Single - "Thank You" |
| 2004 | MOBO Awards | Best Video - "See It In a Boy's Eyes" |
| 2004 | Q Awards | Best Single - "See It In a Boy's Eyes" |
| 2005 | Urban Music Awards | Best R&B Act |
| 2007 | Eska Awards | Best Foreign Singer |
| 2007 | Urban Music Awards | Best R&B Act |
| Nominated | ||
| 2004 | Brit Awards | Best British Female |
| 2004 | Brit Awards | Best British Single - "Superstar" |
| 2004 | Mercury Music Prize | Thank You |
| 2005 | Brit Awards | Best British Female |
| 2005 | Brit Awards | Best British Urban Act |
| 2005 | Brit Awards | Best British Single - "Thank You" |
| 2007 | Brit Awards | Best British Female |
| 2007 | Popjustice £20 Music Prize | "Beware of the Dog" |
| 2007 | MOBO Awards | Best British Female |
Tour history
- 2004 Thank You Tour
References
- ^ "Top 40". Wes Butters (presenter). The Radio 1 Chart Show. British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC Radio 1. 21 September 2003.
- ^ "Top 40". Wes Butters (presenter). The Radio 1 Chart Show. British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC Radio 1. 12 October 2003.
- ^ "Top 40 of 2003". Wes Butters (presenter). The Radio 1 Chart Show. British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC Radio 1. 1 January 2004.
- ^ "Stars gather for Band Aid, 20 years on". Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers). 14 November 2004. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-326065/Stars-gather-Band-Aid-20-years-on.html. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
- ^ Saney, Daniel (20 December 2004). "Band Aid 20 clinches Christmas number one". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/a17775/band-aid-20-clinches-christmas-number-one.html. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
- ^ "X Factor judges round on 'one-hit wonder' Jamelia". Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers). 12 December 2006. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-422150/X-Factor-judges-round-hit-wonder-Jamelia.html. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
- ^ Roberts, David, ed (June 2007). Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums. McAleer, Dave (19 ed.). HiT Entertainment. ISBN 1-904-99410-5.
- ^ The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles. Virgin Books. 6 November 2008. ISBN 0-753-51537-7.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (7 February 2009). "Jamelia reveals chart comeback plans". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a145976/jamelia-reveals-chart-comeback-plans.html. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
- ^ http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=6178729
- ^ Jamelia joins forces with The Really Good School Dinner
- ^ Jamelia go naked for Peta
- ^ a b http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1478388/
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jamelia |
- Official website
- Jamelia's Personal website
- Jamelia at Allmusic
- Jamelia at the Internet Movie Database
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