Jamelia
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Jamelia, real name Jamelia Davis (born October 1 1981), is a British R&B singer. She made her breakthrough outside of Europe in 2003, when her single Superstar went top ten in multiple countries, including number one in Australia and New Zealand.
Biography
Jamelia was born Jamelia Davis in Birmingham, England to a Jamaican family. She was raised in the inner city district of Aston. She was signed to Parlophone at the age of 15, after impressing record executives with self-written a capella songs. In April 1999 Jamelia released her first single, "So High", although it wasn't until her second single, "I Do" that she charted inside the official U.K. top 40 singles chart for the first time. In 2000, at age 18, she released her first album Drama, which peaked inside the U.K. top 40 albums chart at #39. The most successful single from the album was "Money", featuring a guest vocal from Beenie Man which went top 5. She was nominated for five Mobo Awards in 2000, winning one. The album also spawned the successful follow-up single, "Call Me" and the final single, "Boy Next Door", which peaked just outside the U.K. top 40.
After the success of her debut album, she temporarily retired from the music business to give birth to a baby girl on March 18 2001. While bringing up her daughter Teja, Jamelia made plans for a comeback and in 2003 her comeback single "Bout" was released, returning her to the U.K. top 40. In September 2003, her second album Thank You was released and peaked at #65. Prior to this, her fifth top 40 hit, "Superstar", a version of Danish singer [Christine Milton's] song was released. This song gave her her first taste of international success, especially in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The single shot to #1 in Australia and was certified "platinum". After the release of "Superstar" the album's third single, the title-track, "Thank You" was released and became Jamelia's highest charting U.K. single to date, peaking at #2 in the U.K. singles chart. Her album, Thank You was later re-released with two new tracks which later became singles, the Chris Martin penned "See It in A Boy's Eyes" and "DJ", both further top 10 singles in the U.K for Davis.
In autumn 2004 she was asked to contribute to the Band Aid 20 single "Do They Know It's Christmas?". At the same time she released the theme song for the film , "Stop", a Sam Brown cover, which became her fifth top 10 hit in the UK as a double A-side with the aformentioned "DJ".
On October 21, 2005, Jamelia gave birth to her second daughter, Tiani Byfield, who weighed in at 8lb 8oz (3850g). Tiani's father is the footballer Darren Byfield.
Jamelia's album is due for release in late 2006 according to her [official site]. She has been rumoured to have collaborated with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on the album but at present, this has been unconfirmed.
Discography
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles | Australian Singles | |||
| 1999 | "So High" | - | - | - |
| 1999 | "I Do" | #36 | - | Drama |
| 2000 | "Money" (Featuring Beenie Man) | #5 | - | Drama |
| 2000 | "Call Me" | #11 | - | Drama |
| 2000 | "Boy Next Door" | #42 | - | Drama |
| 2003 | "Bout" (Featuring Rah Digga) | #37 | - | Thank You |
| 2003 | "Superstar" | #3 | #1 | Thank You |
| 2004 | "Thank You" | #2 | #7 | Thank You |
| 2004 | "See It In A Boy's Eyes" | #5 | #35 | Thank You |
| 2004 | "DJ/Stop" | #9 | #37 | Thank You |
| 2006 | Don't Say Goodbye | - | - | TBA |
Collaborations
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles | Australian Singles | |||
| 2004 | "Universal Prayer" (Duet with Tiziano Ferro) | - | - | Thank You [International Version] |
| 2004 | "Do They Know It's Christmas" (as part of Band Aid 20) | #1 | #9 | - |
- "Thank You (Live DVD)" [2004]
Notes
External links
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