Everything about Jamelia totally explained
Jamelia Niela Davis (born on
11 January 1981), known simply as
Jamelia, is a
Mercury Music Prize nominated
English R&B singer-
songwriter who found fame in early
2000 after impressing music executives at
Parlophone Records with self-written
a cappella songs. 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.
Biography
Jamelia was born in
Smethwick in the
county of the
West Midlands of the
United Kingdom, to a
Jamaican father and a Zimbabwean 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. She gave birth to her first daughter Teja in March 2001 and her second daughter Tiani on
October 21,
2005. On
October 9,
2007 she announced her engagement to
Bristol City footballer
Darren Byfield, the father of Tiani.
Music career
1999-2000: "Drama"
Jamelia was signed to Capitol Records at the age of 15 after record producers were informed of her talents via her self-written a capella music she recorded on a karaoke machine. Extremely impressed, music executives offered her a record deal and she was hot footed for success. In late 1999, Jamelia's debut onto the music scene came in the form of 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 remains relatively unknown due to the fact it didn't appear on any of Jamelia's 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 out to record her debut album, Jamelia bounced back onto 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 40 and also managing to hold top twenty positions in both France and Sweden. Jamelia's third single "Money" was released in
February 2000. The single proved to be the singer's breakthrough in the
UK, peaking and #5 and spending nine weeks inside the UK Top 75, later winning a MOBO Award for "Best Video" in 2000. It featured guest rapping from
Beenie Man and was also co-written by UK
X Factor finalist Daniel De Bourg. Jamelia's debut album 'Drama' was due for release after the single "I Do", but the mediocre chart success of the single halted the release. The second version of the album contained a new version of the song "Thinking Bout You", along with two bonus tracks entitled "You Say You Love Me" and "What Is Love?" Despite the success of "Money", 'Drama' failed to make a lasting impression in the UK where it stalled at #39. The third single from the album was "Call Me". It became Jamelia's second UK Top 20 and third top forty single, when upon its release it debuted on the UK Top 40 at #11. The fourth and final single from the album was "
Boy Next Door" which limped into the charts at #42.
2003-2005: "Thank You"
Jamelia set about recording her second studio album "Thank You" in 2002 and early 2003 following the birth of her daughter Teja in 2001. The first single to be lifted from "Thank You" was the R&B influenced "
Bout", on which she collaborated with American rap star Rah Digga. Despite returning Jamelia to the UK Top 40 when it debuted at #37, "Bout" is largely ignored as the lead single from "Thank You" following the success of "Superstar" in late 2003. This single, which was a much more poppier effort, became one of the most successful in 2003 - launching Jamelia into the UK top three for the first time and becoming the 26th best selling single of that year. The album "Thank You" was released shortly after "Superstar" and it was widely expected that it would follow the success of the single. However, upon its release
Thank You entered the UK charts at a lowly #65. Following this disappointment, a number of record producers, including Coldplay's
Chris Martin, aided Jamelia in her comeback and began improving her second studio album. The album's artwork and format were changed and two new songs were added, both of which later became singles - her collaboration with
Coldplay's Chris Martin "
See It in a Boy's Eyes" and the R&B hit "DJ". Promoting the album, title track "Thank You" was released shortly before. Known to be Jamelia's favourite of all her releases, the inspiring song became her highest charting single to date in the UK where it peaked at #2 and won the 2004 MOBO Award for "Best Single" and a BRIT Award nomination for the same thing. Fourth single "See it in a Boy's Eyes" was released in mid-2004, and for the third time in a row Jamelia made it into the UK top five at #5. The single also won a MOBO Award for "Best Video" and a Q Award for "Best Single". In the
Summer of
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 both
Italy and
Spain and the song was added to the international editions of
Thank You. In
Autumn 2004, Jamelia was asked to contribute to the
Band Aid 20's single "
Do They Know It's Christmas?". She sang on the release with Pop Idol winner Will Young. The single went on to top the charts and gain Platinum status. At the same time, Jamelia released the lead song for 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", facing stiff competition from the likes of
Britney Spears,
Eminem,
Alicia Keys,
Christina Aguilera and
Missy Elliott. It still managed to make the UK Top 10, however, where it peaked at #9. 2004 was one of the most successful years in Jamelia's career, and the success of the project resulted in her having five
BRIT Award nominations in 2004 and 2005. "Thank You" became the 35th best selling album of 2004 and has gone on to sell almost 600,000 copies in Britain alone, eventually leading to the certification of double platinum.
2006-2007: "Walk With Me"
Following the birth of her second daughter, Tiani, in 2005, Jamelia began recording her third album
Walk With Me. The album's lead single, "
Something About You", was released in September 2006. This single saw Jamelia embracing a new type of music, as the song was described as "less R&B, more experimental", with
Popjustice hailing it as "one of the best pop singles for a long time". This was the first time on a Jamelia single that songs were able to chart on downloads alone - and upon its release Jamelia became one of the first British singers to make the UK Top 40 in this way when it entered the charts at #28. Over the coming weeks it climbed its way to #9 following its physical format release, and spent over two months within the UK Top 40. "Walk With Me" was released shortly after the lead single. The album had critical praise, with many critics claiming that it marked a significant turn in the singer's career. Despite not living up to the expectation set by "Thank You" in 2004, "Walk With Me" still managed to make the UK Top 20 and debuted at #20. Second single, "Beware of The Dog", was released on December 4 2006, featuring a sample from
Depeche Mode's 1989 "
Personal Jesus". The single was heavily praised as being Jamelia's best single to date, with Radio 1's "Chart Blog" stating that the song "might just be one of the best pop songs ever made". The single entered the UK Top 40 at #34 based on downloads alone, before rising to #10 the following week. The song was also nominated for Popjustice's 2007 £20 Music Prize, coming in at a respectable second place. Despite "Beware of The Dog" halting at #10, the single did help "Walk With Me" climb back into the UK Top 75 in January 2007, where it climbed to #51 and then rose again to #45 the following week. "No More" was the third and final single to be released from the album. Despite reaching the A-List on BBC Radio 2, the single, which samples The Stranglers' 1981 hit
Golden Brown had a low peak of #43 in the UK. Following the forced release of "No More", Jamelia left Parlophone due to the way in which they were handling 'Walk With Me' (a lack of support & promotion from the label) and has since been offered several recording contracts to which she's choosing which one to go with. Despite getting outstanding reviews, "Walk With Me" didn't match the success of its predecessor "Thank You", and was certified gold in January, 2007.
2007: Superstar - The Hits
In August, 2007, Jamelia announced that she'd be releasing a collection of her singles on a
greatest hits album due for release in on the 24th September, 2007 entitled
Superstar - The Hits. The album features eleven out of her fourteen UK releases, omitting the 1999 single "
So High", Drama singles "
I Do" and "
Boy Next Door" and her international 2004 release "Universal Prayer".
Despite featuring singles from over a seven year period,
Superstar - The Hits failed to attract any critical or commercial acclaim when it failed to make the UK Top 40, stalling at #55 in the UK Top 100 Albums. However, it's understood that as Jamelia left
Parlophone earlier in early 2007 that the singles collection was released only so that contract agreements could be met on both Jamelia's and Parlophone's side, and thus the album contained no new material, had limited and little promotion and didn't have the support required to have success in the charts.
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.
On
May 27,
2007 it was announced that Jamelia signed a £100,000 contract to launch a new range of products for
Boots. On
July 31,
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
September 18,
2007 Jamelia co-hosted the
MOBO Awards 2007 for the
BBC with
Shaggy and on
September 20 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
December 1st, Jamelia was invited to perform on stage for
Nelson Mandella'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's 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
December 19th, 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 autiobiography, currently titled 'No Matter Who You Are', in September 2008. 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 (www.web.mac.com/jembalem) that she'd "completed her first official acting role". It was also mentioned that she'd landed a TV presenting job.
In
April 2008, Jamelia guest presented
The National Lottery for the
BBC.
Personal life
In March 2005, It was revealed that Jamelia's half brother, Kairo Beckford, of Birmingham's notorious "Burger Bar Boys" street gang, was jailed for life for the murder of a teenager who they'd mistaken for a member of a rival West Midlands gang, the Raiders.
Four months after the incarceration of her sibling, the Burger Bar Boys released a video of Jamelia seemingly promoting gun violence via the Internet, an accusation which she denies.
In
October 2006, the
News of the World published a kiss and tell story alleging that Byfield had cheated on his partner with a girl named Jaclyn Evans. Jamelia later disputed the allegations.
In August 2007 Jamelia split from her footballer boyfriend,
Darren Byfield. The couple are parents to daughter Tiani. Jamelia also has another child, Teja, from a previous relationship. A spokesman confirmed, “Jamelia and Darren have sadly parted but it's an amicable split.”
The couple were reconciled a couple of months later and in October 2007 they announced their engagement.
Jamelia was ranked No. 48 in
COED Magazine Online's list of "The 50 Sexiest WAGs of World Football."
Discography
Awards and nominations
Tour history
Further Information
Get more info on 'Jamelia'.
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