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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. Starting only at 18 years of age, pop-R&B singer Jamelia swept U.K. R&B fans off their feet, and following her second album, Thank You, she made herself a star, winning over many more fans, as well as some critics, across the rest of the European continent. The numerous chart-topping singles and musical nominations and awards rivaled the stardom and exposure of her American contemporaries, allowing many to dub her Britain's own Beyoncי. Perhaps other than her close friends and family, not many would have guessed that a young teen who liked to make a fool of herself singing karaoke could become a popular recording artist. Jamelia, born Jamelia Naila Davis on January 11, 1981, in Birmingham, England, obtained her first karaoke machine at 12. A few years later, Jamelia's cousin sent in one of those recordings to representatives of Parlophone Records, and after the A&Rs heard her sing a cappella, they signed her at 15 years of age. Parlophone (a subsidiary for EMI) patiently prepared her until she was 18 to release her first single, "So High." Although the song fell on deaf ears, it did set the stage for her next four hit singles from her debut album, Drama, in 2000. Each of them fell somewhere on the charts with "Money," featuring reggae artist Beenie Man, placing in the UK's Top Five. Earning five MOBO nominations (and winning one for Best Video), it was clear that Jamelia had the potential to develop into an R&B star. Nevertheless, Jamelia had to withdraw from the spotlight for two years on account of her pregnancy and tending to her baby daughter. In 2003, the single "Bout," featuring U.S. rapper Rah Digga, barely signaled the return of a five-time, MOBO-nominated artist, entering at the bottom of UK's Top 40, but the next single, "Superstar," turned into an international smash hit. It reached number three on the U.K. pop charts, was number one in Australia and New Zealand, and gave the singer more legions of fans across Europe. With the arrival of her platinum-selling second album, Thank You, a few weeks later that September, Jamelia's success was just getting started. Spilling into 2004, the album's title track, an autobiographical song about domestic abuse, debuted at two on the U.K. pop charts and won a MOBO award for Best Single. In March 2004, due to the widespread popularity of Thank You's singles, Parlophone reissued an altered version of the album where some tracks were rearranged and new songs added, including the Top Five single "See It in a Boy's Eyes," which was co-written by labelmate and Coldplay leader Chris Martin. In tandem with the reissue and Chris Martin single, she embarked on her first tour as the headliner that summer in the U.K., cementing her stellar run in 2004. The new found fame propelled her increasingly into the British public eye. She involved herself in charities, obtained promotional endorsements, and was invited by British model Naomi Campbell to become a client of her modeling agency. Thus, when she had her second child the following year, there was not the same respite from the spotlight leading up to her third album, Walk with Me, which came out in September 2006. Using samples from rock groups like the Stranglers and Depeche Mode, her music drifted away from her R&B fan base and turned more toward pop/rock. Jamelia was born in Smethwick in the county of the West Midlands of the United Kingdom, to Jamaican parents 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. 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 did not 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. 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. 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 is choosing which one to go with. Despite getting outstanding reviews, "Walk With Me" did not match the success of its predecessor "Thank You", and was certified gold in January, 2007. In August, 2007, Jamelia announced that she would 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 is 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 did not have the support required to have success in the charts. 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 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 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 that she had "completed her first official acting role". It was also mentioned that she had landed a TV presenting job. In April 2008, Jamelia guest presented The National Lottery for the BBC. 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 had 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 is an amicable split.” The couple were reconciled a couple of months later and in October 2007 they announced their engagement. |
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