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Joss Stone (born Joscelyn Eve Stoker on 11 April 1987) is an English soul and R&B singer-songwriter and occasional actress who emerged to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist. Her second album, the also-multi-platinum Mind, Body & Soul, topped the albums chart in the United Kingdom for one week and spawned the UK top ten hit "You Had Me". Stone received three nomination at the 2005 Grammy Awards, for "Best New Artist", "Best Pop Vocal Performance", for You Had Me and "Best Pop Vocal Album", for Mind Body And Soul . Stone's latest album, Introducing Joss Stone, released in March 2007, went top ten in nine different countries, and has achieved gold status by the RIAA, . Throughout her career, Stone has sold over ten million albums worldwide, and has won two BRIT Awards and one Grammy Award. She also ventured in the film business, making her acting debut in the fantasy adventure film Eragon, released in December 2006, as a witch named Angela. British vocalist Joss Stone was only 16 years old when she appeared on the universal pop/rock radar in 2003, ready to challenge the pop domination of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera with a grownup sound that belied her young age. Positioning herself among the more established and credible artists (Norah Jones, Jill Scott, Nikka Costa), Stone soon garnered a devoted audience at home and abroad, first for her reinterpretations of classic soul gems (The Soul Sessions) and, one year later, for her songwriting chops and sultry delivery (Mind, Body & Soul). Stone was born at Buckland Hospital in Dover, Kent, and spent her teenage years in Ashill, a small village in Devon. She is the third of four children born to Richard and Wendy Stoker. She made her first public appearance at the Uffculme Comprehensive Schoolwhich she attended in Uffculme, Devon, with a cover of Jackie Wilson's 1957 "Reet Petite". Because of her dyslexia, Stone left school at age sixteen with just three GCSE qualifications. "It wasn't that I was stupid. I'm just a little bit dyslexic and I wasn't very academic. I'm more artistic", she says. Stone grew up listening to American soul and R&B, particularly the throaty stylings of Aretha Franklin. It didn't take long for Stone to realize she possessed an impressive vocal style with both depth and emotion, much like her idols. In 2002, Stone left her family home in Devon, England (also home to Coldplay's Chris Martin), to attend an audition in New York City. The young vocalist wowed S-Curve CEO Steve Greenberg with her rendition of Donna Summer's "On the Radio," and a record deal was quickly inked between both parties. With her parents' permission, Stone dropped out of school and changed her last name and she primed herself for a career in entertainment. Stone grew up listening to a wide variety of music including 1960s and 1970s American R&B and soul music performed by such artists as Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin; as a result, she developed a soulful style of singing like her idols. In 2001, at the age of fourteen, she auditioned for the BBC Television talent show Star for a Night in London singing Franklin's 1968 "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and Whitney Houston's 1998 "It's Not Right but It's Okay", eventually winning. She told MTV News, "I kind of clicked into soul music more than anything else because of the vocals. You've got to have good vocals to sing soul music and I always liked it ever since I was little". In 2002, Stone decided to back her ability by flying out from England for an audition in New York City with S-Curve CEO Steve Greenberg, where she performed Donna Summer's 1979 "On the Radio". She also signed a global music publishing deal with BMG Music Publishing in the United Kingdom. Since then, she has performed with artists such as Blondie, Gladys Knight, Robbie Williams, James Brown, Tom Jones, Melissa Etheridge, Rob Thomas, and Rod Stewart. R&B/soul pioneer Betty Wright joined Stone for her first recording, becoming an instant mentor and friend to the impressionable girl with big dreams. Vocalist Angie Stone and the Roots also assisted Stone in the studio in 2003 for what became The Soul Sessions EP. A riveting set of 1970s classics by the likes of Laura Lee and Bettye Swann, as well as tracks by Wright and Franklin, The Soul Sessions was accentuated by fellow Miami soul musicians Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas, and Little Beaver. Stone crafted the neo-soul album in just four days, hurried by an anxious label that couldn't wait to tell the world about their one-of-a-kind starlet. The Soul Sessions was ultimately a resounding success, selling over two million copies; it also introduced Stone to the MTV generation with the funky strut of "Fell in Love with a Boy" (a rework of the White Stripes hit "Fell in Love with a Girl"). After being signed by S-Curve Records, Stone flew to Miami, Florida to start working on her debut album, The Soul Sessions, released on 16 September 2003. She collaborated with people with solid credentials in the Miami soul scene such as Betty Wright, Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas, and Little Beaver. She also worked with contemporary acts Angie Stone and The Roots. The album consists of little-known soul tracks by Wright, Franklin, Laura Lee, and Bettye Swann. Released in late 2003, it reached the top five on the UK Albums Chart, and also made the top forty of the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The lead single, "Fell in Love with a Boy", which was a reworking of The White Stripes's 2001 "Fell in Love with a Girl", reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart, as did the second single, a cover version of Sugar Billy's 1974 "Super Duper Love". The album eventually went triple platinum by the BPI in mid-April 2005 and gold by the RIAA in late March 2004. After achieving critical acclaim with The Soul Sessions, Stone recorded her second album—this time with new material—Mind, Body & Soul, released on 28 September 2004. She was quoted to say this was her real debut. "I think my singing is so much better on this album", she says. It proved to be an even bigger success than her previous album, as it debuted at number one in the UK (breaking the record for the youngest female ever to top the UK Albums Chart, a record previously held by Avril Lavigne) and just missed the top ten of the U.S. Billboard 200, after peaking at number eleven. The lead single, "You Had Me", became her first top ten hit in the UK and was also a hit worldwide. Follow-up singles "Right to Be Wrong" and "Spoiled" both made the top forty, and "Don't Cha Wanna Ride", the top twenty. "Spoiled" landed just outside the top fifty of U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at number fifty-four. In early September 2005, Mind, Body & Soul was certified triple platinum by the BPI and platinum by the RIAA. At the 2005 BRIT Awards, Stone was nominated for "British Breakthrough Act", and won "British Female Solo Artist" and "British Urban Act", entering the Guinness World Records for being the youngest BRIT Award solo winner at age seventeen. She performed "Angels" with Robbie Williams during the ceremony, which took place on 9 February 2005. She also received a nomination for "Best UK Act of the Year" at the 2005 MOBO Awards as well as three nominations for the 2005 Grammy Awards—"Best New Artist", "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" for "You Had Me", and "Best Pop Vocal Album" for Mind, Body & Soul—, where she sang barefoot on stage with rock performer Melissa Etheridge, in tribute to the late blues-rock singer Janis Joplin. Their performance of "Cry Baby/Piece of My Heart" was released as a single, and, through the aid of strong digital download sales, became Stone's first single to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, when it debuted and peaked at number thirty-two. Stone's full-length debut, Mind, Body & Soul, was released by S-Curve in 2004, and its 14 tracks featured 12 written or co-written by Stone. The album debuted at the top of the U.K. albums chart, making Stone the youngest female artist to achieve such a high ranking, and eventually reached platinum status in multiple countries. Stone enjoyed commercial success as well as critical acclaim, garnering three Grammy nominations and winning two BRIT Awards for her soulful debut. After performances at London's Live 8 in the summer of 2005 and Superbowl XL in early 2006, the singer relocated to the Bahamas to record her next album. Introducing Joss Stone, which featured appearances from Common and the ever-elusive Lauryn Hill, was released in March 2007. Stone began working on her third studio album, Introducing Joss Stone, at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, in May 2006. It was released on 12 March 2007 in the UK on Virgin Records, involving production by Raphael Saadiq and collaborations with Lauryn Hill, Common, and Joi. Virgin describes it as "an electrifying mix of warm vintage soul, '70s-style R&B, Motown girl-group harmonies, and hip-hop grooves". Stone herself describes it as "truly me. That's why I'm calling it Introducing Joss Stone. These are my words, and this is who I am as an artist". She also revealed on The Tavis Smiley Show that her break-up with Beau Dozier was a source of inspiration while writing Introducing Joss Stone. The album debuted and peaked at number twelve on the UK Albums Chart. It also debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 selling 118,000 copies in its first week, becoming the highest debut for a British solo female artist on the U.S. chart, surpassing the record previously held by Amy Winehouse with Back to Black. It has sold 60,000 copies in the UK since its release. Stone was nominated for the MOBO Award for "Best UK Female" in September 2007, but lost out to Winehouse. Joss has commented on her new album saying This is the first album I’ve made that I really feel is truly me,” she says. “That's why I'm calling it Introducing Joss Stone." "Tell Me 'Bout It", the album's lead single, debuted and peaked at number twenty-eight on the UK Singles Chartwhere it stayed for three weeks only, and peaked at number eighty-three on the U.S Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", a collaboration with rapper Common, made the top sixty-five of the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Stone turned its music video to a Product Redthis means that the video is available online over iTunes Store and that the gains from these sales revert to Product Red, an organisation which helps women and children in Africa affected by HIV and/or AIDS. Stone is the first artist to do this, entering the Guinness World Records once again. On 4 October 2007, Stone's official website confirmed "Baby Baby Baby" as the album's third single. In support of the album, Stone embarked on a North American tour which began on 27 April at Ledyard, Connecticut's Foxwoods Resort Casino and ended on 13 June at Vienna, Virginia's Filene Center, visiting sixteen cities in total including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Vancouver, Chicago, Toronto, New York, and Boston. Two months later, she went on a North American late summer tour which kicked off on 27 August at Los Angeles, California's Greek Theatre and ended on 29 September at Kansas City, Missouri's Crossroads, covering twelve cities this time including Mexico City. Known for her barefoot performances and neo-hippie fashions, Stone changed her style to a harder-edged, purple-haired look to promote Introducing Joss Stone. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Stone shared the award for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for her collaboration with Sly & the Family Stone, John Legend, and Van Hunt on "Family Affair". In March 2005, Stone was named the spokesperson for the megastore Gap, replacing actress Sarah Jessica Parker. She recorded two songs for its commercial—a cover of Ray Charles's 1958 "Night Time Is the Right Time" (retitled "The Right Time") and a cover of The Beach Boys's 1966 "God Only Knows". By that time, rumours circulated about her being dropped from the campaign because she was living with then-twenty-five-year-old songwriter and producer Beau Dozier (son of Motown producer and composer Lamont Dozier) in Los Angeles, California while she was only seventeen. However, Gap later denied the rumours, stating that they were very happy with Stone and telling BBC Radio 1 that the claims were "absolute tosh" and "a complete fabrication". Stone caused minor controversy at the 2007 BRIT Awards ceremony on 14 February, when presenting the award for "British Male Solo Artist" (won by James Morrison). Speaking in a transatlantic accent (although several press reports claim she sounded American), she gave a speech about Robbie Williams, who had been the target of earlier jokes made by host Russell Brand. Williams had been reported as going into rehabilitation that same week. As her speech continued, she made remarks about Brand, implying that he was heading for rehabilitation himself (while singing a passage of Amy Winehouse's hit "Rehab"). In response to the British media's reaction, Stone stated, "At the end of the day, I don't give a fuck if people have a problem with my accent. That's all I can say about it. The words I say do not change. If the way that it sounds is skewwhiff and you don't like it, don't listen. I'm not being a cruel person by sounding a different way. And I can't help it. I've been in America working since I was, like, 14. All I'm doing is working. I do my job, and I go home". Canadian singer-guitarist and photographer Bryan Adams photographed Stone for the second issue of Hear the World magazine, a quarterly culture and lifestyle publication dedicated to the topic of hearing. On 28 June 2007, Stone asked Queen guitarist Brian May to perform "Under Pressure" with her at the Concert for Diana, held at Wembley Stadium, London on 1 July. Initially he said yes, but when he realised how very different the arrangement was from the original, he realised that "he was not going to be able to do it justice", so he rejected it. Instead, she performed the song solo as well as her hit "You Had Me" and a cover of Sam & Dave's 1968 "Ain't That a Lot of Love" with Tom Jones. Stone covered Nat King Cole's 1965 classic "L-O-V-E" for the latest advertising campaign for Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, entitled Coco Mademoiselle. The Joe Wright-directed short film stars Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley as fashion legend Coco Chanel. Also, for the Christmas season, Stone recorded the song "All I Want for Christmas", written and produced by Dan Mackenzie. Both songs were made available on iTunes, the former on 18 September 2007 and the latter on 18 December 2007. In mid-December 2007, Stone was named the new Flake girl to star in a series of TV commercials for the Cadbury Schweppes product in the spring of 2008. According to the company, she is the first non-model to take the role. Also, during an interview for the April/May 2007 issue of Giant magazine, Stone insulted singer Christina Milian, Dozier's ex-girlfriend. Milian's publicist responded that "Christina has never met Joss", and that "she can't imagine what this is all about".35 Stone later apologised to Milian. "So I said something bad about Christina Milian. I said it, and I meant it. Then I realised down the line that it wasn't true. The person who told me is a complete wanker". She said that Milian was very "sweet about forgiving me. She understood".36 In July 2005, Stone lent her voice to the ‘’Fantastic Four’’ soundtrack, singing the title song “What Ever Happened to the Heroes”, written by Pink, billymann, and Christopher Rojas and produced by Beau Dozier shortly before their break-up in November 2005. In 2005 she collaborated with Sean Paul on the song Cry Baby Cry on Santana's All That I Am album. Stone performed at the Live 8 concert at Hyde Park, London on 2 July 2005, and performed “Papa's Got a Brand New Bag” with funk legend James Brown on the British chat show ‘’Friday Night with Jonathan Ross’’. On 5 February 2006, she joined Stevie Wonder, India.Arie, and John Legend at the Super Bowl XL pre-game show in performing a medley of Wonder’s hits. Three days later, on 8 February, she helped perform a medley of hits by reclusive singer Sly Stone, the frontman of Sly & the Family Stone, on the night of the 2006 Grammy Awards. In 2006, she collaborated with Patti LaBelle on a remake of LaBelle's solo hit, "Stir It Up" for the animated motion picture, Chicken_Little. Stone made her film debut in the fantasy epic ‘’Eragon’’ (based on the 2003 novel of the same name), released on 15 December 2006, in which she plays the witch Angela. Stone collaborated with jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and blues singer-guitarist Jonny Lang on a cover of U2’s 1988 song “When Love Comes to Town”, from Hancock’s 2005 album ‘’Possibilities’’. She also collaborated with Lemar on his third studio album, ‘’The Truth About Love’’, on the track “Anniversary”. In 2008 Stone sang on Randy Jackson’s Album Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1 with the song Just Walk on By, the song was originally supposed to feature Three 6 Mafia in addition to Joss Stone, but the rap trio was taken off the song for an unknown reason. Stone performed live with country pop singer LeAnn Rimes in CMT’s ‘’Crossroads’’ on 7 December 2007. Stone joined Band Aid 20 on 14 November 2004 to benefit Sudan's troubled Darfur region. The group, consisting of such luminaries as Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin and U2 lead singer Bono, re-recorded the 1984 song "Do They Know It's Christmas?", written by Band Aid organisers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. Stone, born two years after the release of the original single, wasn't initially aware of who Bob Geldof was. The media gleefully reported that she repeatedly referred to him as Bob Gandalf. Despite some criticism, the single became the UK's biggest-selling single of 2004 as well as the 2004 Christmas number-one single. In order to raise the awareness of AIDS, Annie Lennox has joined forces with twenty-three female musicians (including Stone) and recorded the song "Sing", which was released on World AIDS Day on 1 December 2007, when Lennox performed at one of the Nelson Mandella 46664 concerts at Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium. The song appears on Lennox's fourth studio album, Songs of Mass Destruction. Stone also turned her single "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", a collaboration which she done with rapper Common into a Product Red music video this means that the video is available online over iTunes Store and that the gains from these sales revert to Product Red, an organisation which helps women and children in Africa affected by HIV and/or AIDS. Stone was named the World's Best Celebrity Dog Owner in 2005 in an online poll conducted by readers of The New York Dog Magazine and The Hollywood Dog Magazine. She owns two female dogs: Missy (named after rapper Missy Elliott), a Rottweiler, and Dusty (named after Dusty Springfield, one of her major influences), a Poodle. That same year, she was voted the World's Sexiest Vegetarian by peta2, alongside Chris Martin. Stone, who's been a vegetarian since she was born , starred in an ad for PETA in March 2007, whose tagline states, "I am Joss Stone and I am a vegetarian". She was also one of the celebrities appearing in PETA's 2007 documentary film Your Mommy Kills Animals. On 7 July 2007, Stone performed at the South African leg of the Live Earth concerts at the Coca Cola Dome, in Johannesburg, to promote awareness of global warming. She performed the Introducing Joss Stone tracks "Girl They Won't Believe It", "Headturner", "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", "Music", and "Tell Me 'Bout It" besides "Right to Be Wrong". |
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