Jamelia

Jamelia Niela Davis more commonly known by just her first name Jamelia (born January 11 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 #1 in Australia and New Zealand.

Biography

Jamelia was born in Birmingham, England to a Jamaican mother and Zimbabwean father . She was raised in the inner city district of Winson Green. She was signed to Parlophone at the age of 15, after impressing record executives with self-written a cappella 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 UK top 40 singles chart for the first time. In 2000, at age 18, she released her first album Drama, which peaked inside the UK 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 UK top 40.
After the success of her debut album, she temporarily retired from the music business to give birth to a baby girl on 18 March 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 UK 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 UK single to date, peaking at #2 in the UK singles chart. Her album, Thank You was later re-released and reached #4, including 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 UK for Jamelia.
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 aforementioned DJ.
On 21 October 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 third album Walk with Me was released on 25 September 2006 . Collaborations on the album include Afrika Bambaata who produced Do Me Right and Sway who guests on the bonus track Hustle. The first single from the third album was R&B/rock fusion Something About You released on 11 September 2006, which had reached #9 in the UK Charts as of 24 September 2006. The second single is Beware of the Dog, which features a sample from Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode, a song covered in 2002 by Marilyn Manson. The single will be released on December 4th 2006. Beware of the Dog has been criticized for reminding to much of Rihanna's song S.O.S. Another track, "No More", features a sample from "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers Jamelia is dating Millwall F.C. forward Darren Byfield, with whom she has a child, as well as one from a previous relationship.
On November 25th, Jamelia collapsed while filming a TV appearance in Spain. She was rushed back to the UK where she was diagnosed with an umbilical hernia before undergoing micro surgery at St Mary's hospital in London.
On November 30, she caused controversy calling Javine 'a slag' on Never Mind The Buzzcocks