My wonderful dad was the lead singer in an incredible band called “The Volcano’s and they were gigging most weekends, his musical influences were Nat King Cole and Elvis and ironically sounded just like them to, which meant there was an eclectic styles of music around our house.
I realised I could sing from an early age of about fiveand was cast in my school production of David and Goliath were I played David, I continued to be in further productions and it was at this point I became interested in musical instruments.
Me and my three sisters would always be singing around the house and harmonising especially when we were doing the washing up, these were fun times. We would usually all sit down and huddle up to watch Top Of The tops and MTV, andwe would always be looking out for Michael Jackson as we were totally hooked and memorised by his dancing and singing abilities. I would also be looking out for Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and Donna Summer these were my early influences.
My influences would later evolve to include some amazing artists such S.W.V. En Vogue, CeCePenniston, Anita Baker, Olita Adams, Brandy, Monique, Mica Paris, Chaka Khan and Blackstreet.
Round about this time a new show came on t.v. which I was totally drawn to, it was called “The Grace Kennedy Show” and couldn’t wait for it to come on every week, I saw this woman who loved travelling the world singing and she talked about these amazing places you could only ever dream of going to. I was hooked on her stage presence personality and beauty.
Ironically I would years later get to work with her in the Japanese touring production of Carmen Jones, where she played the lead.
By the time I reached secondary school I was playing the clarinet and piano as well as singing and my music teachers were highly impressed with my skills at such a young age and said to me to put myself forward to do GSE’s in music, which I later passed and got A grades.
My music teacher Miss Tisssard who later became Mrs Parry Jones later spoke to my headmaster on my behalf encouraging him and the school to pay for my scholarship in singing, as she recognised my vocal abilities. I did have negativity from my other teachers though, who told me I would become nothing more than a secretary which made me more determined to pursue my dream. To their astonishment I gained a unconditional offer to “The Royal Academy of Music”.
After 4 years of hard work I gained an Honours Performance Diploma and was ready to set the world alight! I had some great memories at the academy and made some friends for life there.
My best friend at the academy was Graham, he had such a vast knowledge and knew everyone. He introduced me to the Big Wigs at London Records who wereputting out so many new tracks and albums at that time and they could do no wrong.
They were impressed with my vocal abilities, and they in turn introduced me to Jake Williams one of their breakthrough artists who was the creator of J.X.
We went on to record some classic tracks together, which was the start of my music career, for which I am truly grateful.
To date I have released studio three albums featured on over 100 hit singles, including 5 top ten singles, 7 top twenty singles and numerous top 40 singles. I have also had the pleasure of singing with some amazing artists, such asChaka Khan, Mica Paris, Denese Williams, Heather Small, Rownan Keating, Girls Aloud, Sugar Babes, Michael Ball, Sonique, Rozalla, Jocelyn Brown, Angie Stone, Angie Brown, Katherine Ellis, Michael Gray, Alex Gaudino, Eric Morello, Fred Faulk, John Pearn, Bimbo Jones, 7th Heaven, Anastacia.