Early Life and Career
Shola Ama was born in Paddington, London, England, of a white father (Scottish and Irish) and St Lucian mother. She attended Quintin Kynaston School in the early 1990s. At 15 she was singing to herself on a platform at Hammersmith tube station, and was overheard by Kwame Kwaten, a producer at the FreakStreet record label. In 1995 an unknown independent label released a single titled "Celebrate", which was a ballad produced by D'Influence. Although the single was not a commercial success, it did draw attention to Shola Ama as an artist. On her 16th birthday she signed a recording contract with WEA.
The single "You're The One I Love" was her first single release for WEA in 1996, although it barely made an impact on the charts, only managing to reach #85. Her second WEA single "You Might Need Somebody" remains her biggest hit. This Randy Crawford cover reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart. It remained in the top 40 for almost two months, becoming one of 1997's biggest hits. A re-release of "You're The One I Love" followed and reached #3. At the age of 18, Shola Ama released her debut album Much Love (1997).
On the success of the album Shola Ama won a Brit Award for Best British Female and two MOBO Awards for Best Newcomer and Best R&B Act.
Read more about this topic: Shola Ama
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or career:
“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man’s training begins, its probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“The life of man is a self-evolving circle, which, from a ring imperceptibly small, rushes on all sides outwards to new and larger circles, and that without end.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)