Terence Trent D'Arby - Fame As Terence Trent D'Arby

Fame As Terence Trent D'Arby

Maitreya's debut solo album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, released in July 1987, is his best-known commercial work. The album, which produced hits like "If You Let Me Stay", "Wishing Well", "Dance Little Sister", and "Sign Your Name", sold over a million copies in the first three days of its release, and its sales have totalled over 14 million.

Maitreya had a high opinion of his debut album, brashly claiming that it was the most important album since the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. The album earned him a Grammy Award in March 1988 in the category Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. In that same year, he earned a Soul Train Award nomination for Best New Artist.

His follow-up was the album Neither Fish Nor Flesh (1989).

It took four more years and a move to Los Angeles until his next project, Symphony or Damn (1993) was released. The record contained the singles "Delicate" and "She Kissed Me". It peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart.

In 1995, Maitreya released Vibrator which was followed by a very successful world tour.

During the 1990s, the relations between him and his record label Columbia Records became strained, eventually leading to his departure in 1996. He moved to Java Records for one year, during which he recorded Terence Trent D'Arby's Solar Return, which was not released. In 2000, he bought back the rights to his unreleased album and left the record company as well as his management team, Lippman Entertainment.

In 1999, Maitreya collaborated with INXS to replace his friend, the late vocalist Michael Hutchence, so the band could play at the opening of facilities for the Sydney Olympics.