Jamelia, real name Jamelia Davis (born October 1, 1981), is an R&B singer from England. She made her breakthrough outside of Europe in 2003, when her single Superstar went top ten in multiple countries, including number one in Australia and New Zealand.

Biography

Jamelia was born Jamelia Davis in Birmingham, England, being brought up in the inner city district of Aston. She was signed to Parlophone at the age of 15, after impressing record executives with self-written a capella songs. In 2000, at age 18, she released her first album Drama. The most successful single was "Money", featuring a guest vocal from Beenie Man which went top 5. She was nominated for five Mobo Awards in 2000, winning one.

Afterwards she retired (temporarily) from the music business to give birth to a baby girl in March 2001. While bringing up her daughter Teja, Jamelia made plans for a comeback and in 2003 her second album Thank You was released. It featured her fifth top 40 hit, "Superstar", which gave her international success in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The single shot to #1 in Australia and was certified "platinum". Both follow-up singles - the album's title track "Thank You" and the Chris Martin written "See It in A Boy's Eyes" - saw similar success.

In fall 2004 she also was asked to contribute to the Band Aid 20 single "Do They Know It's Christmas?". At the same time she released the soundtrack to Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, "Stop", a Sam Brown cover, which became her fifth top 10 hit in the UK.

On October 21, 2005, Jamelia gave birth to her second child, Tiani Byfield, who weighed in at 8lb 8oz (3850g). Tiani's father is the footballer Darren Byfield.

Jamelia's brother, Kairo Beckford, was convicted of murder in 2004. Another half-bother, Tafarwa Beckford, was acquitted of murder charges relating to the New Year Murders of 2003.

Her third album is scheduled for 2006. Jamelia has collaborated with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis so far.

 

Discography

 
Albums
Drama (2000) (#39 UK)
Thank You (2003) (#4 UK) (#57 AUS)
 
Singles
"So High" [1]
From Drama:

"I Do" (#36 UK)
"Money" (#5 UK)
"Call Me" (#11 UK)
"Boy Next Door" (#42 UK)
From Thank You:

"Bout" (featuring Rah Diggah) (#37 UK)
"Superstar" (#3 UK, #1 AUS, #6 Greece, #3 Austria, #7 Belgium, #9 FIN, #3 FRA, #4 GER, #5 NETH, #19 IRE, #1 NZ, #4 ITA, #9 NOR, #14 SPN, #8 SWE, #2 SWI, #16 IND)
"Thank You" (#2 UK, #7 AUS, #15 FIN, #30 FRA, #27 NETH, #10 IRE, #8 NZ)
From Thank You (2nd edition):

"See It In A Boys Eyes" (#5 UK, #35 AUS, #11 IRE)
"Univeral Prayer" (with Tiziano Ferro)
"DJ/Stop" (#9 UK, #37 AUS, #12 IRE, #12 RUS)
Guest appearance:

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" (as part of Band Aid 20) (2004) (#1 UK, #9 AUS)
 
DVD
"Thank You (Live DVD)" [2004]