Jamelia is a British recording artist, presenter and actress. Jamelia has achieved great success in the charts, releasing three UK Top 40 studio albums and eight UK Top 10 singles She has also received four MOBO Awards, a Q Award and 9 nominations for BRIT Awards.
Jamelia was brought up in Hockley in Birmingham and she was singled out at the young age of 15 and signed to Capitol Records. Record producers were extremely impressed by Jamelia’s karaoke recordings of a cappella songs that she had written herself. Her first single was the single So High on which she collaborates with Rosita Lynch. Jamelia moved onto the record company Parlophone after the release of her debut single, and she returned in 2000 with a debut album Drama, which was a commercial success. It spawned a number of successful hit songs such as Money, I Do, Call Me and Boy Next Door. Her chart success was marked by her nomination for the BRIT Awards of ‘Best British Newcomer’ and ‘Best British Video’ and ‘Best British Female’.
Jamelia’s second studio album was Thank You and the single Superstar peaked at number 3 in the UK singles chart, cementing Jamelia’s status as a popstar. The song was certified by the British Phonographic Industry and became the UK’s 26th best-selling single of 2003. The tracks See It in a Boy’s Eyes and DJ saw her collaborate with Coldplay frontman Christ Martin. The title track Thank You was also released to acclaim and was also named as Jamelia’s favourite single, surpassed even the wildly popular Superstar, to reach number three in the UK single charts and win her a MOBO Award in 2004 for Best Single as well as a BRIT Award nomination. She followed this same success with the track ‘See it in a Boy’s Eyes, another hit single for the pop star, and earned her another MOBO Award for Best Video as well as a Q Award for Best Single. Overall Thank You saw Jamelie nominated in numerous categories at both the BRIT Awards and the MOBO’s and finished 2004 as not only the years 36th best selling album but also double platinum certified.
Jamelia began to gain international recognition when she collaborated with Italian singer Tiziano Ferro on the track ‘Universal Prayer’, featured on the soundtrack for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The single reach number one in both Italy and Spain. That same year she was selected to perform on Band Aid’s charity single ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, alongside Will Young, and the track took top place in the UK Singles chart and was also certified platinum. She was also selected to perform the lead song, a cover of Sam Brown’s ‘Stop!’ for the hotly anticipated sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.
At this time, Jamelia found herself with a number of offers for advertising. Signed by the exclusive agency ICM, she appeared in a number of campaigns, as an ambassador for the products of companies such as Reebok, Listerine, Jaguar and BMW. She also covered fashion magazine staples such as Cosmopolitan, Company and Elle.
Jamelia’s third album Walk with Me was released in 2005 to outstanding reviews, citing her musical transition and experimental material. It also gained BPI certification. Following the release of this album, Jamelia entered a hiatus, focusing on family.
However, she has made a number of appearances on television in recent years, beginning with the role of a voice coach on Ireland’s version of the BBC talent show phenomenon, The Voice. Since 2013, she has been a regular panel guest on the ITV chat show Loose Women. Most recently, Jamelia has been in the headlines for her exceptional progress in the BBC’s thirteenth series of the wildly popular Strictly Come Dancing.
To find out more about booking Jamelia, please contact celebrity booking agency MN2S.