Ledisi

Ledisi (2009)

Ledisi Anibade Young (born March 28, 1972 in New Orleans ) is an American R&B singer.

biography

Ledisi's mother was a singer in an R&B band in New Orleans and she herself sang with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra when she was eight . When she moved to California with her family, she joined a band and eventually started her own group. She also sang in musicals and performances, for the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz she was nominated for the Shellie Award in 1990.

In the 1990s she formed the five-piece backing band Anibade , named after her middle name, and gained some notoriety in the San Francisco area. When it didn't work out with a record deal with a big label, she self- published her first album Soulsinger (2000) and marketed it herself on the Internet.

Ledisi made her breakthrough in 2007 with the album Lost & Found . It was released by Verve / Universal and reached number 10 on the US R&B charts. It stayed on the Billboard 200 for 22 weeks. It also spawned several R&B hit songs. For this she was nominated twice at the Grammy Awards in 2008 , for best newcomer and for best R&B album.

Two years later she was at number 1 on the R&B album charts with Turn Me Loose and was nominated twice for the Grammy for the best album and for the song Goin 'Thru Changes for the best performance in the R&B category.

The follow-up album Pieces of Me was released in 2011. It entered the top 10 of the official charts and received three Grammy nominations for R&B, one for the album and two for the title track.

In 2015 Ledisi appeared on Prince's last album Hitnrun Phase Two in the song Big City .

Discography

Albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	R&B
2007	Lost & Found Verve Forecast 8909	US78 (22 weeks) US	R&B10 (59 weeks) R&B	First published: August 27, 2007 Executive Producer: Collin Stanback, Ledisi Young
2008	It's Christmas Verve Forecast 11796	-	R&B28 (14 weeks) R&B	First published: September 23, 2008 Executive Producer: Bill Darlington, Bruce Resnikoff, Ledisi Young
2009	Turn Me Loose Verve Forecast 12677	US14 (10 weeks) US	R&B1 (51 weeks) R&B	First published: August 18, 2009 Executive Producer: Bruce Resnikoff, Ledisi Young
2011	Pieces of Me Verve Forecast 15557	US8 (22 weeks) US	R&B2 (67 weeks) R&B	First published: June 14, 2011 Executive Producer: Bruce Resnikoff, Ledisi Young, Rex Rideout
2014	The Truth Verve Records 19827	US14 (12 weeks) US	R&B6 (26 weeks) R&B	First published: March 11, 2014 Executive Producer: Ledisi Young, Rex Rideout
2015	The Intimate Truth (EP) Verve Records 22537	-	R&B26 (2 weeks) R&B	First published: January 20, 2015 Executive Producer: Ledisi Young
2017	Let Love Rule Verve Records 27298	US100 (1 week) US	-	First published: September 22, 2017 Executive Producer: Ledisi Young, Rex Rideout

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		R&B	Dance
2007	Alright Lost & Found	R&B45 (22 weeks) R&B	-	First published: July 2007 Authors: Ledisi Young, Rex Rideout
2008	In the Morning Lost & Found	R&B49 (20 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 2008 Authors: Ledisi Young, Rex Rideout
	Think of You Lost & Found	R&B74 (1 week) R&B	-	First published: July 2008 Authors: Ledisi Young, Rex Rideout
	Waters of March Encanto	-	Dance50 (1 week) Dance	First publication: July 2008 Sérgio Mendes feat. Ledisi Author and original: Antônio Carlos Jobim , 1972
2009	Goin 'Thru Changes Turn Me Loose	R&B43 (20 weeks) R&B	-	First published: July 2009 Authors: Ledisi Young, Rex Rideout
2010	Higher Than This Turn Me Loose	R&B63 (15 weeks) R&B	-	First published: January 2010 Authors: James Harris III, Terry Lewis , James Q. Wright, Ledisi Young
2011	Pieces of Me Pieces of Me	R&B19 (31 weeks) R&B	-	First published: April 2011 Authors: Charles Harmon, Claude Kelly, Ledisi Young
	Stay Together Pieces of Me	R&B23 (40 weeks) R&B	-	First release: June 2011 feat. Jaheim Authors: Ledisi Young, Rex Rideout
2012	Bravo Pieces of Me	R&B55 (20 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 2012 Authors: Claude Kelly, John Webb Jr.
2014	I Blame You The Truth	R&B50 (1 week) R&B	-	First published: April 2014 Authors: Charles T. Harmon, Claude Kelly, Ledisi Young

More singles

• 2002: Feeling Orange but Sometimes Blue (release: June 29th)
• 2013: Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone ( Prince feat.Ledisi; release: June 12th)
• 2017: Here (release: September 8th)

swell

1. ↑ R&B singer Ledisi gets introspective on new album , Reuters, June 16, 2011
2. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: US

Web links

• Ledisi at Allmusic (English)
• Ledisi at Discogs (English)
• MySpace page of Ledisi (English)
• Ledisi homepage (English)