Shola Ama
Shola Ama (born March 8, 1979 in London ; actually Mathurin Campbell ) is a British singer who had her most successful hit in 1997 with You Might Need Somebody .
Life
Shola Ama was born Mathurin Campbell in London on March 8, 1979 . She attended the Quintin Kynaston School in the City of Westminster borough . In 1994, at the age of 15, she was discovered by Kwame Kwaten , a member of the British jazz quartet D-Influence , while she was singing to herself at a subway station. She recorded the single Celebrate on an independent label , which was not a commercial success, but drew attention to Ama.
On her 16th birthday, she signed a contract with the Warner Music Group . At the age of 18, Shola Ama released the album Much Love in 1997 . The single You Might Need Somebody was the biggest success of her career. The song was written by Tom Snow and Nan O'Byrne and was originally a hit by Turley Richards in 1980 and a year later in 1981 for Randy Crawford . As a result of this release, Shola Ama won a Brit Award for Best British Singer and two Music of Black Origin Awards for Best Newcomer and Best Female Vocals .
In 1999 Shola Ama released her second album In Return . Despite the great effort of the label, the album could not build on the success of Much Love , even if it achieved some successes in Europe. For example, the single Still Believe was in the French charts for several weeks. Due to the moderate success and reports of alcohol and drug use, Ama was fired from the Warner Music Group and took a break from the music business.
In 2003 Shola Ama released her third album Supersonic on the Japanese record label Pony Canyon , which had moderate success in Japan and was also released in the UK and parts of Europe. There are currently no musical activities for Shola Amas. However, she takes care of her sister Sadie Ama , whose debut as a singer appeared in 2007.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
|||
| 1997 | Much love |
DE19 (10 weeks) DE |
- |
CH35 (7 weeks) CH |
UK6th  (35 weeks)UK |
First published: September 1997
|
| 2000 | In return |
DE97 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
UK92 (1 week) UK |
First published: November 2000
|
More albums
- 2002: Supersonic
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
|||
| 1997 | You Might Need Somebody Much Love |
DE21 (23 weeks) DE |
AT32 (5 weeks) AT |
CH17 (17 weeks) CH |
UK4th  (14 weeks)UK |
First published: April 1997
|
| You're the One I Love Much Love |
- | - | - |
UK3 (9 weeks) UK |
First published: August 1997
|
|
| Who's Loving My Baby Much Love |
- | - | - |
UK13 (9 weeks) UK |
First published: November 1997
|
|
| 1998 | Much Love Much Love |
- | - | - |
UK17 (5 weeks) UK |
First published: February 1998
|
| Someday I'll Find You Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noel Coward |
- | - | - |
UK28 (3 weeks) UK |
First published: April 1998
|
|
| 1999 | Still believe in return |
DE72 (9 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK26 (3 weeks) UK |
First published: November 1999
|
| 2000 | Imagine in return |
- | - | - |
UK24 (6 weeks) UK |
First published: April 2000
|
As a guest musician
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
|||
| 1999 | Taboo Kidology |
- | - | - |
UK10 (8 weeks) UK |
First release: April 1999
Glamma Kid feat. Shola Ama |
| 2001 | Feels so good | - | - | - |
UK82 (2 weeks) UK |
First release: October 2001
Big Project feat. Shola Ama |
| 2002 | This I Promise You | - | - | - |
UK95 (1 week) UK |
First publication: May 2002
D-Vas feat. Shola Ama |
| 2004 | You Should Really Know | - |
AT41 (7 weeks) AT |
- |
UK8 (8 weeks) UK |
First release: September 2004
The Pirates feat. Shola Ama, Ishani, Naila Boss & Enya |
| 2011 | Take It Back Watch Me Dance |
- | - | - |
UK59 (5 weeks) UK |
First release: May 2011
Toddla T feat. Shola Ama & J2K |
Awards
- 1997: Music Of Black Origin Awards in the Best Newcomer Category
- 1997: Music Of Black Origin Awards for Best Female Vocals
- 1998: Brit Awards for Best Female Solo Artist
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Web links
- Biography in the SWR3 Poplexikon
- Biography on divaplanet.de ( Memento from February 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ama, Shola |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Campbell, Mathurin (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 8, 1979 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |