Jamelia

The daughter of a Zimbabwean father and a Jamaican mother, Jamelia was raised in Birmingham in the English Midlands and, sending a tape of herself singing self-written acapella songs to record companies, was signed by Capitol Records at 15. She released her first single So High in 1999, left Capitol and moved to Parlophone Records, and had her first hits in 2000 with I Do and Money (featuring Beenie Man), followed by the album Drama. There were further hits with Call Me and Boy Next Door, though her major mainstream breakthrough came in 2002 with the Thank You album; which included a collaboration with Coldplay's Chris Martin and the smash hit title track, her poignant but inspirational autobiographical story of an abusive relationship. In 2004 Jamelia had a Number 1 in Italy and Spain, collaborating with Tiziano Ferro on the Olympic Games anthem Universal Player. She broadened her R&B style to embrace a poppier approach on third album Walk With Me in 2006, including Something About You, the first single to enter the UK charts on download sales alone. And in 2010 she was working on her fourth album.