Amel Larrieux Biography - Artistopia Music

Amel Larrieux (born March 8 1973) is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter and keyboardist. Larrieux rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a founding member of the duo Groove Theory along with Bryce Wilson. After leaving the group in 1999, she released her debut solo album Infinite Possibilities the following year on Epic Records


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. In late 2003, Larrieux founded her own independent label, Blisslife Records, on which she has released three albums so far. Larrieux cites Ella Fitzgerald, Prince, Rickie Lee Jones, Stevie Wonder, Shawn Colvin, Chaka Khan, John Lennon, Patrice Rushen, Jimi Hendrix, and Joni Mitchell as her musical influences.

Biography

Larrieux was born and raised in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, New York City, New York. Her African American mother, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, was a dance critic and professor. Her father is European American of French, English, and Scottish descent. Larrieux was raised in a very artistic environment and was surrounded by talented and inspirational artists. Many of her influences are drawn from R&B, soul, jazz, folk, hip hop, and gospel with flashes of Middle Eastern, West African, and Indian ethnic styles. She has often been documented for describing her music as "Amel's music." Larrieux currently resides in New York City with her husband, Laru, and their two daughters, Sanji Rei and Sky (born in August 1998). Her forename Amel means "hope" in Arabic.

Groove Theory

Larrieux started her music career in 1995 as half of the R&B/hip hop duo Groove Theory along with Bryce Wilson. Their debut release, Groove Theory, spawned several radio hits such as "Tell Me," "Keep Tryin'," and "Baby Luv." The duo were also featured in successful motion picture soundtracks such as 1996's Sunset Park and 1997's Love Jones. Larrieux, pursuing a solo career, would not be involved in the duo's eventually-shelved second album The Answer. Makeda Davis would step in as lead singer in 1999 until Groove Theory officially disbanded in 2001.

Solo career

In 1996, Larrieux guested on the self-titled debut album of Sade's backing band Sweetback, yielding the top forty-five R&B entry "You Will Rise."

Larrieux co-wrote and co-produced her debut solo album Infinite Possibilities, released in early 2000 on Epic Records, along with husband Laru Larrieux; the album reached number seventy-nine on the Billboard 200 and number twenty-one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and produced the minor hit "Get Up." Some tracks from the album, such as the eighth track "Down," could be described as acid jazz, a musical genre which combines elements of jazz with soul and funk.

Subsequent album Bravebird was released under Larrieux's indie label Blisslife Records label in early 2004. While it underperfomed on the Billboard 200, it peaked at number twenty-eight on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number five on the Top Independent Albums. Also, the album spawned the midtempo radio single "For Real," which showcases her ablitity to utilize the whistle register and inspired Ebony magazine to rave about her "ethereal high-octave vocals that bring to mind Minnie Riperton." A portion of the album's seventh track, "Giving Something Up," could be heard in the commercial for BET's HIV/AIDS awareness campaign Rap-It-Up, in which Larrieux participated in September 2003.

Larrieux's collaboration with Stanley Clarke and Glenn Lewis, a cover of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's 1972 song "Where Is the Love" from Clarke's 2003 album 1, 2, To the Bass, received a nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

Larrieux's third effort Morning was released in April 2006 and features the single "Weary," which reached number twenty-nine on the Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay chart in mid-2006. Follow-up single "No One Else" was featured on the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's 2007 film Why Did I Get Married? Morning is her highest-charting album to date, peaking at number seventy-four.

In May 2007, Larrieux released her fourth album, a jazz standard cover album entitled Lovely Standards. It broke into the top five of the Top Jazz Albums and sold 3,700 units in its first week on store shelves.

Larriuex was featured on 2Pac's 2007 greatest hits album Best of 2Pac Part 1: Thug, on the previously unreleased song "Resist the Temptation."

Discography

Albums

Singles

Album appearances

Soundtracks

Videos

1996: "You Will Rise" (Sweetback featuring Amel Larrieux) — directed by Michael Krantz
1999: "Get Up" — directed by Floria Sigismondi
2000: "Sweet Misery" — directed by Earle Sebastian
2001: "Glitches (The Skin You're In)" (The Roots featuring Amel Larrieux) — directed by Nzingha Stewart
2004: "For Real" — directed by Sanaa Hamri
2006: "Weary" — directed by Jon Menefee and 8 Hertz

External Links
AskMen.com - Amel Larrieux
Copyright Citations
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Amel Larrieux