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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Leona Naess| image=| caption =| image_size = | background = solo_singer| birth_name = Leona Kristina Næss| alias =| Born = Birth date and age|1974|7|31 New York City , New York , United States|US | death_date =| origin = London , England , United Kingdom|UK | instrument = Guitar | genre = Alternative rock|Alternative Rock/Pop | occupation = Singer , songwriter | years_active = 1998& ndash;present| label = Outpost Records|Outpost , MCA Records|MCA , Geffen Records|Geffen , Verve Forecast Records|Verve Forecast , Polydor Records|Polydor | associated_acts = Samuel Dixon , Ethan Johns , Ray LaMontagne , Ryan Adams | website = http://www.leonanaess.com/ www.leonanaess.com| notable_instruments = Leona Kristina Næss (born July 31, 1974) is a United Kingdom|British singer-songwriter of Swedish-Norwegian parentage. She released her debut album, Comatised , in March 2000, which produced the single "Charm Attack" ( Adult Top 40 #29).
Biography
Early life
Næss was born in New York City and raised in London . She is the daughter of Filippa Kumlin D'Orey, a Sweden|Swedish interior design er and Arne Næss, Jr. , a Norway|Norwegian mountaineer and business magnate . She has an older brother, Christoffer, and a sister, Katinka, from that marriage. Her great uncle was the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss . Naess was 7 years old when her parents divorced in 1982. She attended school in the Chelsea, London|Chelsea neighbourhood of London while growing up, and later attended the Purcell School in Hertfordshire , where she studied music composition . Her father married American entertainer Diana Ross in 1986 and had two boys, Ross and Evan Ross|Evan . Naess would often travel to their Connecticut home. Naess also has two other half-brothers, Nicklas and Louis, from her father's subsequent marriage to Camilla Astrup." http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html? res=9F07EEDE1E30F935A25752C0A9629C8B63 Arne Naess Jr. -- Norwegian Shipping Tycoon, 66". The New York Times . January 16, 2004. Retrieved on February 19, 2009.
Næss received her first guitar at the age of 14, a gift from her mother. The first song she learned to play was "The Cross" by Prince (musician)|Prince from the 1987 album Sign “O” the Times (album)|Sign “O” the Times . She soon began writing her own songs and poetry.Diehl, Audrey (2002). "Leona Naess". teenmag.com . In addition to Julie Andrews in the musical film|musicals Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music (film)|The Sound of Music , her early influences were 1980s British rock: Joy Division , The Cure , New Order , The Specials and Madness (band)|Madness . Naess soon found inspiration in the contemporary singer-songwriters Tracy Chapman , Sinéad O'Connor , and Edie Brickell , as well as in Joni Mitchell and Carole King .Sampson, Desmond (August/September 2000), "Love Life", Pavement Her other early musical influences include Patti Smith , Bob Dylan , The Rolling Stones , Bruce Springsteen and John Lennon .
Career
At the age of 18, Naess moved to New York City to study music at New York University , she later switched her major, receiving a degree in anthropology . A resident of Greenwich Village , she began performing with her guitar at open mike s and was soon performing regularly in coffeehouses, bars and clubs like The Bitter End around Lower Manhattan , even busking at times. She appeared on a reality TV show on Channel 4 in 1993 called The Next Big Thing .
A friend, who was an intern at Sony Records , invited an executive to see Naess perform. Soon, a number of record label|record companies were interested in signing her. She signed with producer Scott Litt|Scott Litt's record label, Outpost Records , at the age of 22, shortly after graduating from NYU.
Naess began work on her first album in 1998, which was completed in June 1999. A series of business mergers postponed the album, meanwhile the Outpost label went out of business. The head of MCA Records, another division of the Universal Music Group of which Outpost had become part of, brought her contract over to MCA. Naess's first album, Comatised , was released in March 2000. Naess continued to develop as a performer during the delays. Comatised produced the single "Charm Attack" ( Adult Top 40 #29), which was also featured in the teen comedy film Whatever It Takes (film)|Whatever It Takes . She appeared as a model for Calvin Klein prior to the release of the album. Naess soon released her second album, I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll (2001), produced by Swedish producer Martin Terefe.
In 2002, Naess recorded backing vocals on Counting Crows album Hard Candy (Counting Crows album)|Hard Candy , primarily on the song "Black and Blue". She signed with Geffen Records and released her third album, Leona Naess (album)|Leona Naess (2003), produced by Ethan Johns . The album was a new direction for Naess with its stripped-down instrumentation. A song from this album, "Ballerina", appeared in the first season of the Showtime (TV network)|Showtime program, Weeds (TV series)|Weeds (2005), in the episode entitled " List of Weeds episodes#Season 1: 2005|Dead in the Nethers ". Another song from her third album, "Christmas", also appeared in The O.C. on the episode, " The Debut (The O.C. episode)|The Debut ", and the soundtrack Music from the OC: Mix 3 . In 2004, her song "Calling" was featured on the soundtrack to Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (film)|Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason .
In January 2004, Naess' father died in a climbing accident in South Africa . Devastated by the loss, she withdrew from music and moved back to London to live with her mother.Chiu, David (December 19, 2008). " http://www.nypress.com/blog-3097-leona-naess-copes-with-personal-struggles-on-new-album.html Leona Naess Copes With Personal Struggles on New Album". New York Press . Retrieved on December 11, 2008. Naess was dropped from her record label, split with her manager, and considered going back to school. Eventually, she resumed songwriting and began collaborating with music producer Samuel Dixon .Lindgren, Hugo (August 24, 2008). " http://nymag.com/guides/fallpreview/2008/pop/49558/ Up From the Depths". New York (magazine)|New York . Retrieved on September 18, 2008. Naess released a fourth album, Thirteens (album)|Thirteens , on September 16, 2008 with Verve Forecast Records in the U.S.Cohen, Johnathan (July 15, 2008). " http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp? vnu_content_id=1003827750 Billboard Bits: Metallica, Rush, Leona Naess". Billboard (magazine)|Billboard . Retrieved on July 15, 2008. The title refers to thirteen lo-fi home-recorded albums that Naess created over approximately two years before the album's release, although Naess has stated that the title has another meaning, which is a secret.Reverte, Michele (October 29, 2009). " http://laist.com/2008/10/29/leona_naess.php LAist Interview: Leona Naess". LAist . Retrieved on October 30, 2008. The album consists of first takes, which were then overdubbing|overdubbed ." http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2009/01/26/segments/121931 Soundcheck". January 26, 2009. WNYC . Retrieved on January 26, 2009. A single, "Heavy Like Sunday", was released on June 2, 2008 on Blue Flowers Records." http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/video/leonanaessx27x05x08 Leona Naess - Heavy Like Sunday, Video". Retrieved on May 30, 2008." http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/36760 Leona Naess set for new single release". NME . May 21, 2008. Retrieved on May 30, 2008. 500 copies of a 7" vinyl version included a Instant camera|Polaroid picture taken by Naess.Barnes, Anthony (June 5, 2008). " http://news.q4music.com/2008/06/track_of_the_day_leona_naess.html Track Of The Day: Leona Naess". Q (magazine)|Q . Retrieved on June 5, 2008. The album was released on 11 May 2009 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom|UK .
Naess is featured on the Ray LaMontagne album, Gossip in the Grain (2008), on the songs "A Falling Through" and "I Still Care for You",Hasty, Katie (June 3, 2008). " http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp? vnu_content_id=1003811314 Ray LaMontagne Works Against The 'Grain'" Billboard (magazine)|Billboard . Retrieved on June 4, 2008. and toured with LaMontagne in September – November 2008." http://www.glidemagazine.com/articles/53667/ray-lamontagne-announces-radio-city-music-hall-show.html Ray LaMontagne Announces Radio City Music Hall Show". Glidemagazine.com. July 15, 2008. Retrieved on July 15, 2008. She has also toured with Eagle-Eye Cherry , David Gray (musician)|David Gray , The Barenaked Ladies , Travis (band)|Travis , Ryan Adams , Emm Gryner , Hem (band)|Hem , Josh Rouse , Ben Lee , Badly Drawn Boy , and appeared as part of the 1999 LilithFair .
Personal life
Naess lives in New York City and frequently travels back to London. She was engaged to singer-songwriter Ryan Adams , but the engagement ended in 2003.Udovitch, Mim (2003), " http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx? id=1540 Leona Naess Review on Blender", Blender (magazine)|Blender Naess wrote on her MySpace blog in January 2010 that she is pregnant, taking a break from music, and has "never been happier". She plans on making a new record when she has something to say.Naess, Leona (January 18, 2010). " http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm? fuseaction=blog.view& friendId=40503487& blogId=526297229 2010 and the end of 2009". Leona Naess's MySpace Blog. Retrieved on January 20, 2010.
She is the sister in law of actress Christa Miller .
"I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll" (2001), MCA
"Mayor of Your Town" (2001), MCA
"Calling" (2003), Geffen
"You Old Dog / Just One" (2003), Geffen
"Ghosts In the Attic" (2007), Leona Naess
"Heavy Like Sunday" (2008), Blue Flowers
"Leave Your Boyfriends Behind" (2008), Verve Forecast
Notes
reflist
References
Brennan, Carol. http://arts.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/naess-leona-biography Naess, Leona Biography: Contemporary Musicians. enotes.com. Retrieved on July 20, 2007.
Henderson, Alex. Allmusic|class=artist|id=p416164/biography|pure_url=yes Leona Naess Biography. Allmusic . Retrieved on June 11, 2007.
External links
http://www.leonanaess.com/ Leona Naess official website
http://www.findthe13.com/ Leona Naess: Find the 13 own a bootleg version of Thirteens
Myspace|leonanaess
YouTube|channel=leonanaess|Leona Naess
Persondata | NAME =Naess, Leona | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =July 31, 1974 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Naess, Leona Category:1974 births Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:Living people Category:British female singers Category:British songwriters Category:People from New York City Category:People educated at Purcell School
de:Leona Naess fr:Leona Naess no:Leona Næss
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