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Tamia Hill (born Tamia Marilyn Washington on May 9, 1975), professionally known as Tamia, is a Canadian-American R&B singer. She first gained prominence at age 19 for contributing to "You Put a Move on My Heart," the first single from Quincy Jones' 1995 album ''Q's Jook Joint.
She is best known for her 2000 hit "Stranger In My House" and Fabolous' 2003 song "Into You", sampling her 1998 song "So Into You", from her debut album.
Tamia is married to NBA player Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns.
Early LifeTamia's mother, Barbara, is Black, and her biological father is White. The mother gave birth to Tamia when she was 17 years old, and raised her daughter in the projects of Ontario, Canada, along with Tamia's three younger brothers, Tiras, Tajhee and Trajan.
Despite all that she has now, Tamia says not having a relationship with her biological dad has produced a void in her life.
"I was always happy growing up, but I realize now there are some things missing because of my situation. Now that I have a child, I know the importance of having a father in the household."
During her childhood, Tamia's love for music helped to fill that void.
At the age of 6, when many of her peers were playing jump rope and "baking" mud pies, Tamia was onstage singing gospel at the local church, honing her musical skills.
Soon, Tamia was performing on the local talent show circuit, entering singing contests and volunteering at local theater productions in search of stardom
. And the word got out quickly: Wherever there was a stage, there was little Tamia Washington, commanding it, front and center.
By the early '90s Tamia was winning coveted Canadian music awards, which eventually caught the attention of music producer Quincy Jones. Jones invited Tamia to appear on his Q's Jook Joint album, and later the offers started to roll in. Within a few short years, Tamia collaborated with many of R&B's best-known performers, including Babyface, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan.
Music careerA Nu DayOn October 24, 2000 Tamia released her second album, A Nu Day. The album debuted at number forty-six on the Billboard 200 and number eight on the Top R&b/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. On June 4, 2001, A Nu Day, was certified gold by the RIAA. A Nu Day is Tamia's best selling album to date.
The first single from A Nu Day was "Can't Go for That" which was written by Missy Elliott. The single charted at 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twenty-three on the R&B charts.
The second single from A Nu Day was the hit "Stranger in My House". The single went to number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, number three on the Billboard R&B chart and to number one for 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot dance chart. Stranger In My House still remains Tamia's biggest hit to date.
The third and final single from A Nu Day was "Tell Me Who". The single missed the Hot 100, peaked at 63 on the R&B charts and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot Dance chart.
MoreOn April 6, 2004 Tamia released her third studio album, More. The album debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 and number 4 on the Billboard R&B Album chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA.
The lead single "Into You" , a collaboration with rapper Fabolous which sampled the chorus from 1998's "I'm So Into You", taken from her self-titled debut album. The song soared to number 4 on the Hot 100 and to number 1 on the Billboard R&B charts.
The second single "Officially Missing You" peaked at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 31 on the R&B charts.
The third single, "Questions", missed the Hot 100 and Peaked at number 40 on the R&B charts.
The fourth and final single, "Still", peaked at number 83 on the R&B charts and number thirty-four on the Hot Dance Chart.
Split from Elektra Records and Between FriendsIn 2005, Tamia split from Elektra Records.
On May 15, 2006 Tamia released Between Friends on South African independent label Gallo Records; on November 14, 2006 it was released in he US. The album has three tracks produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins; the rest is produced by Shep Crawford. The album peaked at number 66 on the Billboard 200 and number nine on the Billboard Top R&B albums chart. Although none of the singles released made the Hot 100, Between Friends has sold more than 350,000 copies in the United States, 120,000 in South Africa, and more than 800,000 worldwide
The first single off Between Friends, "Can't Get Enough", peaked at #26 on Billboard's R&B chart.
The second single, "Me", which was written by Shep Crawford who wrote "Stranger In My House", also reached the top 30 of the R&B chart and peaked at #29.
On October 27, 2007, Tamia re-released her album Between Friends entitled A Gift Between Friends. The album also contains a few Christmas songs.
Shortly after the re-release of the album, Tamia released the third single, "Almost", which peaked at #59 on the US R&B chart in early 2008.
Live albumOn her 2008 Summer Soul Concert Series tour, Tamia recorded her Sunday 10 August 2008 performance at the Lincoln Theatre (Washington, D.C.) . The recorded performance is planned to be released as a live CD album, along with the DVD. Both were slated for release on 2 December 2008, but have been pushed back several times. As of September 2009, it has not been released. The live album, called Live in Washington, DC, will include 3 new tracks. .
The Queen ProjectIt was announced in September 2009 that Deborah Cox, Kelly Price and her have formed a supergroup, The Queen Project. Tamia's longtime collaborator, Shep Crawford, who has also produced Cox's "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" and Price's "As We Lay" will be the
Greatest HitsTamia released her greatest hits in South Africa on 02 November 2009. It includes a bonus DVD.
DiscographyAlbums - 1998: Tamia
- 2000: A Nu Day
- 2004: More
- 2006: Between Friends
- 2009: Greatest Hits
Tours- 2004, Verizon Ladies First Tour
- 2005, South Africa Tour
- 2005, Ladies In Soul Concert
- 2006 - 2007, Between Friends Tour
- 2008, Summer Soul Concert Series Tour
- 2008 September, Johannesburg Arts Alive, South Africa
- 2009, Summer Soul Concert Series Tour
Awards and nominations- Grammy Awards
- 1997, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "You Put a Move On My Heart" (Nominated)
- 1997, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: "Slow Jams" (Nominated)
- 1997, Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals: "Missing You" (Nominated)
- 2000, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: "Spend My Life with You" (Nominated)
- Juno Awards
- 1999, Best New Solo Artist (Nominated)
- 1999, Best R&B/Soul Recording: "Tamia" (Nominated)
- 2001, Best R&B/Soul Recording: "A Nu Day" (Nominated)
- 2005, R&B/Soul Recording of the Year: "More" (Nominated)
- 2007, R&B/Soul Recording of the Year: "Between Friends" (Nominated)
Copyright Citations
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