Rozalla
| Rozalla | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Rozalla Miller |
| Born | 18 March 1964 |
| Origin | Ndola, Zambia |
| Genres | Dance, Acid house, Rave |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | Epic, Pulse 8 |
Rozalla (born Rozalla Miller, 18 March 1964) is a Zambian dance music performer. She is best known for her 1991 hit "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)", which was remixed and re-issued several times.
Contents |
[edit] Musical career
Rozalla began performing at a young age in her native Zambia singing in clubs and at events and, at age 13, singing on a children's TV show. While still in her teens she relocated to Zimbabwe where she fronted various R&B cover bands before beginning her own recording career with a resultant five number-one hits on that nation's chart.[1] In 1988 an English producer brought Rozalla to London placing her with the Band of Gypsies, a production duo consisting of Nigel Swanston and Tim Cox, who produced her most successful singles and her debut album.
Her first UK single Born To Luv Ya became a club hit in 1990, but Rozalla’s career took off when the dance anthem Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good), reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart in 1991. The single became a Top 10 hit in many European countries soon afterwards and reached the Billboard Top 40 the following year. It was later included on her dance-heavy debut album Everybody’s Free, which peaked at number 20 in the UK Albums Chart and went silver. The album spawned two more sizeable hits in Faith (In The Power Of Love) and Are You Ready To Fly, reaching number 11 and 14 respectively in the UK Singles Chart.[2]
After touring with Michael Jackson, opening all of his performances on the European leg of his Dangerous tour, and several lesser charting singles Rozalla enjoyed UK Top 20/US Top 100 success in 1994 with her cover of I Love Music, the theme song to the film Carlito’s Way. Three more dance singles, including a cover of Soul Family Sensation’s underground hit I Don’t Even Know If I Should Call You Baby, also reached the upper regions of the UK Singles Chart, but none of these songs managed to come close to the international success of the singles from her debut album. Rozalla showed a different side of herself by experimenting with different styles of music on the attendant album Look No Further, but this change of direction was not appreciated by her dance following and the album sold poorly.[3]
In 1996 a remix of Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good) reached the UK Top 40, but since then mainstream chart success has eluded her in that country. Her 1998 album Coming Home saw her reunite with the Band of Gypsies and spawned a stateside club hit with its lead single Don’t Go Lose It Baby. Without the support of a major label its release went by largely unnoticed, despite being well-received by her dance following.[4]
Rozalla enjoyed a hit single in Germany in 2002 with the Aquagen remix of Everybody’s Free and in 2003 she entered the lower regions of the UK Singles Chart alongside Plastic Boy on the vocal trance single Live Another Life. This track was included on her first, and only, official compilation The Best Of Rozalla which was issued soon afterwards.
A Global Deejays remix of Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good) become Rozalla’s first major hit single in many years, reaching number 7 in Australia in 2009 after it had been used as the theme song to So You Think You Can Dance. The remix became a minor hit in some European countries later that year, but by this time Rozalla was once again experimenting with other styles of music. She issued the jazz/soul album Brand New Version in 2009, adding her surname Miller to her recording guise. Some songs were played on various UK radio stations, including Radio 2 and Jazz FM, and Rozalla promoted the album by performing as the support act for Billy Ocean on his UK tour of 2009.
In May 2009, Rozalla became a patron of the charity All Star Kids.[5]
As of 2011 Rozalla is signed to Frontline Records.[6]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- 1992 Everybody's Free
- 1993 Everybody's Free-Style 1993 Remixed To Perfection
- 1995 Look No Further
- 1998 Coming Home
- 2003 Best Of
- 2004 Everybody's Free (Special Edition with DVD)
- 2009 Brand New Version
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [7] |
AUT [7] |
FRA [7] |
GER [8] |
IRE [9] |
NED [7] |
NZ [7] |
SUI [7] |
SWE [7] |
UK [10] |
|||||
| 1990 | "Born to Luv Ya" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Everybody's Free | ||
| 1991 | "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" | 7 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |||
| "Faith (In the Power of Love)" | — | — | — | — | 14 | 18 | — | - | — | 11 | ||||
| 1992 | "Are You Ready to Fly" | — | 21 | 11 | 25 | 16 | 26 | — | 6 | 15 | 14 | |||
| "Love Breakdown" | — | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 65 | ||||
| "In 4 Choons Later" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 50 | Single only | |||
| 1993 | "Don't Play With Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 50 | Everybody's Free-Style 1993 | ||
| 1994 | "I Love Music" | — | — | — | 69 | — | — | 39 | — | — | 18 | Look No Further | ||
| "This Time I Found Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 33 | ||||
| "You Never Love the Same Way Twice" | — | — | — | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | ||||
| 1995 | "Baby" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 26 | |||
| "Losing My Religion" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1997 | "Coming Home" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Coming Home | ||
| 1998 | "Don't Go Lose It Baby" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Friday Night" (with Phat 'N' Phunky) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Singles only | |||
| 2003 | "Live Another Life" (with Plastic Boy) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 55 | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
[edit] See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
[edit] References
- ^ Vibe Vol 2 #2 (March 1994) p.37
- ^ Officialcharts.com
- ^ Billboard 30 September 1995, p.28
- ^ Billboard 17 January 1998, p.31
- ^ Allstarkids.org.uk
- ^ Frontlinerecords.com
- ^ a b c d e f g International peaks
- ^ German peaks
- ^ Search for Irish peaks
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 473. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Search for UK certification
