Vonda Shepard

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Vonda Shepard

Background information
Born July 7, 1963 (1963-07-07) (age 46)
New York, U.S.
Origin California, U.S.
Genre(s) Rock
Occupation(s) Singer, Pianist, Songwriter.
Instrument(s) piano, guitar, bass
Years active 1987–present
Label(s) Reprise/Warner Bros. Records
550 Music/Epic/SME Records
VesperAlley Records
Website www.vondashepard.com

Vonda Shepard (born July 7, 1963) is an American pop/rock singer. She appeared as a regular in the television show Ally McBeal from season 2-5 in which she played a resident performer at the bar where the show's characters drank after work. She plays piano, guitar, and bass.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Vonda Shepard was born in New York but her family relocated to California when she was fairly young. She played piano from an early age. Her father is Richmond Shepard, a mime and improv actor. Vonda has three sisters: Rosetta, Luana, and Brianna. Her mother left the family when Vonda was ten, and her father raised the four girls by himself.[1]

After performing as a backing singer for many years she was eventually given her own recording contract. Shepard's first chart appearance was in 1987 when she recorded a duet with Dan Hill entitled 'Can't We Try'. She released her first self-titled album in 1989 with little fanfare. The album did yield one chart single, "Don't Cry Ilene", a mid-tempo, piano-driven jazz-R&B flavored song dealing with the break-up of a relationship between a black woman and a white man, arising from adult peer pressure. The track is sung from the perspective of the woman's white female friend, who harbors a desire to have the man for herself, but keeps her distance out of respect for her friend. The song peaked at 17 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart and stayed on the charts for 12 weeks.[2]

After her third album, Shepard was signed up to appear on Ally McBeal after being spotted by the show's creator David E Kelley. While on the show she recorded two full soundtrack albums and was featured on two other Ally McBeal compilations. The songs Shepard recorded for Ally McBeal soundtrack albums were mainly covers of old songs with lyrics that paralleled what was happening in the title character's life onscreen. Since appearing in the show, Shepard has released two more studio albums and a live album.

Shepard has been married to music producer Mitchell Froom since 2004; they had their first child, Jack Froom, on 15 April 2006.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Compilation soundtracks

[edit] Charted singles (USA)

  • "Can't We Try" (duet with Dan Hill) - Pop #6, Adult Contemporary #2, 1987
  • "Don't Cry Ilene" - Adult Contemporary #17, 1990
  • "I Shy Away" - Adult Contemporary #37, 1990
  • "Searchin' My Soul" - Pop #16 (airplay only)[3], Adult Contemporary #22, 1998
  • "Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow" (duet with Emily Saliers) - Adult Contemporary #21, 1999

NOTE: "Searchin' My Soul" was not released as a commercial single and was therefore not eligible for the Billboard Hot 100 per chart rules at the time of its release. However the song charted at #16 on the airplay chart.[3]

[edit] Singles from the Ally McBeal soundtracks

  • Searchin' My Soul #1 Spain
  • Hooked On A Feeling #7 Spain
  • Maryland
  • Tell Him #29 Spain
  • Read Your Mind
  • This Old Heart Of Mine
  • Baby Don't You Break My Heart Slow (with Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls)
  • Someday We'll Be Together
  • Confetti
  • Love Is Alive (with Anastacia)
  • Chances Are (with Robert Downey Jr.)

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] IMDb Trivia information
  2. ^ [2] Billboard chart information
  3. ^ a b Billboard (1998-06-06). "Hot 100 Airplay Searchin My Soul". Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=350&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+100+Airplay&ci=3030706&cdi=7321816&cid=06%2F06%2F1998. Retrieved on 2008-02-01. 

[edit] External links

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