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Joss Stone

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Joss Stone

Joss Stone (born Joscelyn Eve Stoker on 11 April 1987) is an English soul, R&B, blues and funk rock singer, songwriter, and occasional actress who emerged to fame in late 2003 with her debut album, The Soul Sessions, which was certified triple platinum by the BPI, and was announced as one of the twelve albums on the shortlist of Mercury Prize nominees. Her second album, the also-triple-platinum-selling Mind, Body & Soul, topped the albums chart in the United Kingdom for one week and spawned the hit single "You Had Me", which made the top ten of the UK Singles Chart. Both album and single each received a nomination for Grammy Awards in 2005. Throughout her career, Stone has sold over ten million albums worldwide, and has won two BRIT Awards and one Grammy Award. She also ventured in the film business, making her acting debut in the fantasy adventure film Eragon, released in December 2006, as a witch named Angela.

Early life

Stone was born in Dover, Kent, and spent her teenage years in Ashill, Devon. She is the third of four children born to Richard and Wendy Stoker.[1] She made her first public appearance at the Uffculme Comprehensive School—which she attended[2]—in Uffculme, Devon, with a cover of Jackie Wilson's 1957 "Reet Petite".[3] Because of her dyslexia, Stone left school at age sixteen with just three GCSE qualifications. "It wasn't that I was stupid. I'm just a little bit dyslexic and I wasn't very academic. I'm more artistic", she says.[4]

Stone grew up listening to a wide variety of music including 1960s and 1970s American R&B and soul music performed by such artists as Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin; as a result, she developed a soulful style of singing like her idols. In 2001, at the age of fourteen, she auditioned for the BBC Television talent show Star for a Night in London singing Franklin's 1968 "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and Whitney Houston's 1998 "It's Not Right but It's Okay", eventually winning.[5][6] She told MTV News, "I kind of clicked into soul music more than anything else because of the vocals. You've got to have good vocals to sing soul music and I always liked it ever since I was little".[5]

Music career

In 2002, Stone decided to back her ability by flying out from England for an audition in New York City with S-Curve CEO Steve Greenberg, where she performed Donna Summer's 1979 "On the Radio".[7] She also signed a global music publishing deal with BMG Music Publishing in the United Kingdom. Since then, she has performed with artists such as Blondie, Gladys Knight, Robbie Williams, James Brown, Tom Jones, Melissa Etheridge, Rob Thomas, and Rod Stewart.

The Soul Sessions (2003)

Main article: The Soul Sessions

After being signed by S-Curve Records, Stone flew to Miami, Florida to start working on her debut album, The Soul Sessions, released on 16 September 2003. She collaborated with people with solid credentials in the Miami soul scene such as Betty Wright, Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas, and Little Beaver. She also worked with contemporary acts Angie Stone and The Roots.

The album consists of little-known soul tracks by Wright, Franklin, Laura Lee, and Bettye Swann. Released in late 2003, it reached the top five on the UK Albums Chart, and also made the top forty of the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The lead single, "Fell in Love with a Boy", which was a reworking of The White Stripes's 2001 "Fell in Love with a Girl", reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart, as did the second single, a cover version of Sugar Billy's 1974 "Super Duper Love".

Mind, Body & Soul (2004)

Main article: Mind, Body & Soul

After achieving critical acclaim with The Soul Sessions, Stone recorded her second album—this time made mostly of songs co-written by her—Mind, Body & Soul, released on 28 September 2004. She was quoted to say this was her real debut. "I think my singing is so much better on this album", she says.[8] It proved to be an even bigger success than her previous album, as it debuted at number one in the UK (breaking the record for the youngest female ever to top the UK Albums Chart, a record previously held by Avril Lavigne) and just missed the top ten of the U.S. Billboard 200, after peaking at number eleven. The lead single, "You Had Me", became her first top ten hit in the UK and was also a hit worldwide. Follow-up singles "Right to Be Wrong" and "Spoiled" both made the top forty, and "Don't Cha Wanna Ride", the top twenty. "Spoiled" landed just outside the top fifty of U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at number fifty-four.

Stone was nominated for three 2005 BRIT Awards, of which she won "British Female Solo Artist" and "British Urban Act", entering the Guinness World Records for being the youngest BRIT Award solo winner at age seventeen. She performed "Angels" with Robbie Williams during the ceremony, which took place on 9 February 2005. She also received three nominations for the 2005 Grammy Awards—"Best New Artist", "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" for "You Had Me", and "Best Pop Vocal Album" for Mind, Body & Soul—, where she sang barefoot on stage with rock performer Melissa Etheridge, in tribute to the late blues-rock singer Janis Joplin. Their performance of "Cry Baby/Piece of My Heart" was released as a single, and, through the aid of strong digital downloads, became Stone's first single to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, when it debuted and peaked at number thirty-two.

Introducing Joss Stone (2007)

Main article: Introducing Joss Stone

Stone began working on her third studio album, Introducing Joss Stone, at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, in May 2006.[9] It was released on 12 March 2007 in the UK on Virgin Records, involving production by Raphael Saadiq and collaborations with Lauryn Hill, Common, and Joi. Virgin describes it as "an electrifying mix of warm vintage soul, '70s-style R&B, Motown girl-group harmonies, and hip-hop grooves".[10] Stone herself describes it as "truly me. That's why I'm calling it Introducing Joss Stone. These are my words, and this is who I am as an artist".[10] She also revealed on The Tavis Smiley Show that her break-up with Beau Dozier was a source of inspiration while writing Introducing Joss Stone.[11] The album debuted and peaked at number twelve on the UK Albums Chart. It also debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 selling 118,000 copies in its first week, becoming the highest debut for a British solo female artist on the U.S. chart, surpassing the record previously held by Amy Winehouse with Back to Black.[12] It has sold 60,000 copies in the UK since its release, gaining silver status on the charts.

"Tell Me 'Bout It", the album's lead single, debuted and peaked at number twenty-eight on the UK Singles Chart—where it stayed for three weeks only—, and peaked at number eighty-three on the U.S Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", a collaboration with rapper Common, made the top sixty-five of the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Stone turned its music video to a Product Red—this means that the video is available online over iTunes Store and that the gains from these sales revert to Product Red, an organisation which helps women and children in Africa affected by HIV and/or AIDS. Stone is the first artist to do this, entering the Guinness World Records once again. On 4 October 2007, Stone's official website confirmed "Baby Baby Baby" as the album's third single. File:Http://i30.tinypic.com/abr12a.png

Joss Stone at the 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards

In support of the album, Stone embarked on a North American tour which began on 27 April at Ledyard, Connecticut's Foxwoods Resort Casino and ended on 13 June at Vienna, Virginia's Filene Center, visiting sixteen cities in total including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Vancouver, Chicago, Toronto, New York, and Boston.[13] Two months later, she went on a North American late summer tour which kicked off on 27 August at Los Angeles, California's Greek Theatre and ended on 29 September at Kansas City, Missouri's Crossroads, covering twelve cities—this time including Mexico City.[14]

Known for her barefoot performances and neo-hippie fashions,[15] Stone changed her style to a harder-edged, purple-haired look to promote Introducing Joss Stone.

At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Stone shared a win of the award for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for her collaboration with Sly & the Family Stone, John Legend, and Van Hunt on "Family Affair".

Other pursuits

Stone joined Band Aid 20 on 14 November 2004 to benefit Sudan's troubled Darfur region. The group, consisting of such luminaries as Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin and U2 lead singer Bono, re-recorded the 1984 song "Do They Know It's Christmas?", written by Band Aid organisers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. Stone, born two years after the release of the original single, wasn't initially aware of who Bob Geldof was.[16] The media gleefully reported that she repeatedly referred to him as Bob Gandalf.[17] Despite some criticism, the single became the UK's biggest seller of 2004[18] as well as the Christmas number one.[19]

In March 2005, Stone was named the spokesperson for the megastore Gap, replacing Sarah Jessica Parker.[20] She recorded two songs for its commercial—a cover of Ray Charles's 1958 "Night Time Is the Right Time" (retitled "The Right Time") and a cover of The Beach Boys's 1966 "God Only Knows". By that time, rumours circulated about her being dropped from the campaign because she was living with then-twenty-five-year-old songwriter/producer Beau Dozier (son of producer Lamont Dozier) in Los Angeles, California while she was only seventeen.[21] However, this was later denied.[22]

In July 2005, Stone lent her voice to the Fantastic Four soundtrack, singing the title song "What Ever Happened to the Heroes", written by Pink, billymann, and Christopher Rojas and produced by Beau Dozier shortly before their break-up in October 2005.

Stone performed at the Live 8 concert at Hyde Park, London on 2 July 2005, and performed "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" with funk legend James Brown on the British chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. On 5 February 2006, she joined Stevie Wonder, India.Arie, and John Legend at the Super Bowl XL pre-game show in performing a medley of Wonder's hits. Three days later, on 8 February, she helped perform a medley of hits by reclusive singer Sly Stone, the frontman of Sly & the Family Stone, on the night of the 2006 Grammy Awards.

Stone collaborated with jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and blues singer-guitarist Jonny Lang on a cover of U2's 1988 song "When Love Comes to Town", from Hancock's 2005 album Possibilities. She also collaborated with Lemar on his third studio album, The Truth About Love, on the track "Anniversary".

Stone made her film debut in the fantasy epic Eragon (based on the 2003 novel of the same name), released on 15 December 2006, in which she plays the witch Angela.

Stone was named the World's Best Celebrity Dog Owner in 2005 in an online poll conducted by readers of The New York Dog Magazine and The Hollywood Dog Magazine.[23] She owns two female dogs: Missy (named after rapper Missy Elliott), a Rottweiler, and Dusty (named after Dusty Springfield, one of her major influences), a Poodle.[24] She was also voted the World's Sexiest Vegetarian in 2005 by peta2, alongside Chris Martin.[25] Stone, a longtime vegetarian, starred in an ad for PETA in March 2007, whose tagline states, "I am Joss Stone and I am a vegetarian".[26]

Canadian singer-guitarist and photographer Bryan Adams photographed Stone for the second issue of Hear the World magazine, a quarterly culture and lifestyle publication dedicated to the topic of hearing.

With Chris Evans at BBC Radio 2

On 28 June 2007, Stone asked Queen guitarist Brian May to perform "Under Pressure" with her at the Concert for Diana, held at Wembley Stadium, London on 1 July. Initially he said yes, but when he realised how very different the arrangement was from the original, he realised that "he was not going to be able to do it justice", so he rejected it.[27] Instead, she performed the song solo as well as her hit "You Had Me" and a cover of Sam & Dave's 1968 "Ain't That a Lot of Love" with Tom Jones.

On 7 July 2007, Stone performed at the South African leg of the Live Earth concerts at the Coca Cola Dome, in Johannesburg, to promote awareness of global warming. She performed the Introducing Joss Stone tracks "Girl They Won't Believe It", "Headturner", "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now", "Music", and "Tell Me 'Bout It" besides "Right to Be Wrong".

Stone covered Nat King Cole's 1965 classic "L-O-V-E" for the latest advertising campaign for Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, entitled Coco Mademoiselle. The Joe Wright-directed short film stars Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley as fashion legend Coco Chanel. Also, for the Christmas season, Stone recorded the song "All I Want for Christmas", written and produced by Dan Mackenzie. Both songs were made available on iTunes, the former on 18 September 2007 and the latter on 18 December 2007.

In order to raise the awareness of AIDS, Annie Lennox has joined forces with twenty-three female musicians (including Stone) and recorded the song "Sing", which was released on World AIDS Day on 1 December 2007, when Lennox performed at one of the Nelson Mandella 46664 concerts at Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium. The song appears on Lennox's fourth studio album, Songs of Mass Destruction.

Stone performed live with country pop singer LeAnn Rimes in CMT's Crossroads on 7 December 2007.

In mid-December 2007, Stone was named the new Flake girl to star in a series of TV commercials for the Cadbury Schweppes product in the spring of 2008. According to the company, she is the first non-model to take the role.[28]

Personal life

Stone was ranked number seventy-eight on Maxim's 2007 Hot 100.[29]

Stone caused controversy at the 2007 BRIT Awards ceremony, on 14 February, when presenting the award for "British Male Solo Artist" (won by James Morrison). Speaking with a American accent, she gave a speech about Robbie Williams, who had been the target of earlier jokes made by host Russell Brand. Williams had been reported as going into rehab that same week. As her speech continued, she made remarks about Brand, implying that he was heading for rehab himself (while singing a passage of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab").[30]

Stone dated Beau Rozier until 2005. More recently she's been romantically linked to Lemar.

Discography

Main article: Joss Stone discography

Singles

Year Single Album
2004 "Fell in Love with a Boy" The Soul Sessions
"Super Duper Love"
"You Had Me" Mind, Body & Soul
"Right to Be Wrong"
2005 "Spoiled"
"Don't Cha Wanna Ride"
2007 "Tell Me 'Bout It" Introducing Joss Stone
"Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" (featuring Common)
"Baby Baby Baby"

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role
2006 Eragon Angela

Television

Year Title Role Episode
2005 American Dreams Singer at the Lair "Starting Over" (episode 13, season 3)

References

  1. ^ "Joss Stone". Times Online. 4 September 2004. Retrieved 2007-01-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "The Guardian profile: Joss Stone". Guardian Unlimited. 23 July 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Joss Stone Tickets". OnlineSeats.com. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  4. ^ "Joss Stone insists - 'I'm not thick'". AskMen.com. 16 October 2004. Retrieved 2007-08-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b "Your Hear It First - Joss Stone". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  6. ^ "The lowdown on Dover's soul sensation, Joss Stone". IndieLondon.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  7. ^ "Stone, Joss Biography: Contemporary Musicians". eNotes.com. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
  8. ^ "Joss releases her 'real debut' CD". BBC. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 2007-09-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Soul Princess Joss Stone's Favorite Isle". psychoPEDIA. 13 October 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ a b "Joss Stone Discusses New Album, Due March 20, With HARP". HARP. 18 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Joss Stone". PBS. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Joss Beats Winehouse". MTV UK. 29 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Joss Stone Reintroducing Herself On Tour". Billboard. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "Joss Stone Solidifies Late Summer Tour". Billboard. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Joss Stone". ELLE. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  16. ^ "Top of the Pops - Top 5 - Lord Of The Blings". BBC. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 2007-01-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ "LIVE8: the backlash". PressureWorks.com. 7 June 2005. Retrieved 2007-01-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "The UK's Bestselling Singles". BPI. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  19. ^ "UK Top 40 Chart Archive, British Singles & Albums Charts". EveryHit.com. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  20. ^ "Gap Replaces Sarah Jessica Parker with Joss Stone". andPOP. 23 March 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Stone axed". Fazed. 25 July 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Joss Stone not axed by GAP". Digital Spy. 25 July 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ "Joss Stone Most Canine-Friendly Celebrity". Axcess News. 11 December 2005. Retrieved 2007-03-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ "A Few Words From Joss Stone". popworld. 16 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ "The World's Sexiest Vegetarians Are ..." peta2. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
  26. ^ "Introducing Joss Stone's Vegetarian Ad". petaDishroom. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
  27. ^ "Under Pressure / Joss Stone". QueenOnline.com. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ "Singer Stone is new Flake girl". BBC News. 16 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ "Maxim's 2007 Hot 100". Maxim. May 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  30. ^ "Joss Stone - Joss: BRITs don't like me". ContactMusic.com. 14 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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