Amanda Marshall (born August 29, 1972 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian pop-rock singer.
Marshall studied music extensively in childhood, including at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. While performing on the Queen Street West bar scene in her teens, she met guitarist Jeff Healey, who was struck by her powerful voice and took her on tour. She was offered a record deal by Columbia Records in 1991, but chose to wait a few years before releasing her debut album.
She grew up in Toronto in a biracial family to a Caucasian father and a Caribbean-Canadian mother. In several of her songs, Marshall has reflected on her racial identity "as a woman who looks white but is also half-black"12.
Career highlights
In 1995, Marshall signed to Sony Records, and released her debut album Amanda Marshall the same year. The album was a major success in Canada, generating a great deal of airplay and spawning six Top 40 hits -- "Let It Rain," "Beautiful Goodbye," "Dark Horse," "Fall From Grace," "Sitting on Top of the World," and "Birmingham," which remains her biggest hit internationally.
In 1997, her song I'll be okay was included into the OST of My Best Friend's Wedding.
In 1999, she released a successful follow-up album, Tuesday's Child. It followed in the same vein as her debut, with a mix of soulful pop songs and ballads, characterizing her powerful voice. Her song "Ride" from that album would be featured in the The Replacements and on its soundtrack. Another single from that album, "Believe In You," was featured on one episode of Touched By An Angel, while Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi was the guest guitarist on the track "Why Don't You Love Me."
In 2001, she released her third album, Everybody's Got a Story. It marked a change in style and sound for Marshall, with a noticeable R&B influence. Her singles "Everybody's Got a Story" and "Sunday Morning After" received some Canadian airplay, and for the album, Marshall worked with the likes of Peter Asher and Billy Mann.
In 2003, she released a greatest hits album entitled Intermission.
In 2007 the Canadian Idol Top Ten Finalists covered Amanda's song "I Believe In You." The profits from this track will be donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities across Canada.
Discography
Albums
Singles
- 1995: Let It Rain (#14 Canada / #30 Australia / #23 New Zealand / #3 Norway / #59 Sweden)
- 1996: Birmingham (#10 Canada / #43 US / #14 Adult Top40 / #22 Top40 Mainstream)
- 1996: Fall From Grace (#11 Canada / #23 US Adult Top 40)
- 1996: Beautiful Goodbye (#16 Canada / #20 The Netherlands)
- 1996: Dark Horse (#12 Canada)
- 1997: Sitting On Top Of The World (#8 Canada)
- 1997: Trust Me (This Is Love)
- 1997: This Could Take All Night (Tin Cup OST)
- 1998: Believe In You (#16 Canada / #16 Austria / #49 Switzerland)
- 1999: Love Lift Me (#13 Canada)
- 1999: If I Didn't Have You
- 2000: Shades Of Gray (#34 Canada)
- 2000: Why Don't You Love Me?
- 2001: Everybody's Got A Story (#6 Canada / #92 The Netherlands)
- 2002: Sunday Morning After (#20 Canada)
- 2002: Marry Me (#19 Canada)
- 2002: Double Agent
- 2003: The Voice Inside
- 2003: Until We Fall In
Awards and nominations
Marshall has received 11 Juno Award nominations, between 1996 and 2002 in all of the major categories, including Album of the Year (for her first two albums), Single of the Year (for "Birmingham," "Dark Horse," and "Everybody's Got a Story"), and Artist of the Year. However, she has yet to win her first Juno Award.
References
External links
