Tamia
Tamia |
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Tamia Washington-Hill (born Tamia Reneé Washington on May 9 1976), known professionally as Tamia, is a Canadian R&B singer. She is married to NBA basketball player Grant Hill.
Biography
Early life
Tamia was born in Windsor, Ontario to a Black Canadian mother and a French Canadian father, whom she has never met. She began singing in church at the age of six. By the age of ten, she signed up for vocal lessons, then a young lyric soprano. She gained secular experience singing pop songs such as Whitney Houston's "You Give Good Love". Through puberty, her voice matured into a spinto mezzo-soprano, a rangy three octaves, capable of both dark contralto depths and angelic soprano highs. Tamia only aspired to be a vocal coach, but a chance trip brought her to Los Angeles where she caught the attention of Brenda Richie and Quincy Jones at a 1994 awards show.
Career
In 1995 at the age of nineteen, Tamia recorded vocals for a Quincy Jones' song "You Put A Move On My Heart" from his Q's Jook Joint album. Jones released the song as a single in 1996, and it was nominated for a Grammy Award. Later that year, Tamia participated in another collaboration, "Missing You", a single from the Set It Off soundtrack which also featured R&B/pop singer Brandy and female veterans Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight. The song was also nominated for a Grammy Award.
Tamia released her self-titled debut album, Tamia, in 1998. The album featured four singles: the Jermaine Dupri-produced "Imagination" and the original top ten R&B single "So Into You", which both became top forty hits on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts, and the radio-only singles "Falling For You" (which samples The Emotions' "You've Got The Best Of My Love"), and the Daryl Simmons-produced "Still Loving You".
In 2000, Tamia released her sophomore album, A Nu Day. The album featured her biggest hit to date, "Stranger In My House", which introduced the singer to new audiences due to its popular dance remix; the single managed to stay on top the U.S. Dance Charts for four continuous weeks, while peaking at #10 in the U.S. Hot 100. With "Can't Go For That" and "Tell Me Who" Tamia saw further success on the Dance Charts. She also made a special appearance in the television series Kenan and Kel.
In 2003, the singer was scheduled to release her third album, Still, but the album title was changed to More, and the original release date was pushed back due to Tamia being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis that same year. The album was eventually released in 2004 and spawned three singles. "Officially Missing You", the album's lead single, became Tamia's second top twenty entry when it peaked at #17 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart due to increasing airplay on pop radio. "Questions" and Jermaine Dupri produced "Still" both performed successfully on urban radio, but neither was able to cross over to mainstream radio. The album also featured a collaboration with rapper Fabolous titled "Into You" which sampled the chorus from 1998's "So Into You", taken from her selt-titled debut album. With the success of the #4 single and Tamia's appearance in the music video, Tamia's mainstream popuarity grew.
In 2005, Tamia split from Atlantic Records and recorded her fourth studio Between Friends indepedently. The Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins-produced album was first released on the South African independent label Gallo Records in May 2006. It is scheduled to be released elsewhere in fall 2006. The first single from the LP is "Too Grown For That".
Personal life
In Detroit, Michigan (across the Detroit River from her hometown of Windsor, Ontario), Tamia was introduced to former Detroit Pistons basketball player Grant Hill by singer Anita Baker. The two married on July 24 1999. They had their first child, a daughter named Myla Grace, on January 23 2002. In 2005, Tamia and her husband announced on Extra that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In an interview with Smooth magazine, she reported that the disease is seemingly in remission. The Hills currently reside in Orlando, Florida, where Grant plays for the Orlando Magic.
Discography
Albums
- Tamia(1998) #67 US , #18 US R&B
- A Nu Day (2000) #46 US , #8 US R&B Gold
- Still (2003) Unreleased
- More (2004) #17 US , #4 US R&B Gold
- Between Friends (2006) #3 South Africa, TBR US
Singles
Solo
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop | U.S. Dance | UK Singles | |||
| 1994 | "You Put A Move On My Heart" | 98 | 16 | - | - | Q's Jook Joint / Tamia |
| 1994 | "Slow Jams" (With Babyface) | 68 | 19 | - | - | Q's Jook Joint |
| 1996 | "Keep Hope Alive" | - | - | - | - | The Associate |
| 1996 | "Missing You" (With Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Brandy) | 25 | 10 | - | 1 | Set It Off |
| 1998 | "Imagination" (with Jermaine Dupri) | 37 | 12 | - | - | Tamia |
| 1998 | "So Into You" | 30 | 7 | - | - | Tamia |
| 1999 | "Falling For You" | - | - | - | - | Tamia |
| 1999 | "Loving You Still" | - | 78 | - | - | Tamia |
| 1999 | "Spend My Life With You" (with Eric Benet) | 21 | 1 | - | - | A Day In The Life |
| 2000 | "Can't Go For That" | 84 | 23 | - | - | A Nu Day |
| 2001 | "Stranger In My House" | 10 | 3 | 1 | - | A Nu Day |
| 2001 | "Tell Me Who" | - | 63 | 2 | - | A Nu Day |
| 2003 | "Into You" (with Fabolous) | 4 | 1 | 6 | 18 | More |
| 2003 | "Officially Missing You" | 83 | 31 | 4 | - | More |
| 2004 | "Questions" | - | 40 | - | - | More |
| 2004 | "Still" | - | 83 | 34 | - | More |
| 2006 | "Too Grown For That" | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | Between Friends |
Collaborations
- with 213 aka Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G: "Can't Go For That" (Missy Mix) (2000)
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart