Black singers: list, short biographies, photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Always enthrall the strong in spirit, great people. And doubly rejoice, watching the success of the life of a beautiful and talented woman. In addition, it's great if it comes from an African-American environment, that segment of the population that has been oppressed for centuries. Black singers are a big and beautiful diamond in the crown of American musical art. These are powerful voices with a special African timbre, a separate culture brought from the shores of hot Africa by the ancestors of these great women.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to even closely consider the biographies of all pop-jazz and R'n'B stars in the article, so we will focus on the 7 most, in our opinion, the most popular and bright personalities of the past and current years of the American show business.

Beyonce Knowles

Queen B came on the scene as a child. From the age of 9, the R'n'B singer took part in a super-popular girl band called Destiny's Child, andthen she continued her career as a solo singer. Every single Beyoncé album has been awarded the Grammy Award for Best R'n'B Album. No other singer in the world has such an achievement.

A girl was born in a creative family. The mother of the future most popular American black singer is a fashion designer and stylist, and her father is a producer and sound engineer. The talents of the child showed up in early childhood, when little Beyoncé began to participate and win in all the music competitions in her native Houston. Soon a group also gathered, which became known to all Americans as Destiny's Child (only the name changed several times in the course of work). Beyoncé hasn't always shone. For example, at one of the competitions, the musical group was defeated, because the producer of the girls focused on rapping, while, according to Beyonce herself, they just needed to sing.

However, the failure did not stop the group. Over the following years, the girls released several successful and well-selling albums. The first single was produced by the singer's father, which hit the financial condition of the family. However, later all the troubles with the money were settled, since the group can be considered successful.

The musical project thus existed from 1997 to 2000. From that moment on, the group broke up into solo performers, each of which successfully worked and is working in its own direction. But in 2004, the girls got together for the last time, recorded a new album, and already during the concert tour officiallyannounced the breakup of the trio.

Leaving the team, Beyoncé took up, in addition to music, a career as an actress and was successful in this field, having won 2 Golden Globe awards. Over time, the singer's musical style has become more diverse.

Beyoncé's personal life is almost cloudless, except for the only public conflict between the singer's husband, rapper Jay-Z, and her sister Solange Piaget. However, over time, the world returned to this musical family, in which, in addition, the next generation is growing up - the couple has three children in total.

Dorothy Dandridge

A short (only 42 years old) but brightest life was lived by a black singer with a strong voice, actress and dancer - Dorothy Jean Dandridge.

Many talented performers are helped by their parents to embark on a musical path. Dorothy is no exception. When Miss Dandridge was still a child, her mother organized a musical duet for her and her sister, which was called the Amazing Children. Dorothy turned out to be strong in spirit and began to earn money on radio and in cinema. But still, music remained her main love.

Despite this, the singer became popular thanks to the work of the actress. Success and recognition came to her in 1954 after filming in the film "Carmen Jones", where she played the main role. In addition to this film, the woman starred in a number of other recognizable films.

The world lost a talented singer in September 1965, when she was at the peak of her creative powers. Dorothy Dandridge died at home after drinking a large doseantidepressants. It was hardly suicide, because the singer had creative plans for the near future. In particular, she was going to perform in one of the New York cabarets the other day.

Meet Dorothy Dandridge, a film starring the incomparable Halle Berry, was made in memory of this amazing woman.

Katerina Graham

Katerina is best known as an actress, and her most popular role is that of Bonnie Bennet from The Vampire Diaries. The girl owes her unusual appearance to the mixture of Liberian and Polish blood (Katerina's mother is Polish, and her father is Liberian). In addition, this actress, singer and dancer is a polyglot and speaks Spanish, Polish and French in addition to English.

Since we are looking at the biographies of black singers, Katerina has a very direct bearing on this. This hard-working young woman manages to combine filming with her own musical concerts. A few years ago, she released a music album that she recorded in her personal studio. In addition, she was briefly a backing vocalist in the band Black and Peace.

The girl does not single out for herself a more or less important part of creativity. She likes to act in films, and dance, and make music. She does not plan to deny herself one of these activities. The press, among other things, closely follows the style of Katerina in clothes, which they consider quite cool.

Ciara

Ciara Princess Harris is one ofpopular black singers who do more than just music. In addition to R'n'B and hip-hop, the girl is fond of dancing and works as a model. She has released several successful albums, and many of her singles have received prestigious music awards like the Grammy.

Ciara's most iconic and successful albums are Goodies, Ciara: The Evolution and Ciara (the last one to date). But even not the most successful albums of the singer were awarded high music awards. Ciara writes songs herself, being a talented poetess. Her creations are recognized far beyond the United States and the English-speaking world.

The personal life of the singer has not yet worked out somehow. But she has a son with her ex-boyfriend Future. In addition to being creative, the woman leads an active social life, helping terminally ill children to fulfill their dreams.

Rihanna

The work of one of the most famous black singers Rihanna is a mixture of R'n'B, reggae and pop music. Thanks to this musical symbiosis, the girl has developed a unique and recognizable style throughout the world. In addition to music, Rihanna is busy acting and designing.

The girl started singing quite early, in her teens. And at the age of 16 she was able to please the successful producer Evan Rogers. And at that moment she moved from Barbados to America to build her career without even graduating from high school. In the US, the talented girl began to patronize the popular rapper Jay-Z, who saw the prospects in her.

So, 17-year-old Rihanna in 2005 "blew up" the music world with her composition Pon de Replay. And in the same year, her first album Music of the Sun was released, which went platinum. The prolific composer Rihanna did not make the public wait long for her second brainchild and in 2006 released an album called A girl like me, the best composition of which was the song SOS, which has been in the TOP-5 of the world's leading charts for a long time.

The following year was marked for Rihanna by the release of another album, which included the song Umbrella, which made her a superstar literally all over the world and revealed the girl's vocal abilities to the maximum. The next album was released two years later, and critics noted the gloominess and aggression poured into the songs by Rihanna due to severe mental trauma resulting from a difficult break with her lover Chris Brown. But literally the next year she released a lively and explosive album Loud. This creative project also became a landmark, as Rihanna clearly revised her priorities and showed the world her self-sufficiency and audacity.

To date, Rihanna has released 8 music albums, sang in a duet with such stars as Shakira, Eminem, Jay-Z, Paul McCartney, etc. For her songs, she has been awarded a cool award more than once « Grammy.”

Whitney Houston

Another great black singer, Whitney Houston, who passed away early and tragically, lived only 48 years. Nevertheless, she left a huge ingenious creative legacy behind her. It's no secret that she had drug problems andfrom time to time she appeared in various scandalous stories. But that doesn't change the fact that Whitney Houston was a real gem in the music world.

Her childhood was spent among musicians. Firstly, the singer's mother and aunt were notable figures in the rhythm and blues world of the 60-70s of the XX century. And secondly, the girl grew up among the musicians of the Baptist choir. Moreover, her unique talent allowed her to be a soloist in the church choir at the age of 11.

The girl was engaged in touring activities throughout her youth and led a bohemian lifestyle. In the 80s, she had 2 contracts with record companies, but the collaboration with Arista Records brought her popularity.

Whitney released her first album in 1985. Popularity did not immediately fall on her head, but after America heard the song You Give Good Love, the young woman became famous. Her talent was so overwhelming that she broke into those shows on television, where black artists had not even thought of inviting before. And, it would seem, the first not very successful album of the singer diverges from the shelves in the amount of 13,000,000 copies, although a year after the release.

The second collection was so popular with the world community that it surpassed the work of The Beatles themselves in popularity. Less successful was Whitney's third album, but this did not plunge her into depression, as she wisely believed that this was the path for a long career. But the next collection of songs, released in 1990, went platinum, and fans sold out 10,000,000 copies of it. Howevera live tour in support of this project is considered a failure.

A separate chapter in the creative life of this most talented African-American woman was the release of the film "The Bodyguard" (1992). The singer performed 6 songs that became hits. And the single I Will Always Love You became the main one in Whitney's career. In addition to "The Bodyguard", the singer has recorded several other soundtracks for other films.

After her film success, Whitney releases another album, which was received favorably by critics and the public. The name of this brainchild of the singer is My Love Is Your Love.

But now the singer's career has declined, and only in 2000 she releases a collection of songs. Everything, it would seem, begins to improve, Whitney concludes contracts for the next few albums. But they fail.

In 2004, Whitney Houston went on tour, during which she also performed in Russia. Then, in the work of the singer, complete silence sets in, lasting several years. And only in 2009 she releases her seventh and, unfortunately, the last album.

Tina Turner

The real name of this famous black singer is Anna May Bullock. Despite the fact that the girl’s childhood passed in such conditions that she could not expect any musical success, over time, this strong and outstanding woman with her singing, composing, acting and dancing talent was recognized as the Queen of Rock and Roll.

The girl had a premonition of success when she moved to St. Louis and met rock musician IkeTurner. It was Ike who saw Anna's talent and passion for music and helped create Tina Turner's signature style.

The group "Kings of Rhythm", in which Anna was the soloist, was quite popular in the USA in the 60-70s of the XX century. And this passionate vocalist even earned a Grammy award while being part of the team. In 1962, Ike and Tina started a family, and thus a soloist appeared on the stage under the pseudonym Tina Turner.

At that time, Mr. Turner left the band, and his wife began to solo in a new group with him. So the world saw the team The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. The musicians worked tirelessly, being in a creative search for their hit. And one day they met Phil Specter, who organized a special project for Tina called River Deep Mountain Hight. At the same time, the cult group Rolling Stones made an offer to Revue to participate in one of their tours.

But problems began in paradise, and once Tina, unable to withstand the growing tyranny, beatings and drug addiction of her husband, left him literally into the unknown. And the singer gets her first success during one of her tours in Europe, performing the song Let's Stay Together. In addition, Tina met manager Roger Davis, who convinced the singer to build a successful solo career.

Total success covered the artist after meeting with David Bowie and recording his songs 1984 and Let's Stay Together, turning a talented and ambitious woman into a world-class star literally in a matter of days. And, of course, Tina Turner's greatest hitbecame the song Simply the best.

In just her 78 years, the black singer has released 10 studio albums, got into the Guinness Book of Records after she collected the largest paid concert (188,000 people), held at one of the venues in Rio de Janeiro, and also deservedly took home 8 Grammy awards with her. In addition, the singer sang songs for several films, in particular, for one of the James Bond movies and is still actively working and acting in music videos.

Russian black singers

Russia is a multinational country, and its inhabitants also include people with African roots. There are several wonderful Russian mulattos who have chosen singing as their career. Imagine a photo of black singers living and creating in Russia.

Above you can see singer Cornelia Mango. The girl broke into the domestic show business not so long ago and has already managed to win the love of an entire army of fans. Cornelia is 32 years old, her participation in the Star Factory project brought her popularity.

Tina Ogunleye was born on May 17, 1979. DJ, singer, former member of the Slivki group. Father is Nigerian, mother is Russian.

Alice Edun is a singer. Born in St. Petersburg. Father is Nigerian, mother is Russian. Now lives and works in Italy.

Victoria Pierre-Marie is a blues and jazz singer. Born in Moscow on April 17, 1979. Her father is a Cameroonian, her mother is Russian. In 1996 Victoriawas awarded the title of "Russian Queen of Blues" by the President of the Association of Jazz Musicians Yuri Saulsky.

It only remains to note that Russian singers with black roots have undeniable talents and are an adornment of our stage.