Lutricia McNeal

Lutricia McNeal is an American R&B/pop singer who mainly releases her records and CDs in Europe. Her biggest hit records so far were "Ain't That Just the Way" in 1997 (UK: #5, Germany: #5, Sweden: #1), which sold 2 million copies worldwide, "Stranded" (UK: #3, Sweden: #6) and "Someone Loves You Honey" (UK: #9).

Biography

Lutricia McNeal was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She comes from a large family - Lutricia is the seventh of nine children. Her father is a preacher and she used to sing regularly in the local church choir. Discovered by Rogers/Grantham, Her career took off during a visit to Europe, when she teamed up with the Swedish producer team Rob'n'Raz. Together they scored three TOP 15 hits and one No 1 hit in Sweden, namely "Clubhopping" (Sweden: #13), "Bite the Beat" (Sweden: #14) and "In Command" (Sweden: #1).

A few years later she started her own solo career with the No 1 single "Ain't That Just The Way," which made her famous worldwide. The song is still considered one of the most important dance hits of the 1990s. It was a Top 10 chart hit in every European country and even cracked the Asian market and became a No 1 hit on US Billboard Dance Charts. The single went gold and platinum in several countries.

A couple of more hit singles followed from the debut album "My Side Of Town." The biggest airplay hits from this album are surely "Stranded" (No 1 airplay hit in the UK) and "Someone Loves You Honey." While McNeal enjoys regular success in Sweden, Scandinavia and Austria, she also scored big hits in other countries. Her single "My Side Of Town", for example, went platinum and was a No. 1 hit in New Zealand. She managed to have three Top 10 hit singles in the UK.

Another album followed in 1999 entitled "Whatcha Been Doing" before she took a short break from the music business to give birth to her second son.

She is the mother of two kids: Dean (*1990) and Dallas (*2000). She lives with her husband and manager in Texas, U.S. but spends a lot of time in Europe to be available for tours, promotion and concerts. Since the late 90's she has released several albums, which were particularly successful in Sweden, Germany and Japan. In October 2004 she posed for the German version of Playboy. She expresses her disapproval for George W. Bush and his policies (especially regarding the Iraq War) very clearly in interviews and is very involved in women's rights.

Her most recent success were the singles "It's Not Easy" (in September 2005), which was released in Sweden only and reached No 3 on the Single Charts, and "Best Of Times" (in February 2006) which reached No 6 on the Swedish Single Charts.

Lutricia stated in an interview, that her new album will be released in August, 2008, and will be called Great Memories. Confirmed tracks of the album are Best Of Times, Hold That Moment, It's Not Easy and Same Same Same. Same Same Same will be her new single, which will be released in Europe.

Chart positions

Year	Single	UK	Swe	Ger	Au	Nor	Fin
1997	Ain't That Just The Way	6	1	5	2	¹	15
1997	My Side Of Town	¹	30	73	¹	¹	¹
1998	Stranded	3	6	33	4	4	¹
	Someone Loves You Honey	9	26	51	13	17	¹
	The Greatest Love You'll Never Know	17	36	¹	¹	¹	¹
1999	365 Days	¹	18	58	26	14	¹
2000	Fly Away	¹	14	84	¹	¹	7
2000	Sodapop	¹	54	¹	¹	¹	¹
2002	Perfect Love	¹	8	41	22	13	20
2003	Wrong Or Right	¹	¹	¹	50	¹	¹
2004	Promise Me	¹	¹	86	¹	¹	¹
2005	It's Not Easy	¹	3	¹	¹	¹	¹
2005	Best Of Times	¹	6	¹	¹	¹	¹
2007	Hold That Moment	²	²	²	²	²	²
2008	Same Same Same	²	²	²	²	²	²