Donna Lewis
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This SourceDonna Lewis (born 6 August 1973, Cardiff) is a Welsh singer-songwriter and record producer best known for the 1996 single "I Love You Always Forever".
Biography
Donna Lewis was born in Cardiff, Wales, and at the age of six began playing the piano. Her father, a jazz pianist gave lent much encouragement and whilst still a teenager, began writing songs. Her formal training was at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, majoring in classical composition for piano and flute. Donna then went on to teach music for a year in Sussex before moving to Birmingham to sing in a bar band. She began to record original compositions in a studio she set up herself. It wasn't too long before she became a popular live attraction and circa 1993 began issuing her demo tape to record companies.
U.S. based Atlantic Records took an interested in the promising young talent and subsequently produced her first single, I Love You Always Forever," a catchy pop driven love song which went on to became a major hit on VH1.It was also hugely successful on U.S. radio, staying at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for nine consecutive weeks and spending thirteen consecutive weeks at number one on the airplay chart. It exceeded one million "spins" on radio to claim its place in music industry history as the most-played single up to that point. The single reached number five on the UK Singles Chart in 1996 and was single-handedly responsible for pushing her debut album, Now in a Minute, to #31 on the charts and was certified platinum in America.
Lewis recorded At the Beginning with Richard Marx for the 1997 film Anastasia. Her second LP, Blue Planet (1998), won critical acclaim, but it was largely overlooked by the public. Although it produced a minor hit in continental Europe and Asia, "I Could Be the One", and a U.S. number-one dance single, "Love Him", Lewis parted ways with Atlantic Records and independently produced her third LP, Be Still (2002), which featured her on an almost entirely acoustic set. During the early 2000s Lewis was featured as a guest vocalist on several trance music/house music recordings. Her fourth LP, In the Pink, was released in 2008; its first single is "Shout".
Discography
Albums
- Now in a Minute (1996) #31 U.S., sales: Platinum (1m), #52 UK, additional one million sold outside the U.S.
- Blue Planet (1998)
- Be Still (2002)
- In the Pink (2007)
Singles
Year Single Chart positions Album UK U.S. U.S. AC U.S. Dance Australia 1996 "I Love You Always Forever" 5 2 2 — 2 Now in a Minute "Without Love" 39 41 — — — 1997 "Mother" — — — "Fools Paradise" 169 "At the Beginning"
(with Richard Marx)45 2 Anastasia: Music from the Motion Picture 1998 "I Could Be the One" 123 — — — — Blue Planet "Love Him" — — 1 — 1999 "Falling" — — Simply Irresistible: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2007 "Shout" In the Pink Collaborations
- The Seduction of Claude Debussy (Art of Noise, 2000) [guest vocalist]
- Take Me Over" (2001) [guest vocalist]
- When the Rain Comes Down (2001)
- Anastasia(the official movie soundtrack)(1997) [At the Beginning with Richard Marx]
References
- UK charts compiled by The Official UK Charts Company and published by Music Week and Charts Plus; see zobbel.de
- U.S. charts compiled by Billboard; see billboard.com
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
External links
- Official web site
- Donna Lewis at the Internet Movie Database
- BBC Wales profile
- Donna Lewis on Discogs.com
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Last updated on Saturday July 12, 2008 at 19:23:53 PDT (GMT -0700)
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