Teen singing sensation Joss Stone came out of nowhere to take the music industry by storm. The British blues singer grew up listening to American music as well as several other genres. In fact, she landed her first record contract by singing a cover version of disco queen Donna Summer's 1970s hit "On the Radio." Two albums and several Top 20 singles later, Stone is being hailed by some as the white Aretha Franklin (1942–), a woman who is considered one of the best rhythm and blues singers of all time.A poor student, a talented singer
Joscelyn Eve Stoker was born on April 11, 1987, in Dover, England. She moved with her three siblings and parents to Ashill, a small town where Stone spent most of her childhood; this is where she began to dislike school. Stone is dyslexic, which means she sometimes sees and reads things backwards or mixed up. But this isn't the only reason she grew to dread school every morning. "It was partly that, but because I don't come across like I'm really stupid-I can hold a conversation.... I guess teachers thought I wasn't trying...." Stone explained to Teddy Jamieson of The Herald. "The way they taught didn't work, so that resulted in huge arguments with people and I don't like to be told what to do."
So Stone spent a fair amount of her time in detention, figuring if that was the worst thing that could happen to her, she'd survive. And still she found time to shape her musical tastes. Stone's father listened to blues and reggae for the most part. Her mother's tastes lay in soul music. Soul is a sound that emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is an offshoot of the sounds of rock and roll and gospel. Soul is divided into several categories, including Motown (sung by African Americans on the Motown record label) and blue-eyed soul (performed by white musicians). Musicians such as James Brown (1928–) added their own style to soul and took it in another direction. Brown is credited with helping to make the funk sound popular in the 1960s.
Stone grew up listening to the great soul musicians from the past, and by the time she was seven years old, Aretha Franklin was her hero. Franklin, whose roots were in gospel, earned herself the title "Queen of Soul" with timeless hits such as "Respect" and "Chain of Fools." The first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Franklin began recording gospel at the age of fourteen. She was still generating hits in the pop music genre in the 1970s and 1980s. Franklin is considered one of the greatest crossover (spanning more than one genre) music recording stars in history. Aretha Franklin's Greatest Hits
"I just think my voice is suited to a time that doesn't exist anymore."
was the first album Stone owned, and she spent much of her free time listening and singing along. Stone found her voice well-suited to the throaty sounds of the blues. One day she would amaze listeners with a powerful sound that didn't seem like it could come from a girl who was not yet out of her teens.
At age twelve, Stone chose to become a singer by default. In her interview with The Herald, she explained that she thought she might like to become a veterinarian or midwife (a nurse who is licensed to deliver babies). "But then I realized that meant seven years at school. I couldn't do that so I decided to be a singer." Most children dream of being a famous musician at some point. For Stone, that dream came true without so much as one day of struggle.
High school dropout makes it big
Stone was thirteen when she submitted an audition tape to the British talent show Star for a Night. Her cover of the Aretha Franklin hit "(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman" won her a spot on the show. Onstage and live on television, Stone's rendition of Donna Summer's "On the Radio" left the audience speechless. This blonde, giggly teenager had the voice of a grown woman. She immediately signed on with American record company executive Steve Greenberg of S-Curve Records. Greenberg is credited with bringing the pop group Hanson to the masses.
Greenberg recognized Stone's potential and hired Miami soul legend Betty Wright to mentor Stone. Wright began singing when her own mother suffered a back injury and could no longer support her fatherless family. In a 2003 interview with Scott Simon of National Public Radio (NPR), Wright explained the difference between her early years as a star and Stone's. "I think in Joss's case, there's a lot more fun involved, and I'm really glad for that. Mine eventually became that.... I think it's very stressful, in my case because I had not just, you know, singing for soup, but it was like I have a big family, so it was like no matter how much money you bring home, sometimes it's not enough."
Stone considers Wright to be her second "mum," (mom) and the two joke about how Wright threatens Stone with guitar sticks if she doesn't stay on track. Stone's mother was actually her manager in the beginning. When rumors started circulating that Stone fired her mother, the singer scoffed. As she explained to Teddy Jamieson of The Herald, "She was my mum and she managed me for a little second, but at the end of the day at some point you can't take your mum to work with you. That's pretty much all it is."
Stone dropped out of school at sixteen, with her parents' approval. In an interview with SMH.com, the singer remembered, "I was never an academic sort of kid. My parents knew I hated school and I really just looked forward to leaving." When it became obvious Stone's career was going to take her in the right direction, her parents gave her their blessing. With a voice that Wright calls "a gift from heaven," it seemed silly to make the singer continue along a path that wasn't taking her where she wanted to go.
Around this time, the singer decided to change her name, though she did so reluctantly. Her mom thought she needed something catchier than Stoker. In the end, Stone changed it to protect her family from the media attention, since her grandmother had the same last name.
Mind, Body … Soul
Stone performed on television shows such as Good Morning, America and The Conan O'Brien Show following the release of her first album. She could boast that among her fans were actor Tom Cruise and rock and roll legend Mick Jagger. She appeared in Rolling Stone and People magazines. She was hot. But she wasn't about to stop there.
In an article on her U.K. Web site, Stone admits that The Soul Sessions "started out as a side project and turned into this huge thing. I didn't mean it to, but people just kept buying it." A little less than a year later, Stone released her sophomore album, Mind, Body … Soul. "For me, personally, Mind, Body … Soul is my real debut," Stone explains on her Web site. Released in the United States on September 28, 2004, the album contained mostly original songs. Stone cowrote eleven of the fourteen tunes.
"I think my singing is so much better on this album. Your voice can't ever be the same, once you've started singing live as much as I have over the past year," says the singer on her Web site. Many of the songs were recorded in chunks because Stone was touring and playing gigs during the production of the album. Despite that, the sound is not overproduced. Listeners would never know it was pieced together in the studio. The album reached number eleven on Billboard's Top 200 chart in 2004. In October of that year, the album reached number one in the United Kingdom. Mind, Body … Soul also went certified gold in the United States.
2005: A year of making lists
Every year, the United Kingdom hosts the Brit Awards. These awards are given to musicians in a number of categories. Stone was nominated in three categories in 2005 and won two of them. She was voted Best Female British Solo Artist and Best British Urban Act. Stone was just seventeen years old.
In 2005 Stone also was added to the list of Britain's young music millionaires. To qualify for the list, musicians must be thirty years old or younger. Stone, at seventeen, entered at number fourteen with earnings over $5 million. This amount was expected to rise with the continued sale of Mind, Body … Soul.
Perhaps the highest praise Stone could have received in 2005 was to be nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. Though she did not win, the blues singer did get to sing a live duet with famous rocker Melissa Etheridge (1961–) at the Grammy show in February 2005. The two dedicated their medley to the late great rocker Janis Joplin (1943–1970), and it instantly became the number-one download on the iTunes Web site. All proceeds went toward breast cancer research. (Etheridge had recently undergone surgery for breast cancer.)
Stone was officially recognized as the hip, classy up-and-comer when she became the spokesperson for the Gap store's summer campaign of 2005. She became not only the face, but also the sound of Gap. Stone's music was used in Gap ads beginning in April of that year. For the fall campaign, Stone joined recording stars such as Alanis Morissette and Liz Phair to compile a promotional CD for the Gap. Stone sang the Beach Boys's hit "God Only Knows" for that CD, which was released in September 2005.
Plays concerts in the park
In July 2005, Stone was one of more than one thousand musicians to donate their time and talent to participate in Live 8, a concert held in ten cities across the globe. Its mission was to raise awareness of poverty in Africa. Stone performed in London with a list of legendary musicians including Madonna, U2, Coldplay, Dido, Pink Floyd, and the Dave Matthews Band. Stone entertained millions of viewers with the songs "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "Super Duper Love."
According to Contactmusic.com, Stone was so nervous before going on stage that she became violently ill. "I just get so worried about seeing such a massive crowd and not being able to hack it," the tall crooner is quoted as saying.
Just days after performing at Live 8, Stone showed up on stage at T in the Park, Scotland's largest music festival. A ticket to the festival brought you about one hundred musical performances over a period of two days. Stone was among many popular bands, including Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Snoop Dogg, and Audioslave. T in the Park is a phenomenally popular event. Twenty-five thousand tickets for the 2006 show sold out in three hours.
Stone and her boyfriend, Beau Dozier, live in Encino, California. Dozier, who is eight years older than Stone, is also
Live 8 Brings Together Politics and Food
In 1985, more than one hundred musicians performed at concerts held in Europe and the United States. The event was called Live Aid. More than 162,000 people attended the concerts, with an estimated 1.5 billion viewers tuning in to television broadcasts. Live Aid raised $200 million for famine relief in Ethiopia. The event was an amazing collaboration of celebrities and organizers, the chief being Irish rocker Bob Geldof (1951–).
Twenty years later, in July 2005, Geldof once again pulled off a spectacular feat: More than one thousand artists performed in four continents and ten cities. They were not paid one penny for their time or travel expenses. In total, $25 billion was pledged to Africa by the eight wealthiest nations in the world. This money would go directly to fight poverty and improve health care in Africa. Frontman Bono, of the famous band U2, put it this way in an article at Star-eCentral.com: "Live Aid raised $250 million (in 1985) and we were cock-a-hoop [thrilled]. But this is $25 billion for Africa and that's new money.... The world spoke, and the politicians listened."
According to the Live 8 Web site, more than one million people attended the concerts on July 2, while another two billion watched and listened via television. Tickets for the performances were free. Live 8 was held in conjunction with the G8 Summit. The Summit involved the eight most powerful nations (group of eight: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Russia) in the world, and they gathered in Britain to discuss how to help fight the alarming level of poverty in Africa. British prime minister Tony Blair (1953–) credited Live 8 with helping to make the G8 summit a "mighty achievement." By the time the summit ended, summit members had pledged an additional $25 billion in aid, bringing the total pledge to $50 billion. They also cancelled the debts of the eighteen poorest countries and committed to training twenty thousand peacekeepers for African American leaders to use to help usher in democracy.
Geldof initially did not want to plan Live 8. He explained his feelings to Pete Norman of People: "I'm loath to mess with Live Aid. It was a perfect day...." Geldof was approached by his old friend Bono to organize a new and improved event. After much arguing, Bono convinced Geldof that another concert event could work. Geldof told BBC News, "In 1985 it was about charity, raising money for charity, when it was Live Aid. Today it's about a campaign for justice and empowerment for millions of people around the world...."
At the time of the G8 Summit and Live 8, 51 percent of Africans were under the age of fifteen. About 1.9 million children were infected with the HIV virus (the virus that leads to the deadly AIDS disease), and 17 million Africans had already died from AIDS. AIDS stands for Auto-Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is a disease that weakens the immune system, making the body more susceptible to many illnesses, and eventually kills its victims. According to Bono's DATA Web site, 6,300 Africans die every day fromAIDS or HIV infection. More than 300 million people-nearly half the population-of Sub-Saharan Africa live on $1 a day. But the country spends $30 billion a year repaying debts to the richest countries in the world.
