Alannah Myles is a famous Canadian singer in the 1990s, who became very famous thanks to the single Black Velvet (1989). The song peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990. Since then, the singer has released new releases every few years. But Black Velvet is still her most recognizable composition.
Childhood and early years of Alannah Myles
The birthplace in 1958 for the future singer was the city of Toronto (the capital of the province of Ontario, Canada). The girl from childhood was destined to become a star, it was in her blood.
The girl's father, William Biles, is a well-known Canadian broadcaster (he was even included in the local Hall of Fame for this profile). From childhood, the girl was instilled with a love for various creative directions. But she had a particular interest in music.
Already at the age of 9 she began to write music - poetry and melodies. She sang the same songs at home and at school. In 1970, the Kiwanis festival took place in Toronto, where the future star performed her song and won one of the prizes. So the fate of the girl was predetermined.
By the age of 18, she had already become a very famous performer in her province. Therefore, she organized solo performances in Ontario. Periodic concerts allowed her to find her first fans of creativity and meet Christopher Ward. Thanks to him, she began her professional career. He helped her create her own group, after which the team played cover versions of famous blues and rock hits.
During the same period, she began recording Alannah Myles' first solo album. However, the release was written very slowly. In the mid-1980s, she was invited to star in a number of television series. The most famous of them was the project "Children from Degrassi Street".
This role was interesting for Alanna because she was to play an aspiring singer. With which she eventually successfully coped. Due to television projects, her career as a performer was delayed for some time.
Active musical activity of Alannah Myles
Since the mid-1980s, Alanna has been writing new music (mostly cover versions of hits from the 1970s and 1980s). She was actively promoted by Christopher Ward.
As a result, the girl signed a contract with a major music label Atlantic Records in 1987. This was followed by a major contract with Warner Music Group. Then she ended her career as an actress and began active musical activity.
The Alannah Myles album was released in the spring of 1989. The record was recorded over several years. Such hard work is not in vain. The release was very rich in hits. Four songs at once, including Love Is and Black Velvet, hit multiple charts in Canada, the US and the UK. Thanks to the powerful singles and the excitement around the young singer, the record was sold with a circulation of more than 1 million copies.
For Canadian artists of that time, this was an unattainable bar. Today, the release boasts a figure of 6 million copies. Thanks to this album, the star toured large halls in America and Britain for more than a year and a half.
After the album's release in December 1989, it was released separately as a Black Velvet single in the United States. This again made the song a hit, and there was a second wave of its popularity. After that, the composition was nominated for the prestigious Grammy Award, which Alanna eventually received. By the way, in 2000 this song was played on the radio more than 5 million times.
New releases of the singer
Two years later, Miles was again nominated for a Grammy Award with the song Rockinghorse (from the album of the same name). However, this time she did not win. The album was also released in 1992. It was accepted by the audience more coolly than the first, but won many prestigious music awards. The songs Our World, Our Times and Sonny, Say You Will became hits in Canada and the USA. In general, the release was successful, but he did not repeat the success of his debut album.
Three years later, Alanna released the album A-lan-nah, which was her last release on the Atlantic label. Family Secret and Blow Wind, Blow are the most successful tracks from the record that hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Interestingly, by that time Alanna's contract included recording eight full-fledged releases at once. However, she turned to manager Miles Copeland, who helped legally terminate the contract.
Alannah Myles has changed labels
At the same time, Copeland invited the singer to collaborate with his own label Ark 21 Records. Here the singer decided to continue her future career.
Rival is the singer's next album, it was well received by the public. Its success was not as significant as previous releases. In particular, the song Bad 4 You hit the top 40 best songs in Canada. There are also copyright issues here. The album and all rights to it belonged to the label until 2014. And only recently Alanna managed to get all the rights to her songs.
Over the next four years, two collections of the singer were released, in which there were old hits and several new compositions. After that, the singer left Ark 21 Records.
Miles left the "big stage" for a long time. Until 2007, her only activity was performing, mostly in Canada. On the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, she released her first album in years, Elvis Tribute. It was an EP album released on iTunes.
A year later, a full-fledged release of Black Velvet was released, named after the famous hit of the singer. The album contains a re-performed version of the song, as well as several new compositions. The release did not enjoy world popularity, but the fans of the performer remembered it.
Today, Alanna continues to occasionally release new songs. The latest studio album "85 BPM" was released in 2014.
