Joss Stone

Joss Stone (born Joscelyn Eve Stoker on April 11, 1987) is an English soul and R&B singer.

Biography

Joss Stone was born in Dover, Kent, England in 1987 and spent her teenage years in Ashill, Devon. She grew up listening to a wide variety of music including R&B, and soul music performed by such artists as Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin; as a result, she developed a soulful style of singing like her idols. At 14, she appeared on Star for a Night on BBC Television singing Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". She told MTV News, "I kind of clicked into soul music more than anything else because of the vocals. You've got to have good vocals to sing soul music and I always liked it ever since I was little."

In 2002, she decided to back her ability by flying out from England for an audition in New York City with S-Curve CEO Steve Greenberg. She also signed a global music publishing deal with BMG Music Publishing in the UK.

Since then, she has performed with such artists as Blondie and Gladys Knight. She was named as the spokesperson for the megastore Gap, although she was reportedly dropped because of rumours of her living with Beau Dozier (son of record producer, Lamont Dozier), while she was only 17.

She won two Brit awards in 2005 for "Best Female Solo Artist" and "Best Urban Artist".

The Soul Sessions

After being signed by S-Curve Records, Joss flew to Miami, Florida, to start work on her debut album, The Soul Sessions. She collaborated with people with solid credentials in the Miami soul scene such as Betty Wright, Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas and Little Beaver. She also worked with contemporary acts Angie Stone and The Roots.

The album consists of little known soul tracks by Wright, Franklin, Laura Lee and Bettye Swann. Released in late 2003, it reached the top 5 in the UK Albums Chart, and also made the top forty of the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart. The lead single, "Fell In Love With A Boy", which was a reworking of The White Stripes' song "Fell In Love With A Girl", reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart. The second single, "Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin' On Me?)", also reached the top twenty.

Stone was already working on an R&B debut album when The Soul Sessions were recorded. Much of this R&B album was scrapped following the success of The Soul Sessions, which remains by far her biggest-selling album, even though it was recorded with the same criteria and in the same amount of time as most studio demos.

Mind, Body & Soul

After achieving critical acclaim for The Soul Sessions, Stone recorded an album full of original songs in 2004 titled Mind, Body & Soul. It proved to be an even bigger success than her first album, as it debuted at #1 in the UK (breaking the record for the youngest female ever to top the albums charts there, a record previously held by Avril Lavigne) and just missed the top ten of the U.S. Billboard 200, after peaking at #11. The lead single, "You Had Me", became her first top ten in the UK. Follow-up singles "Right To Be Wrong" and "Spoiled" both made the top forty, and "Don't Cha Wanna Ride" the top twenty. "Spoiled" landed just outside of the top 50 of America's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at #54.

On 14 November, 2004 Stone joined Band Aid 20 to benefit Sudan's troubled Darfur region. The group, consisting of such luminaries as Chris Martin and U2 lead singer Bono, re-recorded the 1984 song "Do They Know It's Christmas?", written by Band Aid organizers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. Stone, born 2 years after the release of the original single, wasn't initially aware who Bob Geldof was.The media gleefully reported that she repeatedly referred to him as Bob Gandalf.^*^*

In February 2005, Stone was nominated for three Brit Awards, of which she won two; Best Female and Best Urban Act. She was also nominated three times at the 2005 Grammy Awards, where she sang barefoot on stage with rock performer Melissa Etheridge, in tribute to blues rock singer Janis Joplin. Their performance of "Cry Baby"/"Piece Of My Heart" was released as a single, and, through the aid of strong digital downloads, became Stone's first top forty U.S. hit when it debuted at #32 (where it ultimately would peak) on the Billboard Hot 100. In July of 2005 she lent her vocal talents to the Fantastic Four soundtrack, singing the title song "What Ever Happened To The Heroes", written by P!nk, billymann, and Christopher Rojas.

In July 2005, Stone performed at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London, and did a duet with R&B/soul singer James Brown on UK chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. On February 5, 2006, she joined John Legend and Stevie Wonder at the Super Bowl XL pre-game show in performing a medley of Wonder's hits and on the night of the Grammys 2006, she helped perform a medley of hits by the reclusive soul/funk singer Sly Stone.

Eragon

Joss Stone will make her film debut in the fantasy epic Eragon, which will release on December 15, 2006. In the movie, Stone plays the witch Angela.

Discography

Albums

Title	The Soul Sessions		Mind, Body & Soul
Title	Peak Position	Sales Certificate	Peak Position	Sales Certificate
United States	#39	Gold	#11	Platinum
United Kingdom	#4	3xPlatinum	#1	3xPlatinum
Germany	#4	Gold	#7	Platinum
France	#29	-	#9	Gold
Canada	5	Platinum	-	Gold
Australia	#16	Platinum	#7	Gold
Brazil	-	-	-	Gold
Europe	-	Platinum	-	Platinum

Sales Certificate Key

Key	Europe (IFPI)	UK (BPI)	U.S.A. (RIAA)	Australia (ARIA)	Canada (CRIA)	Germany (IFPI.De)	Brazil (ABPD)	France
Platinum	1million	300,000	1million	70,000	100,000	200,000	125,000	300,000
Gold	--	100,000	500,000	35,000	50,000	100,000	50,000	100,000

Sales certificates are issued in relation to the amount of copies that are shipped to music stores - NOT actual sales
Please note that individual European countries, such as UK, Germany and France all issue sales certificates for sales within their country. However, "Europe" sales certificates are issued by the IFPI and includes sales/shipments made over the whole continent. When trying to calculate global sales, do not get confused and count both the "Europe" sales certificate and individual countries certificates.

Singles

Year	Title	Positions		Album
Year	Title	UK Singles	U.S. Hot 100	Album
2004	"Fell In Love With A Boy"	#18	-	The Soul Sessions
2004	"Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin' On Me?)"	#18	-	The Soul Sessions
2004	"You Had Me"	#9	-	Mind, Body & Soul
2004	"Right To Be Wrong"	#29	-	Mind, Body & Soul
2005	"Spoiled"	#32	-	Mind, Body & Soul
2005	"Don't Cha Wanna Ride"	#20	-	Mind, Body & Soul
2005	"Cry Baby"/"Piece of My Heart" (with Melissa Etheridge)	-	#32	Mind, Body & Soul
2006	"Cry Baby Cry" (with Carlos Santana & Sean Paul)	#71	-	-

References

Sales certificates: Europe | American | British

External links

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