Please join Roadhouse Oldies in wishing a very Happy Birthday to r&b/pop singer-songwriter SANANDA MAITREYA, formerly known as TERENCE TRENT DARBY! Sananda Francesco Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard in Manhattan, New York, New York on March 15, 1962), better known by his former stage name Terence Trent DArby, is an American singer-songwriter who came to fame with his album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent DArby, released in July 1987, which included the singles Wishing Well and Sign Your Name. Terence Trent DArby was born Terence Trent Howard in Manhattan in 1962. His mother is Frances Howard Darby, a gospel singer, teacher and counselor; she married Bishop James Benjamin Darby, who became the artists stepfather and raised him, hence his last name changed and later he completed it with the apostrophe. He was known to childhood friends as Terry Darby. His family moved successively from New York to New Jersey, to Chicago, to Daytona Beach, and then settled in DeLand, Florida, north of Orlando. He trained as a boxer in Orlando and in 1980 won the Florida Golden Gloves lightweight championship. He received an offer to attend boxing school in the United States Army, but he went to college instead. He enrolled at the University of Central Florida but quit a year later, enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was posted at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and then served in the 3rd Armored Division, near Frankfurt, West Germany. He was formally court-martialed and dishonorably discharged by the army in April 1983 after going absent without leave. While in West Germany, he also worked as a band leader with the band The Touch, releasing an album of material called Love On Time (1984). It was later re-issued in 1989 as Early Works after his worldwide success as a solo artist. In 1986 he left West Germany for London, where he briefly played with The Bojangels, after which he signed a solo recording deal. DArbys debut solo album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent DArby, released in July 1987, is his best-known commercial work. The album produced hits including If You Let Me Stay, Wishing Well, Dance Little Sister, and Sign Your Name. He expressed a high opinion of his debut album, brashly claiming that it was the most important album since the Beatles Sgt. Pepper. The album earned him a Grammy Award in March 1988 in the category Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. In that same year, he earned a Soul Train Award nomination for Best New Artist. His follow-up was the album Neither Fish Nor Flesh (1989). It took four more years and a move to Los Angeles until his next album, Symphony or Damn (1993) was released. The record contained the singles Delicate and She Kissed Me. It peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart. In 1995, DArby released Vibrator which was followed by a world tour. During the 1990s, his relations with his record label Columbia Records became strained, eventually leading to his departure in 1996. He moved to Java Records for one year, during which he recorded Terence Trent DArbys Solar Return, which was not released. In 2000, he bought back the rights to his unreleased album and left the record company as well as his management team, Lippman Entertainment. In 1999, DArby collaborated with INXS to replace his friend, the late vocalist Michael Hutchence, so the band could play at the opening of facilities for the Sydney Olympics. He adopted a new name, Sananda Maitreya, which he has said relates to a series of dreams he had in 1995. He legally changed his name six years later on October 4, 2001, explaining, Terence Trent DArby was dead... he watched his suffering as he died a noble death. After intense pain I meditated for a new spirit, a new will, a new identity. In 2001, Maitreya moved back to Europe, resettling in Munich, Germany and starting his own independent record label, Treehouse Pub. The year also marked his first album release in six years, as the unreleased Terence Trent DArbys Solar Return became the album Wildcard. The album was initially available for free through his website. It later gained a commercial release through a one-album distribution deal with Universal Music and then an independent release with the artists own record label. In 2002, Maitreya moved to Milan, Italy, and began working on his next album, Angels & Vampires - Volume I. The songs were initially released through Weedshare by chapters, allowing the fans to get a glimpse of the work as it evolved. On July 29, 2005, the fully mastered album was finally released through his webshop utilizing the mp3 format and then became also available in CD format. In July 2005, Maitreya started working on Angels & Vampires - Volume II. He released each chapter online as he finished recording the songs. On April 29, 2006, he released the finished mastered album in his online shop. That was followed by the release of the 2CD limited edition of Angels & Vampires at the end of 2007. In 2009, the album Nigor Mortis: A Critical Mass was released on his official website both as a CD and as Mp3. In 2010 he started the recording of his next project called The Sphinx, available in CD and mastered mp3 on the ecommerce of his official website. Its release was first in chapters and then as the full mastered project in the spring of 2011 at Zooathalon. At the official website the instrumental version of two of his studio albums has also been made available. Since the early stages of his music career he has always written, composed, arranged and produced all his tracks. In his new studio he recorded albums such as Angels & Vampires and Nigor Mortis and The Sphinx. In all his productions he plays all instruments. He has been touring with his band The Nudge Nudge throughout Europe to present his new music which he calls Post Millennium Rock. In April 2011 the live album Confessions of a Zooathaholic, which contains select performances of the Post Millennium Rock Tour 2010, has been released in mp3 format. In 2012 he started working on his new project Return To Zooathalon, that has been released worldwide on March 2013 on the official website Sananda.org/new music and on various music stores. He has appeared in two films, and in the TV mini-series Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story in which he played the part of Jackie Wilson. His music has been included on several movie and television soundtracks, notably his version of the theme song of 1991s Frankie and Johnny. One of his songs was featured prominently in the end credits of Beverly Hills Cop III, Right Thing, Wrong Way, which he wrote and produced with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Another of his songs, What Shall I Do?, was featured in an episode of the UPN television series Girlfriends. In 2007, three songs appeared on Judd Apatows movie Knocked Up and on these movies: Prêt-à-Porter, The Promised Land[disambiguation needed], Funny People, Up In the Air. He was featured on A Stronger Man, a dance single by Everything but the Girls Ben Watt. He also sang a duet with Desree on the single Delicate from the album Symphony or Damn. In 2008, Nathan Jay remixed the song As Yet Untitled on This Land Is Still My Home, from the album Virtually. He did background vocals on Corey Harts Love and Money track from his 1992 album Attitude & Virtue. With Miki Howard he recorded I Love Every Little Thing About You. In 1996 he co-wrote with Hans Zimmer, produced and performed Letting Go for the film The Fan starring Robert De Niro.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 19:04:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015