25 April 2007
The soulful sounds of India.Arie are set to mesmerise music lovers when she performs at the Divas Concert alongside some of South Africa's finest women musicians.
The concert, in its sixth year, is billed to attract a capacity crowd on Sunday, 29 April, at Supersport Park in Centurion, to the south of Pretoria. The show will be preceded by a performance by India.Arie and international R&B and gospel star, Oleta Adams, at Carnival City in Boksburg on Freedom Day, Friday 27 April.
Professionally known as India.Arie, the two-time Grammy Award-winning American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, record producer and guitarist, will share the stage with at the Divas Concert with local musos Sibongile Khumalo, Judith Sephuma, Rebecca Malope, Letta Mbulu, Zamajobe and Mafikizolo.
Born India Arie Simpson, in Denver, Colorado, she acquired her musical skills early in life encouraged by both parents, Joyce and Ralph. Her mother Joyce was a former singer and is now her stylist.
She had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing.
Her first album, Acoustic Soul was released in 2001, drawing an uncommonly broad range of listeners from lovers of hip-hop, the so-called nu soul, blues, folk, and classic troubadour-style singer-songwriter, all at once.
India.Arie followed the success of her debut in 2002 with the release of Voyage to India. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B chart. Voyage To India earned her two Grammy Awards in 2003 for Best R&B Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the song Little Things. Soon after its release, Voyage to India was certified Platinum.
India.Arie's third studio album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, was released on June 27, 2006. It gave India.Arie her first number-one on the Billboard 200 and was her second chart topper on the R&B chart. This album was also the first number-one album for Motown in 33 years since Diana Ross's Lady Sings the Blues in 1972.
India.Arie last performed in South Africa at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Cape Town in 2003.
Tickets for both shows are available at Computicket.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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