Malina Moye | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | August 20, 1984 |
Genres | Rock, blues rock, pop rock, R&B, neo soul, funk |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician, record label owner, actress |
Instrument(s) | Lead guitar, vocals |
Years active | 2004–present |
Labels | WCE Records, BDG, RED Distribution |
Website | www |
Malina Moye (born August 20, 1984) [1] is an American singer-songwriter, lefty guitarist, model, actress, and entrepreneur, who fuses pop, rock, and soul. As a lefty, Moye draws comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, but plays her guitars flipped upside-down like Albert King. [2] Moye founded WCE Records in 2004. [3] Fender guitars recognizes Moye as one of their first African-American left-handed upside-down female endorsee to join the Fender family. [4] Moye's fourth album Dirty was released worldwide on March 17, 2023, to critical acclaim landing on top of the Billboard Blues chart marking Moye's eighth appearance on the chart. Dirty was also voted into the top five of Guitar World Magazine's Best Guitar Albums of 2023 list. Malina's third studio album Bad as I Wanna Be was released March 23, 2018, reaching number one for two weeks straight on the Billboard Blues chart and landed on Billboard's Heatseakers Album Chart at number 19. [5] Parade Magazine declared "Moye has proven herself once again as an über talented, electric guitar powerhouse." [6] The song "Enough" premiered on Minnesota's KCMP The Current 89.3, an NPR station, and is also featured in the film The Samuel Project . Rolling Stone France gave the album four stars stating that "Moye perfectly blends, Blues, Funk, Rock and Pop." [7]
In 2020 her single "Enough" had a resurgence with the Black Lives Matter movement and in 2021 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame chose to feature Malina as one of today's most influential artists in the "Here And Now" exhibit at the museum alongside artists Janelle Monae, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Drive-By Truckers. [8] Also in 2021, Moye was featured in Bella Thorne's single Phantom.[ circular reference ] The music video garnered three million views in 48 hours and over one million views on triller in 24 hours. [9] In July 2021, Dean Markley announced a historic partnership with Moye to release the Malina Moye Signature guitar strings, making her the first woman of color in history to have her own line of strings. [10]
In 2024, AXS TV and Spin Magazine listed Moye as one of the Top left-handed guitarists of all time [11] and one of the 30 most famous left-handed players in the world. [12] Moye was also featured at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame's Revolutionary Women exhibit unveiled in March 2024 for Women's History Month. [13]
After releasing her single "Girlfriend" and cross-marketing it with her new calendar "Spend 12 Months With Malina Moye: Hot Fun in California Sun," she caught the attention of critics alike, who dubbed Malina a "Madonna-like ingénue of marketing". This helped land her song, "Girlfriend", on the R&B Hip-Hop Sales Billboard listing at number 43 for one week. Recently, Guitar World Magazine named Moye as one of the ten female guitarists in the world to know. [14]
Moye's next single "Alone" was released independently, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop single sales chart, [15] and remained on the chart for over twenty weeks. The song also reached number 93 on the Hot R&B Airplay chart [16] and number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. She has appeared on national TV shows including Weekends at the D.L. , Emeril Live and morning shows such as Good Morning Chicago and Showcase Minnesota. In 2007, Moye was featured in the UK documentary Stratmaster: The Greatest Guitar Story Ever Told, alongside Robert Cray, Mark Knopfler, and Jimi Hendrix. Moye has also been seen on the catwalk and on the silver screen. [17] [18] [19]
With her unorthodox style and musicianship, Moye received an invite to appear at the Robert Johnson Blues Festival as the only female singer, lefty guitarist on the roster, sharing the stage with last living blues musicians David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, and Pinetop Perkins. [20] In 2009, Moye opened for Robin Thicke and Boyz II Men on several US dates.
Along with playing at other notable festivals around the world, Moye serves as an ambassador to HRH Prince Charles' The Prince's Trust, to which she donated her song "Hustler's Blues" to the trust-supported, charitable Wilberforce [21] compilation record released on AMD/Universal Music. [22] With a soft digital release in 2009, Moye released Diamonds & Guitars. That fall Malina was also a part of Victoria's Secret's "Life is Pink" campaign and sang the National Anthem for more than 40,000 people at the Petco Park Cubs Vs. Padres baseball game. Moye also received her own day and a proclamation from the Mayor of her hometown for her musical contributions before performing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland honoring Michael Jackson.
In 2010 Moye played the National Anthem on the guitar at the sold-out Vikings/Cowboys game in her hometown of Minneapolis in front of 80,000 people, making history as the first African-American woman to play the anthem on electric guitar at a professional sports event. [23] Also in 2010, Moye was named best dressed at the 52nd Grammy awards, wearing an electric blue dress by Kevan Hall. [24]
In 2011, after playing the main stage at one of Europe's biggest rock festivals, Bospop, Moye headlined the west coast's largest peace concert "Artists for Peace" with Chaka Khan, Eric Benet, and Flora Martirosian honoring the iconic Stevie Wonder for his musical lifetime achievements and promoting world peace.
In 2012, Moye voted by Glamour Magazine as one of the best dressed at the Grammy Awards. [25] Also that year, she joined the Experience Hendrix Tour as the only female guitarist with guitar greats such as Eric Johnson, Robert Randolph, Eric Gales, Brad Whitford, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Jonny Lang to all honor Jimi Hendrix. [26] In the fall, Moye made her second appearance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a featured artist for the institution's tribute concert honoring Chuck Berry where she performed the song "Stop and Listen" to Berry and his wife Themetta "Toddy" Suggs in the audience. The show also featured such prominent music icons as Ernie Isley, Darryl McDaniels (DMC), Steve Jordan, Lemmy Kilmister, Vernon Reid, Earl Slick, Merle Haggard, and Joe Bonamassa to name a few. [27]
In 2013, Moye signed a global marketing and distribution deal with Brody Distribution Group (BDG), distributed by RED Distribution (a division of Sony Music Corp). [28] In the Summer, Moye performed a successful European tour promoting the first single "K-yotic" featuring Bootsy Collins from her 2014 album "Rock & Roll Baby." During the tour, Moye honored the Queen of England's 60-year reign with her rendition of "God Save The Queen" at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, culminating in a Royal flyover by the famed Red Arrows fighter jet squadron. [29]
In 2014, Moye released Rock & Roll Baby . The first single "K-yotic" featured Bootsy Collins which Billboard called "explosive" debuted on Billboard Twitter 140 chart at No. 5, [30] and at No. 11 on Billboard's Hot Singles Sales chart. Guitar World stated that "Moye's record is insanely good bringing a certain passion and feel to her guitar playing". [31] Elmore Magazine said "Moye demonstrates once again she can play with the best of them fusing rock, blues, funk and soul…[her] new EP indeed shows the influence of Hendrix, while reaffirming her own unique sound. [32] " WNKU listed the record at No. 9 on its Top 89 Albums of 2014. [33] Moye also appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show to support the album and played her rock anthem "A Little Rough" which peaked at no. 44 on Billboard's Social chart. [34] In 2015, Moye appeared on the January cover of Asia's number one guitar magazine Gitar Plus, which named her the "Queen of funk rock".
In 2017, Moye became engaged to film director Marc Fusco. [35]
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American bass guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer.
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the rock band Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States with Santana, which pioneered a fusion of rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured his melodic, blues-based lines set against Latin American and African rhythms played on percussion instruments not generally heard in rock, such as timbales and congas. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s.
The Isley Brothers are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, the group has enjoyed one of the "longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music".
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American musician, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Manassas. As both a solo act and member of three successful bands, Stills has combined record sales of over 35 million albums. He was ranked number 28 in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and number 47 in the 2011 list. Stills became the first person to be inducted twice on the same night into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. According to Neil Young, "Stephen is a genius".
Ike & Tina Turner was an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band, the Kings of Rhythm, and backing vocalists, the Ikettes. The Ike & Tina Turner Revue was regarded as "one of the most potent live acts on the R&B circuit."
John Dawson Winter III was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1960s into the early 2000s. He also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. After his time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
"Johnny B. Goode" is a song by American musician Chuck Berry, written and sung by Berry in 1958. Released as a single in 1958, it peaked at number two on the Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre-Hot 100 chart. The song remains a staple of rock music.
Albert Nelson, known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and influential album Born Under a Bad Sign (1967) and its title track. He, B.B. King, and Freddie King, all unrelated, were known as the " The three Kings of the Blues". The left-handed Albert King was known for his "deep, dramatic sound that was widely imitated by both blues and rock guitarists".
William Frederick Gibbons is an American rock musician, best known as the guitarist and primary vocalist of ZZ Top. He began his career in Moving Sidewalks, who recorded Flash (1969) and opened four dates for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Gibbons formed ZZ Top in late 1969 and released ZZ Top's First Album in early 1971. He has also maintained a solo career in recent years, starting with his first album Perfectamundo (2015).
Elvin Richard Bishop is an American blues and rock music singer, guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 2015, and in the Blues Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2016.
Beth Hart is an American musician from Los Angeles, California. She rose to fame with the release of her 1999 single "LA Song " from her second album Screamin' for My Supper. The single was a number one hit in New Zealand, as well as reaching the top 5 of the US Adult Contemporary and Top 10 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 charts.
Joseph Leonard Bonamassa is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, of which eleven have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues chart.
"The Things That I Used to Do" is a blues standard written by Guitar Slim. He recorded it at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Recording Studio in New Orleans, where the young Ray Charles arranged and produced the session. Specialty Records released the song as a single in 1953 and it became a bestseller the following year. Specialty founder Art Rupe believed that the appeal would be limited to the Southern U.S. rural audience. However, urban rhythm and blues radio stations in the North began airing the song and built it into a national hit. As a result, Guitar Slim became in great demand as a performer and played at venues such as the Apollo Theater in New York City.
Eric Gales, also known as Raw Dawg, is an American blues rock guitarist, originally hailed as a child prodigy. As of 2022, Gales has recorded nineteen albums for major record labels and has done session and tribute work. He has also contributed vocals on several records by the Memphis rap groups Prophet Posse and Three 6 Mafia under the names Lil E and Mack E.
Paul Nelson was an American Grammy award winning blues and rock guitarist, record producer and songwriter. He played and or recorded alongside artists such as Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and members of the Allman Brothers Band. He was the hand-picked guitarist to join Johnny Winter's band in 2010, performing on and producing several of Winter's albums, including the Grammy Award-nominated I'm a Blues Man, Roots, and Step Back, which won the Grammy Award for Best Blues Album, debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart for Blues Albums, and Independent Albums, and debuted at #16 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking the highest spot in Winter's career. Nelson was also a Blues Music Award recipient for Best Rock Blues Album, and was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame and was a recipient of the KBA award from the Blues Foundation. He received a Grammy nomination for his work as producer and performer on Joe Louis Walker's, Everybody Wants a Piece.
Dirty is the fourth album from singer-songwriter-guitarist Malina Moye. The album was released worldwide on March 17, 2023, landing at number 12 on the Billboard Blues chart marking Moye's third appearance on the chart. Dirty was also voted into the top five Best Guitar Albums of 2023 by Guitar World Magazine.
Diamonds & Guitars is the debut album from American singer, songwriter and guitarist Malina Moye. The record was removed from retail outlets after WCE Records' distribution and marketing deal was signed with Sony's RED Distribution in 2013.
Rock & Roll Baby is an EP from American singer/songwriter/guitarist Malina Moye. The first single “K-yotic” featured Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s funk legend Bootsy Collins which Billboard called "explosive" debuted on Billboard Twitter 140 chart at #5, and at #11 on Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales chart. Guitar World stated that “Moye's record is insanely good bringing a certain passion and feel to her guitar playing." Elmore Magazine said “Moye demonstrates once again she can play with the best of them fusing rock, blues, funk and soul…[her] new EP indeed shows the influence of Hendrix, while reaffirming her own unique sound.” WNKU listed the record at #9 on its Top 89 Albums of 2014. Moye also appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show to support the album and played her rock anthem "A Little Rough" which peaked at no. 44 on the Billboard Social chart. In 2015, Moye appeared on the January cover of Asia's number one guitar magazine Gitar Plus which named her the “Queen of Funk rock.” The single 'Are You The One' was the second-most added song on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart the week of its release.
"Are You the One" is the third single from Malina Moye's Rock & Roll Baby album. The remix of the single was released March 4, 2016 and was the second-most added song at the Urban Adult Contemporary radio format upon its release. The single was remixed by Bjorn Soderberg also produced Moye’s previous singles "Alone" and "Girlfriend." Singersroom stated that “Moye is considered one of the top female guitarists in the world, and has carved out her own lane in today’s music scene as one of the few artists able to straddle both Rock and Soul genres.”
Bad as I Wanna Be is the third album released by American singer/songwriter/guitarist Malina Moye, produced by Björn ‘Polarbear’ Soderberg. Moye stated to HuffPost that the album is about "celebration of self and being your own super hero." Parade Magazine said "Moye has proven herself once again as an über talented, electric guitar powerhouse." The record was released worldwide March 23, 2018 to critical acclaim after Moye made a promotional tour in Berlin, Cologne, Paris, London, and Amsterdam. The American version of the album has six songs and the European version has ten songs. The album reached number one for two weeks straight on the Billboard Blues chart published May 8 and 15, 2018.