Milira | |
---|---|
Birth name | Milira Jones |
Also known as | Milira |
Born | Hollis, New York, U.S. | September 27, 1969
Origin | Manhattan, New York, US |
Genres | R&B, soul |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Years active | 1990–present |
Labels | Motown Records |
Milira Jones (born September 27, 1969), better known as Milira, is an American R&B/soul singer born in Hollis, New York. She released two albums in the 1990s and had four charting singles on Billboard's R&B singles chart, with two peaking top 40. [1]
Milira Jones was born in Hollis, New York. She won amateur night at the Apollo Theater in the late 1980s, which led to a recording contract with Apollo Records, a label distributed through Motown Records. [2] Jones was influenced by jazz musician Sarah Vaughn. [2]
Prior to signing with Motown, Jones released her debut album on June 15, 1990, Milira . Her debut album spent 42 weeks on the Billboard R&B albums chart, reaching number 29. [3] It scored two top 40 R&B singles, "Go Outside in the Rain" (#36) and a cover version of Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" featuring Noel Pointer (#21). [1]
On June 9, 1992, Milira released her follow-up album, Back Again!!! and two songs from the album charted on Billboard's R&B singles chart, "One Man Woman" (#45) and "Three's a Crowd" (#94). [1] Jones released her third album titled, Solution which was Christian and gospel themed with a mixture of R&B and Soul and also it was released under her own personal record label, Arilim Records and the CD album was released on September 12, 2000.
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
US R&B [3] | ||
Milira |
| 29 |
Back Again |
| 81 |
Solution |
| — |
No Mo Pain |
| — |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US R&B [1] | UK [4] | ||||
"Waiting Here for You" | 1990 | ― | ― | Milira | |
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" | 21 | 87 | |||
"Go Outside in the Rain" | 36 | ― | |||
"One Man Woman" | 1992 | 45 | ― | Back Again!!! | |
"Three's a Crowd" | 94 | ― | |||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.
The Elgins were an American vocal group on the Motown label, active from the late 1950s to 1967. Their most successful record was "Heaven Must Have Sent You", written and produced by the Holland–Dozier–Holland team, which was a hit in the US in 1966, and in the UK when reissued in 1971.
Brenda Holloway is an American soul singer who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the hits "Every Little Bit Hurts", "When I'm Gone", and "You've Made Me So Very Happy". The latter, which she co-wrote, was later widely popularized when it became a Top Ten hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears. She left Motown after four years, at the age of 22, and largely retired from the music industry until the 1990s, after her recordings had become popular on the British "Northern soul" scene.
"I Can't Help Myself" is a 1965 song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
"I Want You" is a song written by Leon Ware and Arthur "T-Boy" Ross and performed by American singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye. It was released as a single in 1976 on his fourteenth studio album of the same name (1976) on his Tamla label. The song introduced a change in musical styles for Gaye, who before then had been recording songs with a funk edge. "I Want You", among other similar songs, gave him a disco audience. Ware, who produced the song alongside Gaye, also was attributed with the single's success.
"You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" from Method Man and Mary J. Blige.
"Shop Around" is a song originally recorded by the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. It was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. It became a smash hit in 1960 when originally recorded by the Miracles, reaching number one on the Billboard R&B chart, number one on the Cashbox Top 100 Pop Chart, and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was the Miracles' first million-selling hit record, and the first-million-selling hit for the Motown Record Corporation.
"You're a Special Part of Me" was a successful duet single for soul singers and Motown label mates Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye, released in 1973. The original duet was one of the few originals featured on their famed album, Diana & Marvin, and was among the most successful of the songs the Motown label mates made reaching #4 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and #12 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.
"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" is an R&B song written by Gary Jackson, Raynard Miner, and Carl Smith. It was recorded by Jackie Wilson for his album Higher and Higher (1967), produced by Carl Davis, and became a Top 10 pop and number one R&B hit.
The Monitors were an American vocal group who recorded for Motown Records in the 1960s. The group, which consisted of lead singer Richard Street, Sandra Fagin, John "Maurice" Fagin, and Warren Harris, had two minor hits, "Say You", and then a cover of the Valadiers' "Greetings ", which reached #21 on the Billboard R&B Chart, and #100 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart.
"California Soul" is a funk-soul tune written by Ashford & Simpson, issued originally as the B-side of the Messengers' single "Window Shopping" in 1967 under the Motown group of labels.
"The Bells" is a 1970 single recorded by The Originals for Motown's Soul label, produced by Marvin Gaye and co-written by Gaye, his wife Anna Gordy Gaye, Iris Gordy, and Elgie Stover.
"Forever Came Today" is a 1968 song written and produced by the Motown collective of Holland–Dozier–Holland, and was first made into a hit as a single for Diana Ross & the Supremes in early 1968. A disco version of the song was released as a single seven years later by Motown group the Jackson 5.
Alfred Orlando Johnson was an American R&B singer, writer, arranger and producer. He co-wrote the song "We Have Love for You" with Deniece Williams from her 1977 album Songbird.
"You've Made Me So Very Happy" is a song written by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy, and was released first as a single in 1967 by Brenda Holloway on the Tamla label. The song was later a huge hit for jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1969, and became a Gold record.
Ruby Winters was an American soul singer: primarily recording in Nashville, Winters had several R&B hits from 1967 to 1974 but is best known for her 1977 UK Top Ten hit "I Will".
"Heaven Must Have Sent You" is a song written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland when at Motown, and first recorded by The Elgins in 1966. It was also a 1979 disco hit single by Bonnie Pointer.
The Sisters Love was an American R&B and funk ensemble active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Milira is the debut studio album by American R&B singer Milira. It was released by Motown Records on June 15, 1990 in the United States. Chiefly produced by Donald Dee Bowden, the album reached number 29 on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart and scored two top 40 R&B singles, "Go Outside in the Rain" and a cover version of Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me ." The album also includes a cover of Aretha Franklin's "Until You Come Back to Me ".