Milira

Last updated

Milira
Birth nameMilira Jones
Also known asMilira
Born (1969-09-27) September 27, 1969 (age 54)
Hollis, New York, U.S.
Origin Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Genres R&B, soul
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active1990present
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]

Contents

Biography

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]

Music career

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.

Discography

Albums

YearAlbumLabel US R&B
[3]
1990 Milira Motown 29
1992 Back Again!!! 81
2000SolutionArilim

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positions
US R&B
[1]
UK
[4]
1990"Waiting Here for You"
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"2187
"Go Outside in the Rain"36
1992"One Man Woman"45
"Three's a Crowd"94
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin Starr</span> American singer and songwriter

Charles Edwin Hatcher , known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one hit "War".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Chandler</span> American musician

Gene Chandler is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, and record-label executive. Chandler is nicknamed "the Duke of Earl" or, simply, "the Duke." He is best known for his most successful songs, "Duke of Earl" and "Groovy Situation", and his association with the Dukays, the Impressions, and Curtis Mayfield.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Holloway</span> American soul singer

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)</span> 1965 single by the Four Tops

"I Can't Help Myself" is a 1965 song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ain't No Mountain High Enough</span> 1966 song by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Want You (Marvin Gaye song)</span> 1976 single from the eponymous album

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You're All I Need to Get By</span> 1968 single by Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye

"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.

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher</span> 1967 song performed by Jackie Wilson

"(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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Monitors (American group)</span> American vocal group

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You've Made Me So Very Happy</span> 1967 single by Brenda Holloway

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heaven Must Have Sent You</span> Song by the Elgins

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Your Wonderful, Sweet Sweet Love</span> 1972 single by The Supremes

"Your Wonderful, Sweet Sweet Love" is a song written by Smokey Robinson, recorded in October 1966 by Kim Weston. Her recording was not issued at the time as she left the label over a dispute over royalties in 1967. Weston's original version was first released in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me</span> 1967 single by Gladys Knight & the Pips

"Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me" is a song and single by American group, Gladys Knight & the Pips written by Barrett Strong, Cornelius Grant and Rodger Penzabene. It was produced by Norman Whitfield.

"Say You" is a 1965 soul song, written by Robert Dobyne, Robert Staunton and Charles Jones, and recorded by both The Monitors, who had a charting R&B Hit with the song, and The Temptations.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Milira Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Carpenter, Bill. "Artist Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (1999). Joel Whitburn's Top R&B Albums, 1965-1998 (illustrated ed.). Record Research. p. 139. ISBN   9780898201345.
  4. "MILIRA - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company . Retrieved April 10, 2022.