Nayanka Bell

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Nayanka Bell
Birth nameLouise de Marillac
Born1963 (age 5758)
Agboville, Ivory Coast
Genres Disco, funk
Occupation(s)Singer/songwriter
Years active1981–present

Nayanka Bell (born 1963 in Agboville, Ivory Coast) [1] is an Ivorian singer who has released several albums, the earliest between 1982 and 1984.

Contents

Biography

Bell's early work was inspired by the Francophone Caribbean, and although her native tongue is French, she sings in English. [1] Her debut album, Amio, was released in 1983, with styles ranging from funk and disco to ballads. [1] A second album in 1986, If You Came To Go, showed a greater Antillean influence. [1] Bell is considered one of the top female Ivorian singers. [2]

In 2000, she recorded a version of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime... moi non-plus", with Congolese singer Koffi Olomidé and performed it in front of 17,000 spectators at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. [3]

In April 2009, Bell was critically injured in a road accident, prompting rumours to spread that she had died. [4] She in fact survived the accident although her injuries were serious and required several operations. [5]

Discography

Related Research Articles

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.

<i>Like a Virgin</i> (album) 1984 studio album by Madonna

Like a Virgin is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 1984, by Sire Records. Following the success of her self-titled debut album, Madonna wanted to become the record producer of her next album. However, her label was not ready to give her the artistic freedom and she chose Nile Rodgers instead to produce the album due to his work with David Bowie. Madonna wrote six songs on the record, five of which feature Steve Bray as a co-writer. The album was recorded at Power Station Studio in New York at a quick pace. Rodgers enlisted the help of his former Chic bandmates Bernard Edwards, who was the bassist, and Tony Thompson, who played drums. Jason Corsaro, the record's audio engineer, persuaded Rodgers to use digital recording, a new technique introduced at that time.

Eurythmics British music duo

Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of members Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. Stewart and Lennox were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980; Eurythmics were formed later that year in Wagga Wagga, Australia. The duo released their first studio album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little success, but went on to achieve global success when their second album Sweet Dreams , was released in 1983. The title track became a worldwide hit which topped the charts in various countries including the US. The duo went on to release a string of hit singles and albums before they split up in 1990. By this time, Stewart was a sought-after record producer, while Lennox began a solo recording career in 1992 with her debut album Diva. After almost a decade apart, Eurythmics reunited to record their ninth album, Peace, released in late 1999. They reunited again in 2005 to release the single "I've Got a Life", as part of a new Eurythmics compilation album, Ultimate Collection.

Belinda Carlisle American musician

Belinda Jo Carlisle is an American singer, musician, and author. She gained fame as the lead singer of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female bands in history, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist.

<i>Tubular Bells</i> 1973 studio album by Mike Oldfield

Tubular Bells is the debut studio album by English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 25 May 1973 as the first album on Virgin Records. Oldfield, who was 19 years old when it was recorded, played almost all the instruments on the mostly instrumental album.

Nanci Griffith American singer-songwriter (1953–2021)

Nanci Caroline Griffith was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter, raised in Austin, Texas, who lived in Nashville, Tennessee. Griffith appeared many times on the PBS music program Austin City Limits starting in 1985. In 1990, Griffith appeared on the Channel 4 programme Town & Country with John Prine, where she performed at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, along with Buddy Mondlock, Robert Earl Keen, and Barry "Byrd" Burton. In 1994 she won a Grammy Award for the album Other Voices, Other Rooms.

Kim Wilde English pop singer

Kim Wilde is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which reached number two in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award for Best British Female solo artist. In 1986, she had a UK number two hit with a reworked version of the Supremes' song "You Keep Me Hangin' On", which also topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1987. Between 1981 and 1996, she had 25 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK singles chart. Her other hits include "Chequered Love" (1981), "You Came" (1988) and "Never Trust a Stranger" (1988). In 2003, she collaborated with Nena on the song "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime", which topped the Dutch charts.

Mary Black Irish folk singer

Mary Black is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland.

Anne Clark (poet) Musical artist

Anne Charlotte Clark is an English poet, Her first album, The Sitting Room, was released in 1982, and she has released over a dozen albums since then.

<i>Madonna</i> (Madonna album) 1983 studio album by Madonna

Madonna is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on July 27, 1983, by Sire Records. After having established herself as a singer in downtown New York City, Madonna was signed by Sire president Seymour Stein, due to the club success of her debut single, "Everybody" (1982). She became the sole writer for most of the album's tracks, and chose Reggie Lucas as its primary producer. Unhappy with Lucas's production outputs, she invited John "Jellybean" Benitez to complete the album, who remixed three tracks and produced "Holiday".

Juliet Roberts is a British jazz, rock, soul and house music singer of Grenadian descent.

Borderline (Madonna song) 1984 single by Madonna

"Borderline" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her eponymous debut album Madonna (1983). It was released on February 15, 1984, by Sire Records as the album's fifth single. Written and composed by its producer Reggie Lucas, the song was remixed by Madonna's then-boyfriend John "Jellybean" Benitez. The singer used refined and expressive vocals to deliver lyrics about an unfulfilled love.

Holiday (Madonna song) 1983 single by Madonna

"Holiday" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her eponymous debut album Madonna (1983). Sire Records released it as the album's third single on September 7, 1983. Written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens of Pure Energy, the track was offered to Madonna by her producer John "Jellybean" Benitez when she was looking for a potential hit track to include on her debut album. After accepting the song, she and Benitez worked on it and altered its composition by the addition of a piano solo performed by their friend, Fred Zarr. "Holiday" features instrumentation from guitars, electronic handclaps, a cowbell, and a synthesized string arrangement, while its lyrics speak about the universal sentiment of taking a holiday.

Noriko Kamachi, professionally known as Seiko Matsuda, is a Japanese pop singer, songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Due to her popularity in the 1980s and her long career, she has been dubbed the "Eternal Idol" by the Japanese media. In 2016, however, Ian Martin of The Japan Times compared her output unfavorably with that of Utada Hikaru, describing Matsuda as "first and foremost an idol rather than an artist. Her legacy is best expressed in singles rather than albums." Seiko once held the record for number-one hits from 1983 to 2000 and for solo artist. Seiko was the overall finale performer of Kouhaku in 2014 and 2015, the prestigious NHK New Year's Eve Music show on which she has performed 21 times. She is still actively releasing new singles and albums, doing annual summer concert tours, winter dinner shows, high-profile TV commercials and movies, and makes frequent TV appearances and radio broadcasts.

Wendy Melvoin American guitarist and singer-songwriter

Wendy Ann Melvoin is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band The Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy & Lisa.

Elli Medeiros Uruguayan-French singer and actress (born 1956)

Elli Medeiros is a Uruguayan-French singer and actress.

Libertine (song)

"Libertine" is a 1986 song recorded by French artist Mylène Farmer. It was the third single from her first studio album Cendres de lune and was released on 1 April 1986. It was particularly known for its huge music video, produced as a film and which contains explicit sexual and violent scenes. It met success on the French chart, becoming thus Farmer's first big hit. In 2002, the song was successfully covered by Belgian singer Kate Ryan, who reached the top 20 in several European countries.

Sandie Shaw English pop singer

Sandie Shaw, is an English singer. One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, she had three UK number one singles with "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (1964), "Long Live Love" (1965) and "Puppet on a String" (1967). With "Puppet on a String", she became the first British entry to win the Eurovision Song Contest. She returned to the UK top 40, for the first time in 15 years, with her 1984 cover of the Smiths song "Hand in Glove". Shaw announced her retirement from the music industry in 2013.

Bébé Manga Musical artist

Elizabeth Bessem Ayamo Manga, also known as Bébé Manga, was a Cameroonian makossa singer whose best-known song is "Ami O". She is considered one of the most popular makossa singers of the 1980s.

David Amako Monsoh, known as David Monsoh is an Ivorian record producer the founder of Obouo Productions and the Co-founder of BBlack in France and Africa. He is the origin of the success by most famous African musicians including Nayanka Bell, and many more.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN   0-7535-0242-9, p. 23
  2. Ham, Anthony, Bainbridge, James, & Bewer, Tim (2006) West Africa, Lonely Planet, ISBN   978-1-74059-771-5, p. 262
  3. Hebdo, Bamako (2008) "Nayanka Bell : Pourquoi on ne l'entend plus", Maliweb, 21 March 2008
  4. "Côte d'Ivoire: Victime d'un accident dimanche – Nayanka Bell interdite de visite", Allafrica.com, 9 April 2009
  5. Kader, Omar Abdel (2009) "Nayanka Bell: Elle va mieux", Top Visages, 18 April 2009