Profile of Tamia on Famous Like Me

Tamia Washington-Hill (born Tamia Reneé Washington on May 9, 1976 in Windsor, Ontario), known professionally as Tamia, is a Canadian R&B singer. She is married to NBA basketball player Grant Hill.

Early life

Tamia started singing in church at the age of six. By the age of ten, she signed up for vocal lessons, then a young lyric soprano. She gained secular experience singing pop songs such as Whitney Houston's "You Give Good Love". Through puberty, her voice matured into a spinto mezzo-soprano, a rangy three octaves, capable of both dark contralto depths and angelic soprano highs. Tamia only aspired to be a vocal coach, when a chance trip brought her to Los Angeles where she caught the attention of Brenda Richie and Quincy Jones at a 1994 awards show.

Career

In 1995 at the age of nineteen, Tamia recorded vocals for a Quincy Jones' song "You Put A Move On My Heart" from his Q's Jook Joint album. Jones released the song as a single in 1996, and it was nominated for a Grammy Award. Later that year, Tamia participated in another collaboration, Missing You, a single from the Set It Off sooundtrack which also featured new female vocalist Brandy and female veterans Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight. The song was also nominated for a Grammy Award.

Tamia released her self-titled debut album, Tamia, in 1998. The album featured four singles: the Jermaine Dupri-produced "Imagination", the original top ten R&B single produced by Tim & Bob "So Into You", the radio-only single "Falling For You" which samples Cheryl Lynn's "Got To Be Real", and the Daryl Simmons-produced "Still Loving You".

In 2000, Tamia released her sophomore album, A Nu Day. The album featured her biggest hit to date, "Stranger In My House,", which introduced Tamia to a new audience due to its popular dance remix.

In 2003, Tamia released her third album, More, which spawned the singles "Officially Missing You" and "Questions". Both performed as successfully on urban radio as her previous singles, but neither was able to cross over to mainstream radio.

Most recently, the chorus from Tamia's "So Into You" from her debut release was sampled and used by rapper Fabolous in his 2003 hit single, "Into You". With the success of the single and Tamia's appearance in the music video, Tamia's mainstream popuarity grew.

Personal life

In Detroit, Michigan (across the Detroit River from her hometown of Windsor), Tamia was introduced to former Detroit Pistons basketball player Grant Hill by female singer Anita Baker. The two married on July 24, 1999. They had their first child, a daughter named Myla Grace on January 23, 2002. In 2005, Tamia and her husband announced on Extra that she has Multiple Sclerosis; in an interview with Smooth magazine, she reported that the disease is seemingly in remission. The Hills currently reside in Florida, where Grant plays for the Orlando Magic.

Discography

Albums

• Tamia (1998) US: #67 JAP:(Gold)
• A Nu Day (2000) US: #46 (Gold)
• More (2004) US: #17

Singles

Solo

• "Imagination" with Jermaine Dupri (1998) R&B: #12 US: #37
• "So Into You" (1999) R&B: #7 US: #30
• "Falling For You (1999) radio play only
• "Loving You Still" (1999) R&B: #78
• "Can't Go for That" (2000) R&B: #23 Dance: #12 US: #84
• "Stranger in the House" (2001) R&B: #3 Dance: #1 US: #10
• "Tell Me Who" (2001) R&B: #63 Dance: #2
• "Officially Missing You" (2003) R&B: #31 Dance: #4 US: #83
• "Questions" (2004) R&B: #40
• "Still" (2004) R&B: #83 Dance: #34

Collaborations

• with Quincy Jones: "You Put a Move on My Heart" (1994) R&B: #16 US: #98
• with Babyface: "Slow Jams" (1995) R&B: #19 US: #68
• with Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Brandy: "Missing You" (1996) R&B: #10 US: #25
• with Eric Benet: "Spend My Life With You" (1999) R&B: #1 US: #21
• with Fabolous: "Into You" (2004) R&B: #1 US: #4 UK: #18

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Tamia