Amar (born Amar Dhanjal) is a

British Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...

singer signed to the

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Sunset Entertainment Group. She is also the daughter of Mangal Singh (a well-known singer in the UK and globally known for his "Rail Gaddi" song). She is a singer and songwriter who writes her own material. She has a unique style of combining her Hindi vocals, lyrics, and melodies with western urban producers.

Biography

Amar grew up in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

, West Midlands, United Kingdom. She is the daughter of singer Mangal Singh who is famous for the song "Jaandi". Amar herself catapulted to fame as a young girl with her hit single "Tu Hai Mera Sanam", a Hindi cover of

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

's "

I Will Always Love You "I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career, ...

", which has also been covered by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

. In her teens, she moved to London and discovered the Asian underground scene. She collaborated with

Talvin Singh Talvin Singh OBE (born 1970) is an English musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica ...

and features on the song "Jaan" from his 1997 album '' Anokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground''. She appeared on the album ''I'm Too Sexy'' (1997), a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of electronic music mixed with Hindi-Pakistani sounds. Later, she featured on the song "I'm So Sexy" by Talvin Singh. Amar also recorded a solo song called "Why Am I So Sexy". In 1999, she was featured in a duet with Cheb Khaled on the song " El Harba Wine" from Khaled's album '' Kenza''; Amar also appeared in the music video as herself. In 2000, she scored a UK chart hit with her

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

song "

Sometimes It Snows in April "Sometimes It Snows in April" is a song by American musician Prince. It was included on his eighth studio album ''Parade'', which was also the soundtrack to his film '' Under the Cherry Moon'' (1986). Prince wrote, performed, and produced the son ...

", which was popular in a

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

remix by Dreem House. ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'' included the remix in their list of "40 of the best UK garage tracks released from 1995 to 2005".

Awards

In 2010, Amar won "Best Female Act" at the

UK Asian Music Awards The UK Asian Music Awards, also known by the abbreviation UK AMA, was an awards show that was held annually in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2012. The awards show has been produced and broadcast by B4U Music since 2008. Awards winners were deci ...

(UK AMAs).

Discography

Albums

*1994: ''Mein Aur Tu'' *2000: ''Outside'' *2010: ''

Show It Off ''Show It Off'' is a 2010 music album by British Indians, British Indian singer Amar (British singer), Amar. Track listing References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Amar (British singer) albums ...

Singles

*2000: "

" - UK No. 48

Appearances

* " El Harba Wine" (2000) by Khaled featuring Amar on his album '' Kenza'' (1999) *

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

-language cover of "

" originally by

* "Sitam", Hindi-language cover of " The Power of Love" originally by

Jennifer Rush Jennifer Rush (born Heidi Stern; September 28, 1960) is an American pop and rock singer. She achieved success during the mid-1980s with several singles and studio albums including the million-selling single " The Power of Love", which she co-w ...

, featured in the 2002 film ''

Bend It Like Beckham ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (also known as ''Kick It Like Beckham'') is a 2002 sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightle ...

'' * "Bombay" by

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

featuring Amar and

Jim Beanz James David Washington (born August 26, 1980), known professionally as Jim BEANZ, is an American vocal producer, songwriter, actor, singer and record producer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is signed to Timbaland Productions and Sunset Enterta ...

from the album ''

Timbaland Presents Shock Value ''Shock Value'' is the second solo studio album by record producer Timbaland. It is Timbaland's first release on his own imprint, the Interscope Records-distributed Mosley Music Group. ''Shock Value'' features a long list of guest artists, among ...

'' (2007) * Remixes of "

Promiscuous Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different Sexual partner, partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as pro ...

" and " Maneater", singles released by

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...

's from her album ''

Loose Loose may refer to: Places *Loose, Germany *Loose, Kent, a parish and village in southeast England People * Loose (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Loose'' (B'z album), a 1995 album by B'z * ''Loose'' (Crazy Horse album), ...

'' (2007) * " The Source of Secrets" by

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

featuring Amar on his album '' Tubular Bells III'' (1998) *Additional sounds on

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. H ...

's "Take Me Alive" (2009) *Background vocals on

's "

If We Ever Meet Again "If We Ever Meet Again" is a song by American producer Timbaland. It was released on December 1, 2009, as the fourth single from his third studio album ''Shock Value II'' (2009). The song features singer Katy Perry and served as the album's se ...

" (2009)

References

External links

Amar at BBC Electric Proms

Official Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amar 1982 births Living people People from Punjab, India People from Walsall Musicians from the West Midlands (county) English people of Indian descent Punjabi people 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers