Debelah Laksh Morgan (born September 29, 1977) is an American singer and songwriter. Morgan is best known for her hit single "
Dance with Me" off of her third studio album, which reached No. 8 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Early life and education
The owner of a five-octave vocal range, R&B singer Debelah Morgan wrote her first song at the age of eight, soon after forming her own girl's choir and serving as their arranger. At 15, she was teaching gospel choir at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
, that same year winning Miss Teen Black Arizona honors; she would later win Miss Black Teen World. Morgan then relocated to Los Angeles, taking home a silver medal in the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
international music competition.
Career
She signed with Atlantic Records in 1994, and released her debut album ''
Debelah
''Debelah'' is the first album by American singer Debelah Morgan. It was released in the United States by Atlantic Records on June 14, 1994.
Atlantic Records released the album in the United States and Japan. It includes two singles: "Take It E ...
'', which featured the singles "Take It Easy" and "
Free", both of which charted on the R&B charts. A couple of years later, she moved to VAZ/
Motown Records
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...
and released her single "Yesterday" which was a Top 30 R&B hit, and landed on the Pop charts. However, while her second album, ''It's Not Over'', was released in Japan and a few other international territories, it was shelved in the United States in 1998.
Two years later, she re-signed with Atlantic Records and released her biggest single to date, "
Dance with Me", which peaked at number 8 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in addition to becoming a top-five dance hit. Her third studio album, ''
Dance with Me'', soon followed in 2000 and peaked at number 35 on the ''Billboard''
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...
chart. Two additional singles ("I Remember" and "Close to You") were released from the album. Additionally, she contributed the song "Why Did You Have to Be" to the
''Osmosis Jones'' soundtrack and a cover of "
Do You Remember?" to the Phil Collins tribute album, ''
Urban Renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
''.
In 2005, she signed with the independent label RansomWear and released her fourth album ''Light at the End of the Tunnel'' (a gospel release), which was preceded by the single "Just as I Am". The album remains out of print and is not available on any digital services.
In 2010, she released the live album ''Let the Worship in Champions Live 2'' with her Las Vegas church, of which she is their worship leader. The following year, she was slated to have shot a pilot for a reality series with R&B singers
Shanice
Shanice Lorraine Wilson-Knox (née Wilson; born May 14, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. Shanice had the ''Billboard'' hit singles " I Love Your Smile" and " Silent Prayer" in 1991 and " Saving Forever for You" in 19 ...
and
Karyn White
Karyn Layvonne White (born October 14, 1965) is an American singer who was popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s. She is known for several hit singles including "Superwoman" (1988), " Secret Rendezvous" (1989), " The Way You Love Me" (19 ...
.
In 2012 and 2013, she performed with the R&B group
Rose Royce
Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including "Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", "Wishing on a Star", and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore".
Career
Th ...
as their lead vocalist for several shows.
In 2015, she collaborated with
Shanice
Shanice Lorraine Wilson-Knox (née Wilson; born May 14, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. Shanice had the ''Billboard'' hit singles " I Love Your Smile" and " Silent Prayer" in 1991 and " Saving Forever for You" in 19 ...
and
All-4-One
All-4-One is an American male R&B and pop group best known for their hit singles "I Swear", "So Much in Love" and "I Can Love You Like That". The group is composed of Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy, Alfred Nevarez, and Tony Borowiak, all from t ...
on the track "Go to Bed" off the latter's album ''Twenty''.
Discography
Albums
Singles
References
External links
music.msn.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Debelah
1977 births
Living people
American performers of Christian music
Motown artists
Singer-songwriters from Michigan
20th-century African-American women singers
American women pop singers
American dance musicians
American women singer-songwriters
American contemporary R&B singers
Atlantic Records artists
American musicians of Indian descent
American women musicians of Indian descent
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American women singers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
African-American songwriters
21st-century African-American women singers