Diane Charlemagne (22 February 1964 – 28 October 2015) was a British jazz, soul, funk and electronic dance music singer and songwriter.

Biography

Charlemagne was lead singer with 1980s

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African Americans, African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African A ...

band 52nd Street, having replaced previous lead vocalist Beverley McDonald in 1984. In 1990, 52nd Street re-emerged as Cool Down Zone, with Charlemagne providing vocals as well as having writing credits on all 10 songs on their album ''New Direction''. Later she was lead singer with

Urban Cookie Collective Urban Cookie Collective are a British Eurodance band, best known for their 1993 hit single " The Key the Secret". History The band was founded by Rohan Heath (born 19 July 1964), the son of Guyanese writer Roy Heath. He learned to play c ...

, who had two UK Top 10 hits in the 1990s. Charlemagne provided the vocal for

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in th ...

's " Inner City Life", and performed vocals for

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

for many of his live shows. In 2006, she collaborated with Scape on the house track and dance chart hit ''Be My Friend'' (as D Empress). 2007, she collaborated with High Contrast on his track "If We Ever" for the album '' Tough Guys Don't Dance''. The following year she worked with D:Ream, who had recently reformed, and in 2011, she collaborated with Aquasky on their dubstep track "Take Me There". In 2012, she collaborated with Netsky on his track "Wanna Die For You" for the album '' 2'', and worked with S.P.Y on his drum and bass track "Hammer in My Heart" for the album ''What the Future Holds''. In 2014, she again collaborated with S.P.Y on the tracks "Dusty Fingers" and "Back To Basics" for the album ''Back To Basics Chapter One'' and then later on "Lost Orbit" and "Frozen" for the album ''Back To Basics Chapter Two''. She also worked with London Elektricity and S.P.Y on the track "I Am Somebody" for the Street Child World Cup. In 2015, she provided the backing vocals for Ricky Valance's single "Welcome Home" in aid to raise money for various RAF charities. After being diagnosed with

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include ...

the previous year, Charlemagne died of the disease on 28 October 2015, aged 51.

Reception

BBC Entertainment News in 'Urban Cookie singer Diane Charlemagne dies at 51' cited tweets from: * Goldie:''"I can't thank you enough for what you contributed and we will carry on your legacy." '' and ''"Just come out of #bikram #mourning... and finding a place of peace inside myself of how much light that woman bought icto my music."'' * Moby: ''"So sad to hear about #dianecharlemagne passing. We worked together for years, and she was one of the most remarkable singers on the planet."'' * High Contrast: ''"Very sad to hear of Diane Charlemagne's passing, she'll always be the voice of dnb to me, so privileged to have known and worked with her x."'' * singer Beverley Knight:''"Goldie's Inner City Life changed the direction of Drum&Bass due to #dianecharlemagne's haunting soul vocal. RIP Angel. Xxx"''

Discography

Albums

;with 52nd Street *''Children of the Night'' (1986) *''Something's Going On'' (1987)

Singles and EPs

;with 52nd Street *"Can't Afford" (1984) *"Tell Me How It Feels" (1985) *"Last Chance" (1985) *"I Can't Let You Go" (1986) *"I'll Return" (1987) *"Are You Receiving Me" (1988) *"I Will Wait for You" (1988) *"Superhuman" (2018) ;with Cool Down Zone *"Heaven Knows" (1990) ;with Urban Cookie Collective *" The Key the Secret" (1993) *" Feels Like Heaven" (1993) *" Sail Away" (1994) *" High on a Happy Vibe" (1994) ;with Goldie *"Timeless"/" Inner City Life" (1995) ;with Satoshi Tomiie *"Come to Me" (1998) *"Sincerity (Part 1&2)" (1999) *"Inspired" (2000) ;with Master & Hess (Mobin Master & Hess Barber) *"Troubled Girl" (2003) ;with Calibre *"Bullets" (2005) ;with Cyantific *"Don't Follow" (2005) ;with Scape *"Be My Friend" (as D Empress) (2006) ;with 2020 Soundsystem and Pat Fulgoni *"Your Love" (2006) ;with High Contrast *"If We Ever" (2007) ;with Blame *"Keep The Sunshine" (2008) ;with B-complex *"Rolling with the Punches" (2010) ;with Netsky *"Wanna Die for You" (2012) on '' 2'' ;with Street Child World Cup feat. London Elektricity and S.P.Y *"I Am Somebody" (2014) ;with Taxman *"Rebirth" (2014)

References

External links

Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlemagne, Diane 1964 births 2015 deaths Deaths from kidney cancer Deaths from cancer in England 20th-century Black British women singers English house musicians 21st-century Black British women singers Musicians from Manchester English people of Ghanaian descent English women in electronic music