Emily Marie Nemmers (born July 9, 1981) is an American music artist, who performs and records under the name Emily West. Signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

Nashville, she debuted on ''

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts in early 2008 with the single "Rocks in Your Shoes". This song peaked at No. 39 early in the year, and is the first single from a self-titled EP. She entered the country charts a second time with "Blue Sky", a duet with

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

, in 2010. In 2012, West guest-starred in ''

Body of Proof ''Body of Proof'' is an American medical/crime comedy-drama television series that ran on ABC from March 29, 2011, to May 28, 2013, and starred Dana Delany as medical examiner Dr. Megan Hunt. The series was created by Christopher Murphey and p ...

''. In 2014, she competed on the 9th season of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

'', where she finished as the runner up to magician

Mat Franco Mat Franco (born May 10, 1988) is an American magician best known for his personality driven, skill-based sleight of hand magic. He gained fame as the first magician to win '' America's Got Talent'', in the show’s ninth season. Franco went on ...

. Since her success on the show, West has toured extensively throughout the United States, first with her

one-woman show A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...

and then with America's Got Talent Live: The All-Stars Tour!

Early life

West, the youngest of four children, was born in

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...

. In July 1994 her parents took her to Bird-On-Fire Recording Studio in West Union, Iowa where studio owner Doug Koempel worked with her producing four demos: "Sweet Dreams", "Piece Of My Heart", "Higher Love" and "Me And Bobby McGee." She moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2000 following her graduation from

Waterloo West High School Waterloo West High School is one of three public high schools under the auspices of the Waterloo Community School District in Waterloo, Iowa. The school is located at the intersection of E. Ridgeway Ave. and Baltimore Ave. Mascot The school ma ...

in hopes of achieving her goals of becoming a country music singer. West soon signed a deal with a publishing company in Nashville, Warner-Chapell. West was then signed to Capitol Records Nashville when producer Mike Dungan listened to her demo tapes. One of her first appearances was as a background vocalist on

Chely Wright Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; October 25, 1970) is an American Activism, activist, author and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the numbe ...

's 2005 album ''

The Metropolitan Hotel ''The Metropolitan Hotel'' is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Chely Wright. It was her first album for the Dualtone label, after a failed deal with the Vivaton! label. This album produced four singles, of which two were ...

''.

Career

2007–2012: Music and television

Capitol released a self-titled EP December 11, 2007, to the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

music store. In early 2008, West was featured in ''People'' magazine and completed a media tour for her debut single, "Rocks in Your Shoes". "Rocks in Your Shoes" peaked in the Top 40 on the ''Billboard''

chart in early 2008. A second single, "That Kind of Happy" was released in April 2009 and failed to enter the chart. West appeared on '' Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'' on September 25, 2009, winning $25,000. In January 2010, West released a duet with labelmate

titled "Blue Sky." The song debuted at No. 53 on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of February 23, 2010. Roughstock gave the song 4½ stars out of 5, stating that Blue Sky' is already a contender for one of 2010's best singles." It spent thirteen weeks on the charts and peaked at No. 38. Emily appeared in the April 18, 2010, episode of ''

Celebrity Apprentice ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It was a variation of ''The Apprentice'' series, hosted by then real estate developer (later 45th president of the United States The president of the Unite ...

'', as the "music make-over" target for the women's team led by

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

. Lauper won the challenge and as a result West donated 100% of the first month of

sales of her song "Blue Sky" to the Stonewall Community Foundation, Lauper's charity. She appeared in the January 10, 2012 "Shades of Blue" episode on ''

'' on ABC. She played a drug addict trying to make it in the music business. She sings her single "Head On" at the end of the episode: Season 2 episode 12 in "Body of Proof." She shows herself to be a terrific actress & singer.

2014–present: ''America's Got Talent''

In 2014, West competed on the 9th season of ''

'', advancing to the finals. She finished in second place. Shortly after the show ended, West signed a record deal with

Sony Masterworks Sony Music Masterworks (Sony Masterworks) is a record label, the result of a restructuring of Sony Music's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterwor ...

, and is set to release a two-track single on December 2, 2014; and an album in 2015. On April 6, 2015, the first single, called "Bitter", off her upcoming album "All For You" was released, and the album was released in August 2015.

Performances and results

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Emily West at Capitol Records Nashville
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Emily 1981 births 21st-century American singers Living people American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Capitol Records artists People from Waterloo, Iowa America's Got Talent contestants 21st-century American women singers Country musicians from Iowa Singer-songwriters from Iowa