Emily King (born July 10, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter. She started her career in 2004 and her first album '' East Side Story'' was released in August 2007. In December 2007, King was listed as a Grammy nominee for

Best Contemporary R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the contemporary ...

. In 2019 Emily King was nominated for

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while Bab ...

for the 62nd

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s and her album ''Scenery'' was nominated for

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes: * In 1959, the award was known as Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical * In 1960, it was awarded as Best Engineeri ...

. In 2020 Emily King was nominated again, this time for the category of

Best R&B Performance The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...

for her song "See Me".

Biography

Born in New York City in 1985, King grew up in a small apartment on the Lower East Side. Her parents, Marion Cowings and Kim Kalesti, were a singing duo who performed and traveled regularly taking her and her older brother with them. At age 16, King left high school after earning her

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

to pursue her music career. She began playing shows in restaurants and venues around New York City including

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...

and

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to ''The Ot ...

Career

King signed her first record deal with

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG’s record labels in late 2008. It was distributed through the RCA Music Gro ...

in 2004 and appeared on

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

' 2004 album ''

Street's Disciple ''Street's Disciple'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper Nas, released as a double album by Columbia Records. Originally scheduled for a September 14, 2004 release, the album was ultimately released on November 30, 2004. Named after on ...

'' credited as simply "Emily". Her first album '' East Side Story'' was released in August 2007. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album of the Year. After leaving the label in 2008, King continued her work independently with producer Jeremy Most. She self-recorded her follow-up EP ''Seven'' in her home, released in July 2011. Throughout this time, King toured domestically and internationally with many artists including Nas,

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

Floetry Floetry were an English R&B duo comprising Marsha Ambrosius ("The Songstress") and Natalie Stewart ("The Floacist"). The group recorded two studio albums and one live album and sold over 1,500,000 records worldwide. Formed in 1997 Floetry star ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

, Chaka Khan,

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

, and Maroon 5. In 2012, King was awarded the Holly Prize (a tribute to the legacy of Buddy Holly) from

The Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the he ...

for recognition of the "all-in songwriter" whose work exhibits the qualities of Holly’s music: true, great and original. In the fall, King was invited by

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé, ( ; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by an English mother and a Zambian father ...

to open for her UK tour playing sold out shows in five cities including at

The Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

in London. King collaborated with

José James José James (born January 20, 1978) is an American vocalist who combines jazz and hip hop. Biography José James attended The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. In 2008, he debuted with his first album, ''The Dreamer'', on the Brownsw ...

on his album ''No Beginning No End'' in 2013 and can be heard on the tracks "Heaven on the Ground" and the acoustic version of "Come to My Door". In 2014, King performed as an opening act for Sara Bareilles' Little Black Dress tour. King's second studio album, '' The Switch'', was self-released by her own label, Making Music Records, on 26 June 2015. ''The Wall Street Journal'' remarked that the album is "a tasteful collection of eleven songs that showcase King’s distinctive voice". She signed with the independent label ATO Records in 2017 and with them released her third studio album, ''

Scenery Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether the item was custom-made or ...

'', on 1 February 2019. In late 2019, King once again performed as an opening act for Sara Bareilles in her Amidst The Chaos Tour. In 2019, King helped to compose "Being Human", the ending theme song for the Cartoon Network animated series '' Steven Universe Future'', which she sang. Her song "Can't Hold Me" was also used in an episode of the series. King released her fourth studio album, ''Sides'', on January 17, 2020. The album features acoustic takes on her previous songs, and includes a guest appearance by Sara Bareilles on the track "Teach You." In response to racial unrest in the summer of 2020, King released the song "See Me" in August. The song was nominated for Best R&B Performance in the

63rd Annual Grammy Awards The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 201 ...

. King appeared on stream with Marc Rebillet on March 21, 2021 as his first ever guest performer.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Instrumental albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

Tours

Headlining

*''The Switch Tour'' (2015–16) *''You and I Tour'' (2017) *''Scenery Tour'' (2019) *''Ever After Tour'' (2021–22)

Supporting

*''

Hands All Over Tour The Hands All Over Tour was the sixth concert tour by the American pop rock band Maroon 5, in support of their third studio album '' Hands All Over'' (2010). It began on February 16, 2011, in Bristol, England, and concluded on July 21, 2012, in ...

'' (2011) *'' Our Version of Events Tour'' (2012–13) *''Amidst the Chaos Tour'' (2019)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Emily 1985 births African-American women singer-songwriters American soul musicians American people of Italian descent J Records artists Living people Singers from New York City 21st-century American women singers American contemporary R&B singers 21st-century American singers ATO Records artists 21st-century African-American women singers 20th-century African-American people Singer-songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century African-American women