Jaki Graham
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Jacqueline Graham (born 15 September 1956) is a British singer-songwriter. Following her hit version of "
Could It Be I'm Falling in Love "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" is a 1972 song recorded by the American R&B vocal group The Spinners (known as "Detroit Spinners" in the UK). It was co-written by Melvin and Mervin Steals, two songwriter brothers working for Atlantic, who were ...
" with David Grant in 1985, Graham scored a further five UK top 20 hits over a two-year period. In 1994, her
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of
Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...
's hit "
Ain't Nobody "Ain't Nobody" is a song by American funk band Rufus (band), Rufus and American singer Chaka Khan. It was released on November 4, 1983, as one of four studio tracks included on their live album, live album, ''Stompin' at the Savoy – Live, Sto ...
" reached
number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...
on the U.S. ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Dance Chart.


Biography


EMI Years

Graham was born in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
to Jamaican immigrants. In 1983 after recording a session for a jazz funk band called Medium Wave Band, Graham was spotted by a talent scout and signed to EMI Records. Two solo singles were released in the following year, "Heaven Knows" (the title of her first album) and "Once More with the Feeling". The duet with David Grant, a cover version of the
Detroit Spinners Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
track "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love", was released in early 1985 reaching No. 5 in March of that year. Graham's fourth solo single "Round and Around" saw her return to the UK top 10 a few months later. A second duet with David Grant was released to end the year entitled "Mated". This peaked at No. 20. Graham's single "Set Me Free" was released in early 1986 and reached No. 7 in the UK, also seeing the success repeated throughout Europe. "Breaking Away" was released in August as the follow up single, reaching No. 14 in the UK charts. Graham's second album of the same name was also released. Later in 1986 her hit "Step Right Up" was remixed and released also making the UK top 20. During this time, American singer Michael McDonald was looking for a female singer to accompany him on the track " On My Own" (originally recorded with
Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
) for his next UK tour. After hearing Graham's voice, McDonald was quoted as saying "Jaki is one of the best singers Britain has ever produced". McDonald later wrote for Graham's albums and has featured her as a special guest on his UK tours. In 1989 she released her third and final album recorded on the
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
label called ''From Now On''. The album included two singles: the title track and ballad "The Better Part of Me", both of which failed to reach the UK top 40.


Later years

In 1991, Graham joined with Paul Hardcastle in the group Kiss the Sky. Their self titled album was released that year on
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 ...
. In 1993, Graham was spotted by AVEX International, Japan, whilst at the Midem music conference and was immediately signed to the label. Work started in 1994 on her album ''Real Life''. Three singles were released internationally from the album, "You Can Count On Me (For Love)", "
Absolute E-Sensual "Absolute E-Sensual" is a song by British singer-songwriter Jaki Graham, released as the third and final single from her 1994 album, ''Real Life'', on 26 June 1995. It was a club hit, peaking at number 3 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club S ...
" and the song that would be Graham's biggest international single to date "
Ain't Nobody "Ain't Nobody" is a song by American funk band Rufus (band), Rufus and American singer Chaka Khan. It was released on November 4, 1983, as one of four studio tracks included on their live album, live album, ''Stompin' at the Savoy – Live, Sto ...
". "Ain't Nobody" entered the charts in Europe, Asia, Australia and reached No. 1 in the US Billboard Dance Chart for five weeks. In October 2009, Graham performed at the
Birmingham Town Hall Birmingham Town Hall is a concert hall and venue for popular assemblies opened in 1834 and situated in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. The hall underwent a major renovation between 2002 and 2007. It no ...
with the
BBC Big Band The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band, previously run under the auspices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The band broadcasts exclusively on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long- ...
to perform specially arranged versions of Gershwin classics. Both the concert and the transmission that followed later on
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
, received high critical acclaim and within a few weeks of the transmission Graham was invited back, this time to perform Duke Ellington classics in March 2010. In August 2010, almost 24 years to the date of its original release, ''Breaking Away – Special Edition'' was put out on CD across the UK and Ireland via Cherry Pop. In addition to the 12 songs that were included in the original album, an additional five bonus tracks, three of which were exclusive to the CD, were added. During 2010, Graham accompanied Michael McDonald and
Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
on their UK 'Legends' Arena Tour which included Birmingham LG, Manchester MEN and London's O2 Arena, as McDonald's special guest. Later in 2010, Demon Music released ''Absolute Essential – The Very Best of Jaki Graham''. This would be Graham's first 'official' 'greatest hits' album and included 28 songs over two CDs. During 2011, Graham was invited to join
Sir Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
on his successful 'Soulicious' Arena Tour in October. This was his only British special guest alongside
James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee for Academy Award for Best Original ...
,
Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 196 ...
,
Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944.) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best ...
,
Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He co-wrote and produced 14 US ''Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Doz ...
and Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. of
the 5th Dimension The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera, and Broadway. Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "the 5th Dimension" by 1966. Betwee ...
. The event was filmed across two nights at London's O2 Arena and issued as a DVD. In early 2012, she entered a small recording studio in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, and along with her band, would record her new album entitled ''For Sentimental Reasons''. Graham returned to the recording studio in Leeds to add some additional backing vocals and the album was complete. The mixing of the album took place in early August and was released in October 2012. In the same year, Jaki collaborated with UK music producer
Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in ...
to re-release a new version of 'Set Me Free 2012'. It was recorded with new vocals at
Britannia Row Studios Britannia Row Studios was a recording studio located in Islington, London N1 (1975–1995), and then in Fulham, London SW6, England (1995–2015). The original studio was built by the British rock band Pink Floyd in a three-story block at 35 Brita ...
in London. In 2016, Graham presented a radio programme, 'Soul on Sunday', on
BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM broadcasting, FM frequency, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, ...
. In 2018, Graham released a new studio album, ''When a Woman Loves'', on her own label, JNT Music Ltd.


Personal life

Graham has been married to Tony Ormsby since 1976. They have a daughter Natalie (born 1981) and a son Ryan (born 1993).


Awards

In early October 2012, Graham was honoured with a 'Birmingham's 'Walk of Star' on Broad Street. A show took place in the evening that month where she performed some of her hits, as well as a selection of songs from 'For Sentimental Reasons'. In 2015, Graham was awarded an
honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
from the
University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...
in recognition of her services to the music industry.


Discography


Albums


Studio albums


Compilation albums


Singles


See also

*
List of number-one dance hits (United States) This is a list of number-one dance hits as recorded by ''Billboard'' magazine's Dance Club Songs chart – a weekly national survey of popular songs in U.S. dance clubs. It began on October 26, 1974, under the title ''Disco Action'' chart. It is c ...
*
List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in t ...
*
List of performers on Top of the Pops __NOTOC__ This list of performers on ''Top of the Pops'' includes popular music recording artists and musical ensembles who have performed on ''Top of the Pops'', a weekly BBC television programme that featured artists from the UK Singles Ch ...
* Number-one dance hits of 1994 (US) *
List of black Britons Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...


References


External links


Official WebsiteJaki Graham at Vh1.comJaki Graham 2012 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Jaki 1956 births Living people 20th-century Black British women singers British contemporary R&B singers EMI Records artists English house musicians English people of Jamaican descent Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands 21st-century Black British women singers