Laura Elizabeth Arabosa Izibor (born 13 May 1987) is an Irish recording artist, musician and producer. She won the

2FM Song Contest The 2FM Song Contest, known for sponsorship reasons as The Jacobs/2FM Song Contest or 2fm/Perri Song Contest was an annual song writing competition for young people in Ireland. Created by producer/presenter Kevin Hough, it was run by national b ...

while still in secondary school. She went on to win an award at the 2006 Meteor Music Awards. She also performed at that year's Electric Picnic music festival and Music Ireland 2007. Izibor has opened for

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, India Arie, Estelle, Maxwell, and John Legend on tour. Her debut album, '' Let the Truth Be Told'', was released in Ireland on 8 May 2009. Izibor has appeared in

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

television show, ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

'', where she plays Erin Macree.

Life and career

1987–2003: Early life and career beginnings

Laura Elizabeth Arabosa Izibor was born on 13 May 1987 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. She is the fourth of five children born to Irish mother Trish and Nigerian father Saul. After singing "

When You Believe "When You Believe" is a song from the 1998 DreamWorks musical animated feature ''The Prince of Egypt''. It was written and composed by Stephen Schwartz. A pop single version of "When You Believe", with additional music and lyrics by writer-prod ...

", a duet by

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

, in her drama class, she discovered her interest for music; she began writing songs at age 13 and taught herself how to play the piano at 14. At age 15, Izibor won the

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

(RTÉ)

. Her winning song, "Compatible", received constant airplay after she won the competition; Laura met her manager Edison Waters of Vibe Music Management. RTÉ also filmed a documentary of Izibor after winning the competition.

2004–present: ''Let the Truth Be Told''

At age 17, Izibor was signed to

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...

and dropped out of school to record her debut album. After a dispute with the label, she signed with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

and subsequently moved to New York after her mentor, Steve Lunt, was offered a job at the label. She won an award at the 2006 Meteor Music Award and became the first unsigned recording artist to receive a nomination. Izibor's debut album, '' Let the Truth Be Told'', was released in May 2009. The album debuted at number two on the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by the ...

. The album debuted on the U.K Album Chart at 100 and number 27 on the U.S ''Billboard'' 200. Her single " From My Heart to Yours" had been released six months earlier, on 10 November 2008 and peaked at number twenty-five on the U.S Billboard

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. Her second single 'Shine' was released on 16 March 2009 and peaked at number twenty-one on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

. It remained in the charts for four weeks. The song had originally been written for the film '' The Nanny Diaries'' but was eventually added to the album. It featured on many television adverts, as well as television dramas. A third single " Don't Stay" was released on 11 May 2009 and peaked at number fifty-eight on the U.S Billboard

. 'If Tonight Is My Last' was announced as the album's fourth single but was never released. The song, however, featured on a commercial for U.S hit T.V show ''

'' and is considered one of Izibor's best songs. She was nominated for 'Best U.K Newcomer'at the

MOBO Awards 2009 The 2009 MOBO Awards took place on 30 September 2009 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow, Scotland. This was the first time the awards took place outside London. A tribute performance was dedicated to Michael Jackso ...

and 'Best Female Act' at the

2010 Meteor Awards The 2010 Meteor Music Awards ceremony took place on Friday 19 February 2010 in Dublin. They were presented by Amanda Byram. The launch took place in La Stampa on 7 January 2010, and was attended by The Coronas and Danny O'Donoghue from The Script ...

, as well as 'Best Irish Pop Act'. She performed at

Bestival 2009 The Bestival 2009 was the sixth installment of the Bestival, a boutique music festival held at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. The festival was held over the weekend between 11 September and 13 September 2009. Each year a fancy dress theme is ...

on 11 September 2009 and at the

Electric Picnic 2009 Electric Picnic 2009 was the sixth edition of the Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took place on the weekend of Friday 4 September, Saturday 5 September and Sunday 6 September at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County ...

on 4 September 2009. She performed a new single 'Gracefully' at the Jazz Cafe in London, on 12 September. A little over a year later, on 19 October 2010, Izibor debuted her new single "Can't Be Loved" in the sixth episode of One Tree Hill's eighth season. The track was rumoured to be the lead single on Izibor's new album but she neither confirmed nor denied this. In an interview with music website Metromix, on 29 July 2011, Izibor revealed that the name of her second album would be ''Love, Learn, Live'' and would hopefully be released soon. However, by summer 2012, no album had been released. However, Izibor did release an EP on 7 August 2012, called ''The Brooklyn Sessions Vol. 1'', which continued three songs: "Gracefully", "He'll Never Know" and "Ring".

Film and television

* Her song " From My Heart to Yours" featured in an episode of Grey's Anatomy and the

Vh1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

reality series

Tough Love Tough love is the act of treating a person sternly or harshly with the intent to help them in the long run. Description Bill Milliken described tough love through the expression, "I don't care how this makes you feel toward me. You may hate m ...

. * Her single ''

Shine Shine may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Shine'' (film), a 1996 Australian film based on the life of David Helfgott, a pianist * Shine, a fictional character in the American animated TV series ''Shimmer and Shine'' Lite ...

'' was the lead track for the movie Nanny Diaries, is currently used in the Hibernian Aviva commercial in the Republic of Ireland and in the Norwich Union (soon to be

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 18 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

) commercial in the United Kingdom. Withfirst-week sales in the United States.The CD's first-week chart position is 27 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums. Diana Ross is rumoured to have recorded a duet with Izibor for the European edition of her upcoming album. * Her song "Mmm..." is featured in '' Step Up 2: The Streets'', ''

Why Did I Get Married? ''Why Did I Get Married?'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film adaptation written, produced, directed, and starring Tyler Perry. It was inspired by Perry's play of the same name. The film also stars Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Malik Yoba, Shar ...

'',''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in 1 ...

'', ''

'' and '' Seven Pounds'' starring Will Smith. * Her song "Carousel" is featured on the P.S. I Love You soundtrack. *Her song "If Tonight is my Last" was used as ''

America's Best Dance Crew ''America's Best Dance Crew'', often abbreviated as ''ABDC'', was an American competitive dance reality television series that features both national and international dance crews. The show was produced by singer, record producer, and former ''Am ...

'' Season 4 elimination song. *A video of her performing her song "Mmm..." was featured in an episode of Bones called 'The Parts in the Sum of the Whole' as murder victim Gemma Arrington Laura debuts in One Tree Hill during the 8th Season (2010). Her song "Can't be Love", which she created specifically for the show, debuted during the 6th episode on 20 October 2010.

Musical style

Izibor cites

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

as her inspirations. Izibor music has been compared to recording artists

, Corinne Bailey Rae and

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 ...

. Nicole Frehsée of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine described Izibor's debut album, '' Let the Truth Be Told'', as "a sunny, chick-flick-worthy take on vintage soul". Noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of 'Blues & Soul' described the album as "Anchored firmly in classic R&B and effectively combining a reverence for the traditions of vintage, warm piano-driven soul with a fresh twist of modern sensibility". While Pete Daniel Smith of ''

Sunday Mercury ''Sunday Mercury'' is a Sunday tabloid published in Birmingham, UK, and now owned by Reach plc. The first edition was published on 29 December 1918. The first editor was John Turner Fearon (1869–1937), who left the Dublin-based ''Freeman's ...

'' described the album as a "dazzling R&B debut", noting "a remarkable soul vocal that'll send shivers down your spine".

Discography

*'' Let the Truth Be Told'' (2009)

Awards and nominations

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References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Izibor, Laura 1987 births 20th-century Irish women singers Irish people of Nigerian descent Irish pianists Irish pop singers Irish record producers Irish women singer-songwriters Neo soul singers Atlantic Records artists Musicians from Dublin (city) Living people 21st-century Irish women singers 21st-century pianists Irish women record producers Black Irish people 20th-century women pianists 21st-century women pianists