Liberty Silver (born 1961/1962). Indicates Detroit birthplace with Kingston, Ontario childhood. Identified as 24-year-old. is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer, based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. Her music draws inspiration from diverse genres, ranging from R&B,

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, Pop,

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

Early life

Liberty Silver was born to a Jamaican-Irish mother and a Hawaiian father, who first met while competing at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. Not long after her birth, Silver was placed for adoption by her birth parents and was adopted into a household in Ontario, Canada. Silver grew up in various cities in Ontario, including Kingston and

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. In her later years, she discovered through the Ontario adoption records that she has a biological brother who plays for an Ottawa-based band. At 12 years old, Silver performed with a Toronto reggae band, The Wild Bunch, as an opening act for

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

’s show at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

Career

As the first Black woman to receive a Juno Award, Liberty Silver is widely known for paving the way for future generations of Black female artists in the Canadian music industry. She won two 1985 Juno Awards, one for Best R&B/Soul Recording of the Year ("Lost Somewhere Inside Your Love") and the other for Best Reggae/Calypso Recording ("Heaven Must Have Sent You" with Otis Gayle). She has been nominated for a Juno Award a total of five times, from 1985 to 1989. She was also on the Super Dave Osborne show. As merely 12 years old, she performed in a reggae band as an opening act in New York City for

at Madison Square Garden. In 2000, Silver also hosted a TV series known as Centre Stage Chronicles, directed by

Sylvia Sweeney Sylvia Sweeney, C.M., (born October 3, 1956) is a Canadian executive television producer and Olympian. In 2017, Sweeney was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada "for her long-standing commitment to and creative leadership at the nexus of a ...

and Aeyliya Husain. Season 1 aired a total of 13 episodes, with guests ranging from Martha Chaves to

Carol Welsman Carol Welsman (born September 29, 1960)"Carol Welsman." ''Gale Biography in Context''. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2018-03-25. is a Canadian jazzy pianist who accompanies her own easy listening,conversati ...

. As a member of a supergroup called Northern Lights, she appeared on the platinum-selling 1985 African charity ensemble single "

Tears Are Not Enough "Tears Are Not Enough" is a 1985 charity single recorded by a supergroup of Canadian artists, under the name Northern Lights, to raise funds for relief of the 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia. It was one of a number of such supergroup singles reco ...

", singing a duet with

Mike Reno Mike Reno (born Joseph Michael Rynoski; born January 8, 1955) is a Canadian musician, singer and the lead singer of the rock band Loverboy. He is reported to have taught himself how to play guitar. He fronted other bands, including Moxy, before ...

of Loverboy. Other artists on the track include Bryan Adams, Anne Murray and Joni Mitchell. Silver competed as a vocalist on ''

Star Search ''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versio ...

'', winning the competition several weeks in a row. In 2016, she sang ''Amazing Grace'' at the funeral of a former Toronto mayor

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

. Other prominent figures Silver performed for include: Former U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, Desmond Tutu, former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, among many others. Silver has appeared in a wide range of distinguished music festivals throughout her career, from Niagara Jazz Festival, The Beaches International Jazz Festival, Antigua Jazz Festival, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Jamaican Air Canada Jazz Festival, Barbados Jazz Festival, Toronto Funk + Soul Festival to TRIUS Jazz Festival, to name a few.

Discography

Albums

* ''Live! In Session - Liberty Silver With The Bill King Quartet'' (1994) *''At Last'' (2005) *''A Timeless Christmas'' (2010) *''Groove Symphony'' (2010) *''Private Property'' (2012)

Singles & EPs

* ''Rapture Rapp'' (1980) * ''I Need Lovin'' (1980) * ''Tide is High'' (1980) * ''Magic'' (1981) * ''The Sweetest Thing To Me'' (1983) * ''Baby It's You'' (1988) * ''Let It Begin Tonight'' (1988) * ''My Desire'' (2016) * ''Falling Again'' (2016)

References

External links

Liberty Silver
on ReverbNation
Liberty Silver
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver, Liberty 1960s births Living people Canadian contemporary R&B singers Juno Award for Reggae Recording of the Year winners Musicians from Detroit Musicians from Toronto Canadian soul singers Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year winners 20th-century Black Canadian women singers 21st-century Black Canadian women singers