Lillie Arlene Nicole Jade McCloud
(born December 7, 1958 in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
), commonly known by her former stage name Nicole McCloud, or Nicole J. McCloud is an American dance and
R&B singer. She has recorded five studio albums, ''
What About Me What About Me may refer to:
* ''What About Me'' (film), a 1993 film featuring Richard Hell
Albums
* ''What About Me?'' (1 Giant Leap album), 2009
* ''What About Me'' (Anne Murray album), 1968
* ''What About Me?'' (Kenny Rogers album), 1984
* ''What ...
'' (1986), ''Jam Packed'' (1988) (aka ''Rock the House''), ''Love Town'' (1998), ''So What?'' (2002), "Red Apples" (2015), . Her single "
Don't You Want My Love" became an international hit. Other US singles include "Runnin' Away", "Search'n", "One Good Reason", "Rock the House", and the "Alabaster Box" cover. In the late 1990s, she was also part of a house music project Voices of Freedom.
In 2013, she competed in
season 3
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...
of the American singing competition ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
''. She was eliminated in the 5th week, placing 8th overall.
Career
Solo as Nicole
McCloud first appeared on the ''
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 ...
''
US R&B
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 p ...
charts as 'Nicole' in 1985 with "Always and Forever". Her single "Don't You Want My Love" in 1986 reached Top 10 in the
US Dance
Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...
charts, in addition to charting in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
Ten of McCloud's singles landed the US ''Billboard'' specialized R&B and dance charts. , her biggest hit has been the 1994 single "Runnin’ Away", which peaked at No. 3 on US Dance charts. In 2002 as Nicole J. McCloud, McCloud returned to the Top 10 with "Search’n", peaking at No. 5 on the US Dance charts. That same year she received a nomination for the
International Dance Music Awards
The International Dance Music Awards or IDMAs is an annual awards ceremony held in Miami Beach, Florida, United States as a major part of the Winter Music Conference. The awards have been held every year since the conference's creation in 1985 ...
, along
Craig David
Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta), Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger (UK band), Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ' ...
and
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...
.
She has recorded hits with
Timmy Thomas
Timothy Earle Thomas (November 13, 1944 – March 11, 2022) was an American R&B singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer, best known for the hit song, "Why Can't We Live Together".
Life and career
Thomas was born in Evansville, In ...
,
U.S.U.R.A.
U.S.U.R.A. was an Italian electronic dance music group active from 1991-1998, best known for their crossover hit "Open Your Mind (song), Open Your Mind".
History
U.S.U.R.A. was started by Time Records owner Giacomo Maiolini, producers Walter Cr ...
and
The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
and has performed with
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
, the group
Kool & The Gang
Kool & the Gang is an American R&B/soul/funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 by brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell, with Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West. T ...
,
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
,
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
, and other artists.
In Voices of Freedom
In the late 1990s, McCloud joined the American house project Voices of Freedom. The trio also included Angel Williams and Simone Böhlhoff. The trio was featured in a number of recordings, notably in
E-Smoove Eric Miller (born in Chicago, Illinois) is an American house music DJ, record producer and remixer. As E-Smoove, he worked for a number of years with Steve "Silk" Hurley and Maurice Joshua, before he hit the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in ...
&
Ni-Che's 1999 single "Lift Your Hands Up" that featured the vocals of Voices of Freedom. The recording was made available through Finger Printz label. The trio was also featured in a 2002 recording by
DJ Pope
José David Rivera, known as DJ Pope or Pope, has been the partner and DJ of J Balvin for more than 15 years. He is involved with the reggaeton scene in Medellin, which is sometimes called the "Capital of Reggaeton" in Colombia.
Biography
He li ...
titled "America at War (Freedom)" on the Yellorange label.
Life in Slovakia
In the mid-2000s, McCloud moved to
Košice
Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...
, a city in
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
. Her first Slovak performance took place at the prestigious Košice International Jazz Festival 2006, where she performed with jazz legend
Peter Lipa
Peter Lipa (born May 30, 1943) is a Slovaks, Slovak singer, composer, and promoter of jazz. He has been called the Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Slovak Jazz. Lipa is regarded as the most significant figure in the Slovak jazz s ...
.
In 2010, McCloud provided the title song for ''Česko Slovensko má talent'', the joint Czech/Slovak version of ''
Got Talent
''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCOtv company. It has spawned spin-offs in over 69 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Fremantle ...
'' series. It was broadcast on
TV JOJ
TV JOJ is a Slovak private TV channel owned by J&T Enterprises and launched in March 2002. The channel screens serial dramas and TV shows.
History
It was launched on 2 March 2002 as a successor of the TV Global, which had been broadcasting si ...
in Slovakia and on
TV Prima
Prima televize (previously Prima family, originally Premiéra) is a Czech Republic, Czech private television station. Its channel is broadcast from Prague. Its current owner is FTV Prima, spol. s. r. o., which is majority-owned by Czech investm ...
in the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
.
''The X Factor''
In 2013, McCloud made a comeback taking part in
season 3
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...
of the American singing competition ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'' identified as Lillie McCloud, her birth name. At the time of applying to ''The X Factor'', she was 54 years old with three children (a son and two daughters) and seven grandchildren.
Her audition was broadcast on September 12, 2013. She received a standing ovation and four "yes" votes from judges
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
,
Demi Lovato
Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...
,
Paulina Rubio
Paulina Susana Rubio Dosamantes (; born 17 June 1971) is a Mexican singer. Referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Golden Girl" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Pop", she first achieved recognition as ...
and
Kelly Rowland
Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl ...
for her rendition of
CeCe Winans
Priscilla Marie Winans Love, known professionally as CeCe Winans, (born October 8, 1964) is an American gospel singer. She rose to prominence as a member of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans; before launching an acclaimed solo career. Winans has been a ...
' "Alabaster Box".
She was selected by the judges to progress to the Final 40 and subsequently competed successfully in the Four Chair Challenge, securing her position in the Final 16. As part of the Final Four "Over 25s", she was mentored by Kelly Rowland. She made it as far as the Top 8 but was eliminated on November 28, 2013.
Her performances on ''The X Factor'' were:
After ''X Factor''
Red Apples
In 2014, McCloud signed with the Spectra Music Group and released a single entitled "What About The Beautiful Children" and later "The Other Part of Me". Her upcoming album, "Red Apples" is to be released on May 27, 2015 under Monarchy Records, a subsidy of Spectra. On the week ending September 13, 2015, Red Apples debuted at #16 on the UK Soul Charts.
Discography
Albums
Singles
;Others
*2010: "Got Talent" - theme for Slovak ''Česko Slovensko má talent''
*2014: "What About the Beautiful Children"
*2014: "The Other Part of Me"
Featured in / Appearances
;as Nicole
*1994: "
I Love Music" / "
Don't You Want My Love" / "Conga"
(O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the minor hi ...
/ Nicole / Miami Sound Machine
Miami Sound Machine was an American band of Latin-influenced music that had featured the vocals of Cuban-born recording artist Gloria Estefan (née Fajardo). Established in 1975 by Emilio Estefan Jr., the band was originally known as the Miami ...
)
*2011: "Dance"
(Guest singer on Takin'Off album ''Eleven'')Takin'Off Bandcamp - ''Eleven'' album page - "Dance"
/ref>
;as part of Voices of Freedom
*1999: "Lift Your Hands Up" (E-Smoove Eric Miller (born in Chicago, Illinois) is an American house music DJ, record producer and remixer. As E-Smoove, he worked for a number of years with Steve "Silk" Hurley and Maurice Joshua, before he hit the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in ...
& Ni-Che featuring Voices Of Freedom)
*2002: "America at War (Freedom)" (DJ Pope featuring Voices of Freedom)
Videography
*2013: "The X Factor USA" (contestant, finished 8th place)
*2014: "The Good Life" (herself, performer)
References
External links
Lillie McCloud
on Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
Lillie Nicole McCloud
on Soulinterviews.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCloud, Lillie
1958 births
20th-century African-American women singers
American expatriates in Slovakia
21st-century American singers
20th-century American singers
American contemporary R&B singers
Living people
Musicians from Rochester, New York
The X Factor (American TV series) contestants
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American women singers
21st-century African-American women singers