Tenelle Christine Luafalemana (born July 21, 1988) is an American Samoan singer-songwriter from

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

. She represented

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

in the

American Song Contest ''American Song Contest'' is an American music reality competition television series based on the Eurovision Song Contest. It sees all 50 U.S. states, five territories, and Washington, D.C. compete for the title of Best Original Song. The first ...

where she placed 6th in the Grand Final.

Early life

Tenelle grew up in

where she was originally a

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player. At the age of 12, she started taking singing lessons with

vocal coach A vocal coach, also known as a voice coach (though this term often applies to those working with speech and communication rather than singing), is a music teacher, usually a piano accompanist, who helps singers prepare for a performance, often al ...

Tim Carter, best known for his work with artists such as

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

and

Willow Smith Willow Camille Reign Smith (born October 31, 2000), known mononymously as Willow (stylized in all caps), is an American singer and actress. The daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, she has received various accolades, including ...

. After graduating from

Gardena High School Gardena High School (GHS) is a public high school in Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles, California, United States, adjacent to the City of Gardena. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Small Learning Co ...

in 2006, Tenelle joined three of her uncles in a band called ''Chord Brown''.

Career

Tenelle started her solo career as a popular regional performer on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

and in Oceania. She became internationally recognized after the release of her single "Flava" by

Grammy 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 pre ...

nominated artist

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

in 2013. The song quickly rose on the iTunes singles chart, even reaching the number 1 spot. Tenelle's 2014 single "Get Some" was the most requested song on Honolulu’s contemporary hits station,

KCCN-FM KCCN-FM "FM100" is a Hawaiian Contemporary hits station. The SummitMedia outlet broadcasts at 100.3 MHz with ERP of 100 kW. The station's studios are located in Downtown Honolulu and its transmitter is located near Akupu. It also trans ...

. Her debut album ''For the Lovers'' was released on 10 March 2017 and peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. Tenelle has performed and collaborated with fellow

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

artists such as

George 'Fiji' Veikoso George Brooks Veikoso (born 10 May 1970), known professionally as Fiji, is a Fijian musician, vocalist, songwriter, music producer and occasional actor. He was born in Fiji and is from the province of Tailevu. He was raised in Fiji. Early life ...

Drew Deezy Drew Deezy is a Samoan American rapper from San Jose, California. He has become a prominent rapper on the West Coast, as well as the New Zealand markets with hit singles such as "I Don't See Nothing Wrong". In 2010, Drew signed with 454 Life E ...

Adeaze Adeaze are a New Zealand R&B/soul duo comprising brothers Nainz and Viiz Tupai. The group's debut album, ''Always and for Real'', was released in 2004 and topped the album chart in New Zealand. History Brought up playing music in the church, t ...

Anuhea ''Anuhea'' is Anuhea Jenkins' self-titled debut album. It was released on April 21, 2009. Track listing All songs written by Anuhea Jenkins. #"Charismatic SOB" – 10:58 #"Right Love, Wrong Time" – 4:46 #"Here I Go Again" – 3:26 #"Ultimat ...

, and Kimie. She has toured in the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, Japan,

, and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

* "Flava" (2013) * "Tell Me" (2013) * "Get Some" (2014) * "Number One" (2015) * "All I Want Is You" (2016) * "Girl Like Me" (2016) * "Ride or Die" (2016)

References

External links

Official Website
Living people American people of Samoan descent American women singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from California 1988 births 21st-century American women American Song Contest contestants {{US-singer-songwriter-stub