Velvet Empire was 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 ...

pop music group that was formed through the second edition of the

Global TV The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CT ...

show ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

'', entitled "Boy Meets Girl". The group was formed in Spring 2002. They recorded their first and only album in Toronto at Metalworks Recording Studio. The group were winners of a 10-month competition, intended to form a pop group comprising both males and females. Its members were Alex Price, Justin Humes, Janelle Belgrave, Lacey Block and Ryan Hamilton. The new group called itself Velvet Empire and released an album, ''

Velvet Empire Velvet Empire was a Canadian pop music group that was formed through the second edition of the Global TV show '' Popstars'', entitled "Boy Meets Girl". The group was formed in Spring 2002. They recorded their first and only album in Toronto at Meta ...

'', and single, "Frontin' On Me", in 2002. Despite the single receiving much radio and video play, the album's sales were not as expected. As a result, the group disbanded by 2003.

Band members

* Alex Price was born in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, on February 14, 1980. She is a citizen of both Canada and Australia since both of her parents are from Australia. Price has always been interested in the arts and has been dancing since she was five years old. She discovered her singing ability when she was 11 years old. She joined the school choir and began to learn the basics of singing. In 1993, she moved with her mother to Oregon where she attended a

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...

school, The Delphian School. She became involved in musical theatre and realized that she was truly meant to sing. :Price was influenced by

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

, Jack Johnson,

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

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, and

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. * Justin Humes was born in

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, on December 23, 1979. he speaks fluent English and French. Music has always been a huge part of his life. At high school, Humes was a member of the Montreal-based band, Ryde. He left the band to join ''Popstars'' and Velvet Empire. Humes attended

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from 1999 to 2001, majoring in environmental studies. He also plays drums and guitar. * Janelle Belgrave was born in

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, on May 20, 1983. She is from a culturally diverse background. Her mother is Filipino and her father is Bajan. Belgrave started singing when she was only three years old and she started dancing when she was four. She has studied ballet, jazz and tap. She attended the

Etobicoke School of the Arts The Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) is a specialized public arts-academic high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in Etobicoke, it has been housed in the former Royal York Collegiate Institute facility since 1983. Founded on September ...

, majoring in musical theater, and has participated in school musicals. Belgrave loves sports and was the captain of the basketball and volleyball teams. She is currently recording for her solo career. * Lacey Block was born in

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, on April 30, 1983. She has a very strong musical background. She plays piano and has been composing songs since she was seven. Block was enrolled in the jazz program at

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as both a vocalist and pianist, before leaving to join Velvet Empire. She does

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, draws and writes

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

. * Ryan Hamilton was born on October 3, 1982, in

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. He was home schooled from grade five to grade nine, to allow more time to focus on traveling and singing. Hamilton went back to high school where he graduated from Percy Page High School in Edmonton in 2000. Singing has always been a huge part of his life. He moved to Calgary in 2000 to attend school when his father's job caused the family to relocate to the United States.

Discography

* ''

'' (2002) is the band's only full album. The album contains the band's single, "Frontin' on Me", but was not as commercially successful as hoped and the group disbanded shortly after its release. Track listing # "Are You Ready?... Then Let's Begin" - 0:21 # "Frontin' on Me" - 3:32 # "I" - 3:40 # "Wha, Wha, What" - 3:02 # "Mad for You" - 3:34 # "Tell Me" - 4:19 # "Now You Don't" - 3:36 # "Ride" - 3:55 # "Good Girls" - 3:49 # "About Last Night" - 3:35 # "2 A.M." - 4:12 # "That's Right" - 3:55 # "Wild Horses" - 5:12

References

External links

Alex Price
Official MySpace
Janelle Belgrave
Article {{DEFAULTSORT:Velvet Empire Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian pop music groups 2002 establishments in Ontario Popstars winners 2003 disestablishments in Ontario