Andrea Martin (musician)
Andrea Monica Martin was an American R&B songwriter and singer.
Early life and education
Born in New York City, Martin was one of six children of Reginald Martin Sr. and Mavis Martin, grew up in East New York, Brooklyn, and graduated in 1990 from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she studied voice. Inspired by Michael Jackson, she wanted to be a singer-songwriter from childhood.Career
Martin was writing songs and appearing at Amateur Night at the Apollo before she graduated; she sang in the lobbies of office buildings to try to catch the attention of music publishers located there. In the early 1990s she was signed as a songwriter by Rondor Music.Starting in 1995 with "Before You Walk Out of My Life", a hit song for Monica, she became known for writing hit songs, usually with partners, in particular Ivan Matias, a high school classmate with whom she wrote 1997's You're the One, a number one hit for SWV. Other artists who charted with songs she wrote or co-wrote included En Vogue, Toni Braxton, Angie Stone, and Melanie Fiona. Her UK hit songs included Leona Lewis's "Better in Time", Another Level's "Be Alone No More", and No. 1s "Breathe" and "Loneliness", both in the early 2000s. She also wrote non-charting singles for artists including Paloma Faith, Nelly, RBD and Jennifer Hudson.
She was less known as a singer, performing primarily as a backup singer and later as a featured artist. In the 1990s she was signed as an artist by Arista Records. She released her only album, The Best of Me, in 1998. It was not a success, but the single "Let Me Return the Favor" reached No. 82 on the Billboard Hot 100, and her single "Share the Love" was remixed for clubs and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Dance Charts in June 1999. Also in 1999, she appeared in concert on BET's Girls Night Out, headlining with then-Arista labelmates Deborah Cox, Faith Evans, Monica, and Shanice.