Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Jane Stansfield is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition Search for a Star. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first singles, Stansfield, along with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, formed Blue Zone in 1983. The band released several singles and one album, but after the success of Coldcut's "People Hold On" in 1989, on which Stansfield was featured, the focus was placed on her solo career.
Stansfield's first solo album Affection and its worldwide chart-topping lead single "All Around the World" were major breakthroughs in her career. She was nominated for two Grammy Awards, and Affection is her best-selling album to date. In the following years, Stansfield released Real Love, So Natural, and Lisa Stansfield. In 1999 she appeared in her first film, Swing, and also recorded the soundtrack for it. Her next albums included Face Up, Biography: The Greatest Hits, and The Moment. Thereafter, Stansfield took a break from music and focused on her film career. In 2008, she starred in The Edge of Love and in 2014 she appeared in Northern Soul.
Stansfield released her seventh album Seven on 31 January 2014. Its lead single "Can't Dance" was digitally released on 16 October 2013. She promoted the album with the European Seven Tour in 2013 and 2014. Her most recent album Deeper was released on 6 April 2018. In June 2018, following a string of sold-out tour dates in Europe, Stansfield announced her North American Tour, which began in October 2018.
Stansfield has won numerous awards, including three Brit Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, a Billboard Music Award, World Music Award, ASCAP Award, Women's World Award, Silver Clef Award and two DMC Awards. She has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, including five million of Affection. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 46th-most-successful dance artist of all time.
Early life and career beginnings
Stansfield was born at the Crumpsall Hospital in Manchester, England to Marion and Keith Stansfield. She has two sisters, Karen and Suzanne. Her family moved to Heywood in 1976, then to Rochdale in 1977. Stansfield attended Siddal Moor School, Redbrook Middle School where she won the annual talent contest, and Oulder Hill Community School. She grew up listening to soul music, and stated that her mother's affinity for records by Diana Ross and the Supremes was her first musical influence, Stansfield citing Marvin Gaye, Chic and Barry White as other primary musical influences.In 1980, Stansfield won the Search for a Star singing competition, held at the Talk of the Town nightclub. In 1981, her first single "Your Alibis" was released by Devil Records. In 1982, she appeared on the television show Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment on Granada Television. At the same time, Stansfield signed a recording contract with Polydor Records.
In 1983, Johnnie Hamp produced for Granada Television a documentary directed by Pete Walker, Born in the Sixties: Lisa Stansfield. It was a profile of the aspiring singer, and it included her comments and those of her mother and sisters, and some songs sung by Stansfield. Also in 1983, she co-hosted the children's television music programme Razzamatazz and appeared on another children's television series The Krankies Klub. Between 1982 and 1983, Stansfield released her three new wave pop singles on Polydor: "The Only Way", "Listen to Your Heart", and "I Got a Feeling". Her early recordings were collected and released on the compilation album In Session in September 1996.
Music career
1984–1988: Blue Zone
In 1984, Stansfield and former schoolmates, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, after having worked together on a school musical production, began to collaborate musically and, in 1986, formed the band Blue Zone. They wrote some songs, produced a demo, and took it around to record labels. The small indie label Rockin' Horse Records signed them in 1985, and one year later the label was bought up by Arista Records. After releasing their first two singles in 1986, "Love Will Wait" and "Finest Thing", Arista issued "On Fire" in October 1987. Just as the single was climbing the charts, it was withdrawn by the record company in the wake of the King's Cross fire. The band's next single, "Thinking About His Baby," was released in January 1988 and reached number seventy-nine in the UK. Its B-side, "Big Thing," became popular on the radio and in the clubs.In July 1988, "Jackie" was issued as a single outside the UK, reaching number thirty-seven on the Hot Dance Club Songs and number fifty-four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The release date for Blue Zone's album Big Thing, which was recorded in 1987, was pushed back many times by the record label. Finally, it was released outside the UK in November 1988 without any further promotion. The album included songs written by Blue Zone, except for "Jackie," which was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. The album was produced by Paul Staveley O'Duffy, except for the track "Perfect Crime," which was produced by Blue Zone. Ric Wake also co-produced "Jackie" and "Perfect Crime."
1989–1990: ''Affection''
In early 1989, Stansfield co-wrote and recorded "People Hold On" for Coldcut's album What's That Noise? The single was released in March 1989, and reached number six on the Hot Dance Club Songs in the United States and number eleven in the United Kingdom. On the strength of this hit, Arista Records signed Stansfield to a solo deal. Her debut album Affection was released on 20 November 1989. Stansfield co-wrote all songs with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris. Devaney and Morris also produced the album, except for "This Is the Right Time," which was produced by Coldcut. Affection received critical acclaim from music critics, and was commercially successful. It reached the top ten on charts around the world, including number one in Austria and Italy, number two in the UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, number three in Belgium, number five in New Zealand, number six in the Netherlands and Norway, and number seven in Australia and Canada. In the U.S., it peaked at number five on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and number nine on the Billboard 200. The album has sold over five million copies worldwide and was certified 3× Platinum in the UK, Platinum in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, and Gold in France, Finland and Austria.Affection includes Stansfield's biggest hit and signature song, "All Around the World". The track reached number one in many countries, including the UK, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway and Spain. In the U.S., "All Around the World" peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified Platinum in the U.S. for selling over one million copies, and Gold in many other countries, including the UK, Germany, Australia, Sweden and Austria. In the UK, other singles from the album reached numbers ten, thirteen and twenty-five on the chart. In the U.S., "You Can't Deny It" peaked at number one on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, number two on Hot Dance Club Songs, and number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100. "This Is the Right Time" reached number one on Hot Dance Club Songs, number thirteen on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number twenty-one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Stansfield also toured Europe and North America in 1990 in support of the album, and eventually released the Live! All Around the World home video. Thanks to Affection and "All Around the World," she received many awards, including the Brit Award, the Billboard Music Award, the World Music Award, the ASCAP Award, Ivor Novello Awards, Silver Clef Awards and DMC Awards. Stansfield was also nominated for two Grammy Awards in the Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance categories. Shortly after her success, she made two charity recordings. In December 1989, Stansfield was a part of Band-Aid II, a charity supergroup founded to raise money for anti-poverty efforts in Ethiopia, recording "Do They Know It's Christmas?," which topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks. Later, she covered "Down in the Depths" for the AIDS charity compilation Red Hot + Blue, released in September 1990, and also filmed a music video for it.
1991–1992: ''Real Love''
In 1991, Stansfield recorded her second studio album Real Love, and released it on 11 November 1991. She co-wrote all the songs with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, who also produced the album. Real Love received positive reviews from music critics and reached the top ten on the charts in various countries, including number three in the United Kingdom, number five in the Netherlands, number nine in Germany, and number ten in Belgium. In the United States, it peaked at number six on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number forty-three on the Billboard 200. Real Love was certified 2× Platinum in the UK and Gold in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and Switzerland. The first single "Change" became a hit, peaking within the top ten in Italy, Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, Canada and the UK. In the U.S., it reached number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs, number twelve on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number twenty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100.The second single from the Real Love album, "All Woman," peaked inside the top forty in various European countries, including number twenty in the UK. It was successful on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, reaching number one in April 1992. On the Billboard Hot 100, "All Woman" reached number fifty-six. The next two singles released in Europe included "Time to Make You Mine" and "Set Your Loving Free," which peaked at numbers fourteen and twenty-eight in the UK. The last U.S. single, "A Little More Love," reached number thirty on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In 1992, Stansfield toured Europe, Asia and the United States, and released the Live at Wembley home video. In late 1992 she co-wrote and recorded "Someday " for the successful The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album. The song was released as a single in Europe in December 1992, after "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston, and reached top ten in the UK. She also wrote a song for Dionne Warwick, "Friends Can Be Lovers," which was produced by Ian and Andy along with another song written by Diane Warren, "Much Too Much." Lisa sang background vocals on both tracks, which appear on the 1993 Dionne Warwick album Friends Can Be Lovers.