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Miriam Stockley

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Miriam Stockley
Stockley in 2006
Background information
Birth nameMiriam Arlene Stockley
Born (1959-04-15) 15 April 1959 (age 65)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • composer
Years active1973–present
Labels
Websitemiriamstockley.com

Miriam Arlene Stockley (born 15 April 1962) is a British singer. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and her work is influenced by the African music of her home country. Her distinctive vocalise style gained international acclaim when Karl Jenkins launched the Adiemus project with Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary, with Stockley as the lead singer.

In 1992 she performed as a backing vocalist at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, which was broadcast live from the Old Wembley Stadium in London.

Early life

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At the age of eleven, Stockley and her older sister Avril formed the group the Stockley Sisters and had a hit with a cover of Shocking Blue's "Venus" in 1976[1] on the South African Top 30, ten years before the group Bananarama's version. Later in her life, she moved to the United Kingdom, settling in London to further pursue her musical career.[citation needed] There she contributed vocals to several albums and TV commercials.

Career

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1970s

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She partly formed Blush, a short-lived South African disco act consisting of herself, Malie Kelly, and guitarist Mike Pilot.[citation needed]

1980–1999

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During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Stockley worked as a session singer for the UK songwriting and production trio Stock, Aitken and Waterman, and appeared on tracks by Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Sonia. Alongside fellow session singer Mae McKenna, Stockley is credited with being partly responsible for the distinctive Stock, Aitken and Waterman sound of the 1980s.[2]

Stockley provided backing vocals for the United Kingdom's Eurovision Song Contest entry on several occasions, most notably with Emma in 1990[3] and for Katrina and the Waves when they won in Dublin in 1997.

In 1991, Stockley became a part of the dance group Praise whose single "Only You" reached number four in the UK Singles Chart.[4] A year later, the band, with Stockley on vocals, released its second single, "Dream On". This failed to have the same success as their previous single and the band decided to call it a day. In 1995, she worked with Karl Jenkins as the multi-layered vocalist on his first Adiemus release, which also gave her broad international exposure in a Delta Air Lines television commercial and release on the album Pure Moods.

Stockley's song "Perfect Day," written by Colin Towns and also known as "Theme for the Lake District," was used as the theme song for the BBC children's programme The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends, which ran from 1992 to 1998. She has also appeared as a singer in on episode of Our Friends In The North (1996) and on several BBC Schools programmes, most notably Look and Read, and contributed to the soundtrack for the 1997 film One Night Stand.

2000s

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Stockley singing into a microphone onstage
Stockley at Night of the Proms in 2006

Stockley is featured as a member of the choir for The Fellowship of the Ring.[5] Her cover version of the Rose Royce song "Wishing on a Star", feature on The 10th Kingdom.

In 2004, Yamaha released Vocaloid software that allows people to synthetically create background vocals. One of the three available voices from the studio Zero-G released for the first edition of the software is based on material recorded by Stockley.[6]

In December 2006, Stockley contributed as a solo vocalist and as a co-vocalist with Mike Oldfield at the German Night of the Proms tour, consisting of 18 concerts.[7] She also released her third solo album, a collection of rearranged classical standards entitled Eternal, in 2006.

In 2006, she joined Richard Gannaway and Jay Oliver as a primary member of the world music group AO Music (also known as AO). She first appeared on the album "Twirl", released 17 February 2009 on the group's indie label Arcturian Gate (debuted on international music charts at No. 5).[8][9][10] Twirl contained the song "On Jai Ya"; a piece composed as Olympic theme music (2008) at the request of the Beijing Olympic Committee. Ultimately, the song was not selected and later chosen as soundtrack music for the 2011 promotional trailer "Project Peace on Earth".[11] Twirl was released to an international audience in 2009 with Stockley as the group's main vocalist.[10][12]

In June 2009, she, Richard Gannaway and Jay Oliver composed and produced the song "Gaiya Lo Mane" as theme music for the Give Kids the World Foundation.[13]

In February 2011 Arcturian Gate released the AO Music's third album ...and Love Rages on!, where Stockley's voice is joined by children's choral ensembles from Beijing, Tbilisi, Johannesburg, Asheville and Orlando (charted at No. 2 internationally and awarded Zone Music Reporter's "Best World Album of 2011").[14][15][16] With the release of the song "...and Love Rages on!", Stockley and AO Music aligned with HavServe under GlobalGiving to build sustainable villages for children in Haiti who were displaced by an earthquake in 2010.[17] On 28 March 2011, she was invited to give a private performance for the Education Without Borders International conference in Dubai.[18]

In March 2013 the AO Music group released Hokulea, which charted #3 internationally and sustained top 20 ranking (Zone Music Reporter) for five consecutive months. With the release of Hokulea AO Music established themselves as 100% non-profit through AO Foundation International, supporting several worldwide organizations that attend to disadvantaged children. Stockley was also credited as the album's co-producer.[19][20][21]

Personal life

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Stockley is married to Rod Houison, and the couple live in Orlando, Florida. They have two children.[22]

Discography

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Solo albums

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  • Miriam Stockley (1979)
  • Miriam (1999)
  • Second Nature (2003)
  • Eternal (2007)
  • The World in a Voice (2011)

Band/ensemble albums

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  • Adiemus I: Songs of Sanctuary (1995)
  • Adiemus II: Cantata Mundi (1996)
  • Adiemus III: Dances of Time (1998)
  • AO Music – Twirl (2009)
  • AO Music – ...and Love Rages On! (2011)
  • AO Music – Hokulea (2013)
  • AO Music – Asha (2017)
  • AO Music – Kutumba (2021)

Backing vocals and guest appearances

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References

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  1. ^ Gannaway, Richard, Interview, retrieved 1 June 2016
  2. ^ Miriam Stockley Interview, retrieved 1 June 2016
  3. ^ Eurovision By Year 1986 – 2000, retrieved 1 June 2016
  4. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 433. ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7.
  5. ^ a b "News Archive". Miriam.co.uk. 23 November 2003.
  6. ^ Vocaloid Miriam, retrieved 1 June 2016
  7. ^ 1999 Then and Now, archived from the original on 19 March 2018, retrieved 1 June 2016
  8. ^ "New Age / Ambient / World Top 100 Radio Chart". Zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  9. ^ "New Age / Ambient / World Top 100 Radio Chart". Zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Twirl - AO Music : Credits". AllMusic. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Project Peace on EarthPromoting World Peace Through Inspirational Music". Project Peace on Earth. 25 December 2011. Archived from the original on 26 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  12. ^ "Adiemus Vocalist Miriam Stockley Graces TWIRL, The Imaginative New Release from AO Music; Now #1 Most-Added on CMJ New World Chart". Prweb.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  13. ^ "Aomusic". Arcturiangate.com. 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  14. ^ "New Age / Ambient / World Top 100 Radio Chart". Zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  15. ^ "2011 ZMR Music Award Winners". Zonemusicreporter.com. 2 March 2010. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  16. ^ "And Love Rages On! - AO Music : Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  17. ^ "AOMusic and Havserve Unite to Support the Children in the Villages of Haiti". Release Wire. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  18. ^ [1] website=Beautiful-new-age-music.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 5 September 2011)
  19. ^ "AOMUSIC Releases Hokulea, Announces Non-Profit Music Organization Benefiting Children". PRWeb. 21 March 2013. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  20. ^ "New Age / Ambient / World Top 100 Radio Chart". Zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  21. ^ "Hukulea". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  22. ^ MIRIAM STOCKLEY: Recording Session Singing, retrieved 1 June 2016
  23. ^ "Billy Fury - the One and Only". Discogs.
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