Strong in spirit, great people always delight. And you are doubly happy watching the success of the life of a beautiful and talented woman. In addition, it is great if it comes from an African-American environment, that layer of the population that has been oppressed for centuries. Black singers are a large and beautiful diamond in the crown of American musical art. These are powerful voices with a special African timbre, a separate culture brought from the shores of hot Africa by the ancestors of these great women.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to consider even close biographies of all pop jazz and R'n'B stars in the article, so we will focus on the 7 most, in our opinion, popular and bright personalities of the past and present years of American show business.
Beyonce Knowles
Queen Bee came on the scene as a child. From the age of 9, R'n'B-singer took part in an extra-popular girls band called Destiny's Child, and then continued her career as a solo singer. Each and every Beyoncé album was awarded a Grammy Award for Best R'n'B Album. No other singer in the world has such an achievement.
A girl was born in a creative family. The mother of the future most popular American black singer is a fashion designer and stylist, and her father is a producer and sound engineer. The child’s talents appeared in early childhood, when little Beyoncé began to participate and win all the music competitions in her native Houston. Soon, a group gathered that became known to all Americans as Destiny's Child (only the name changed several times during the work). Beyonce did not always shine. For example, at one of the contests, the musical group was defeated, as the girls' producer focused on rap, while, according to Beyoncé herself, they just needed to sing.
However, failure did not stop the group. Over the following years, the girls released several successful and well-selling albums. The first single was produced by the father of the singer, which hit the financial condition of the family. However, subsequently all the troubles with the money were settled, because the group can be considered successful.
The musical project lasted, therefore, from 1997 to 2000. From this moment, the group broke up into solo performers, each of whom successfully worked and works in his own direction. But in 2004, the girls gathered for the last time, recorded a new album and already during the concert tour officially announced the breakup of the trio.
Leaving the team, Beyonce took up, in addition to music, the career of an actress and was successful in this field, having won 2 Golden Globe awards. Over time, the musical style of the singer became more diverse.
Beyoncé’s personal life is almost cloudless, except for the only public conflict of the singer’s spouse, rapper Jay-Z and her sister Solange Piaget. However, over time, the world returned to this musical family, in which the next generation is also growing up - only a couple have three children.
Dorothy Dandridge
A short (only 42 years old), but the brightest life was spent by a black singer with a strong voice, actress and dancer - Dorothy Jean Dandridge.
Many talented performers are helped by their parents on the musical path. Dorothy was no exception. When Miss Dandridge was a child, her mother organized a musical duet for her and her sisters, called The Amazing Children. Dorothy turned out to be a strong spirit and began to look for jobs on the radio and in the cinema. But still, music remained her main love.
Despite this, the singer became popular precisely thanks to the work of the actress. Success and recognition came to her in 1954 after filming in the movie "Carmen Jones", where she played the main role. In addition to this film, the woman starred in a number of other recognizable paintings.
The world lost a talented singer in September 1965, when she was at the peak of her creative powers. Dorothy Dandridge died at home after drinking a large dose of antidepressants. It was unlikely to be suicide, because the singer had creative plans for the near future. In particular, she was planning to perform the other day in a cabaret in New York.
In honor of the memory of this amazing woman, the film “Meet Dorothy Dandridge” was made, in which the incomparable Halle Berry played the main role.
Katerina Graham
Katerina is best known as an actress, and her most popular role is that of Bonnie Bennett from the series The Vampire Diaries. The girl's unusual appearance is due to a mixture of Liberian and Polish blood (Katerina's mother is a Polish, and her father is a Liberian). In addition, this actress, singer and dancer is a polyglot and speaks, in addition to English, in Spanish, Polish and French.
As we look at the biographies of black singers, Katerina has the most direct relation to this. Filming in films, this hard-working young woman manages to combine with her own musical concerts. A few years ago, she released a music album she recorded at her personal studio. In addition, for some time she was a backing vocalist in the band Black and Peace.
The girl does not allocate for herself a more or less important part of creativity. She likes to act in films, and dance, and make music. She does not plan to deny herself in one of these classes. The press, among other things, closely follows the style of Katerina in clothes, which they consider quite cool.
Ciara
Ciara Princess Harris is one of the most popular black singers who do more than just music. In addition to R'n'B and hip-hop, the girl is fond of dancing and working as a model. She has released several successful albums, and many of her singles have received prestigious music awards like the Grammy.
The most iconic and successful works of Ciara are the albums Goodies, Ciara: The Evolution and Ciara (the latest to date). But not even the most successful albums of the singer were awarded high music awards. Ciara writes songs herself, being a talented poetess. Her creations are recognized far beyond the United States and the English-speaking world.
The personal life of the singer has not yet somehow developed. But she has a son from a former Future boyfriend. In addition to creative, a woman leads an active social life, helping terminally ill children to fulfill their dreams.
Rihanna
The work of one of the most famous black singers Rihanna is a mixture of R'n'B, reggae and pop music. Thanks to this musical symbiosis, the girl developed a unique and recognizable style throughout the world. In addition to music, Rihanna is engaged in acting and design.
The girl began to practice singing quite early in her teens. And at the age of 16 she was able to please the successful producer Ivan Rogers. And at that moment she moved from Barbados to America to build her career without even graduating from high school. In the United States, the talented girl began to patronize the popular rapper Jay-Z, who saw her perspectives.
So, 17-year-old Rihanna in 2005 “blew up” the musical world with her composition Pon de Replay. And in the same year, her first album, Music of the Sun, went platinum. The prolific composer Rihanna did not keep the audience waiting long for her second offspring and in 2006 released an album called A girl like me, the best song of which was the SOS song, which held for a long time in the TOP 5 of the world's leading charts.
The following year was marked for Rihanna with the release of another album, which included the song Umbrella, which made her a superstar literally all over the world and maximally revealed the girl's vocal abilities. The next album was released two years later, and critics noted the gloom and aggression poured into Rihanna’s songs due to a severe mental trauma resulting from a hard break with her lover Chris Brown. But literally the next year, she released the already lively and explosive album Loud. This creative project was also significant, as Rihanna clearly revised her priorities and showed the world her self-sufficiency and audacity.
In total, Rihanna has released 8 music albums to date, she sang in a duet with such stars as Shakira, Eminem, Jay-Z, Paul McCartney, etc. For her songs she was repeatedly awarded the coolest Grammy Award.
Whitney Houston
Another great black singer, Whitney Houston, who lived early and tragically left this world, lived for only 48 years. Nevertheless, she left a huge brilliant creative legacy after herself. It is no secret that she had problems with drugs, and from time to time she appeared in various scandalous stories. But this does not negate the fact that Whitney Houston was a real nugget in the world of music.
Her childhood passed among musicians. Firstly, the singer’s mother and aunt were notable figures in the rhythm and blues world of the 60-70s of the 20th century. And secondly, the girl grew up among the musicians of the Baptist choir. Moreover, her unique talent allowed her at the age of 11 to solo in the church choir.
The girl was engaged in touring all her youth and led a bohemian lifestyle. In the 80s, she had 2 contracts with record companies, but the collaboration with Arista Records brought popularity to the girl.
Whitney released her first album in 1985. Popularity did not immediately fall on her head, but after America heard the song You Give Good Love, the young woman became famous. Her talent was so stunning that she broke into those shows on television, where before black artists did not even think to invite. And, it would seem, the singer’s first not very successful album diverges from the store shelves in the amount of 130,000,000 copies, although a year after the release.
The second collection was so liked by the world community that it surpassed the creativity of The Beattles themselves in popularity. Whitney's third album was less successful, but it did not plunge her into depression, as she wisely believed that this was the way for a long career. But the next songbook, released in 1990, became platinum, and fans bought up 10,000,000 copies of it. However, a live tour in support of this project is considered a failure.
A separate chapter in the creative life of this talented African American was the release of the film "The Bodyguard" (1992). The singer performed 6 songs that became hits. And the single I Will Always Love You became the main one in Whitney's career. In addition to “Bodyguard,” the singer recorded several more soundtracks for other films.
Following the success of the movie, Whitney is releasing yet another album that has been welcomed by critics and the public. The name of this offspring of the singer is My Love Is Your Love.
But now the singer’s career has declined, and only in 2000 did she release a collection of songs. Everything, it would seem, is starting to get better, Whitney signs contracts for the next several albums. But they fail.
In 2004, Whitney Houston goes on a tour, during which he performs, including in Russia. Then in the work of the singer comes complete silence, lasting several years. And only in 2009 she released her seventh and, unfortunately, the last album.
Tina Turner
The real name of this famous black singer is Anna May Bullock. Despite the fact that the girl’s childhood passed in such conditions that she could not wait for any musical success, over time this strong and outstanding woman with her singing, composing, acting and dancing talent was recognized as the Queen of Rock and Roll.
A premonition of success to the girl was given by moving to St. Louis and meeting rock musician Ike Turner. It was Ike who saw Anna's talent and passion for music and helped create Tina Turner's corporate identity.
The Kings of Rhythm group, in which Anna was a soloist, was quite popular in the USA in the 60-70 years of the XX century. And this passionate vocalist even won the Grammy Award, being part of the team. In 1962, Ike and Tina started a family, and thus the soloist appeared on the stage under the pseudonym Tina Turner.
At that time, Mr. Turner left the team, and his wife began to solo already in a new group with him. So the world saw the team of The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. The musicians worked tirelessly, being creatively searching for their hit. And once they met Phil Spectrum, who organized a special project for Tina called River Deep Mountain Hight. At the same time, the cult band Rolling Stones made a proposal to Revue to participate in one of their tours.
But problems began in paradise, and once Tina, unable to withstand the growing tyranny, beatings and drug addiction of her husband, literally left him unknown. And the singer receives her first success during one of the tours in Europe, performing the song Let's Stay Together. In addition, Tina met manager Roger Davis, who convinced the singer to build a successful solo career.
The total success was achieved by the artist after meeting with David Bowie and recording his songs 1984 and Let's Stay Together, making a talented and ambitious woman a world-wide star in just a matter of days. And, of course, Tina Turner’s best hit was Simply the best.
In all, for her 78 years, the black singer released 10 studio albums, got into the Guinness Book of Records after she collected the largest paid concert (188,000 people), which was held at one of the Rio de Janeiro venues, and also deservedly took home with her 8 Grammy Awards. In addition, the singer performed songs for several films, in particular, to one of the films about James Bond and is still actively working and starring in music videos.
Russian black singers
Russia is a multinational country, and its inhabitants also include people with African roots. There are several wonderful Russian mulattos who have chosen singing as their field. Let us present a photo of black singers living and creating in Russia.
Above you can see singer Cornelia Mango. The girl burst into domestic show business not so long ago and has already managed to win the love of an army of fans. Cornelia is 32 years old; her popularity was brought to her by participating in the Star Factory project.
Tina Ogunleje was born on May 17, 1979. DJ, singer, former member of the group "Cream". Father is Nigerian, mother is Russian.
Alice Edun is a singer. Born in St. Petersburg. Father is Nigerian, mother is Russian. Now lives and works in Italy.
Victoria Pierre-Marie is a blues and jazz singer. Born in Moscow on April 17, 1979. Her father is Cameroonian, her mother is Russian. In 1996, Victoria was awarded the title of “Russian Queen of the Blues” by President of the Association of Jazz Musicians Yuri Saulsky.
It remains only to note that Russian singers with black roots have undeniable talents and are an adornment of our pop.