Andru Donalds
Andru Donalds | |
---|---|
Born |
Kingston, Jamaica | 16 November 1974
Genres |
Pop-Rock Soul Reggae fusion Reggae Enigmatic |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Years active | 1994–present |
Labels |
Sony Music Seven Days Music 313 Music Jwp |
Website | https://www.andrudonalds.org |
Andru Donalds (born 16 November 1974) is a Jamaican musician and vocalist with a previous solo career, who is now working in collaboration with the Enigma project as lead vocalist. Donalds had a hit single in America in 1995 with Mishale, which reached #38 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1]
Biography
Andru Donalds was born in Kingston, Jamaica. His musical style ranges from pop, rock and roll, to reggae and ballads. His influences include The Beatles, Prince, Bob Marley, Queen, Michael Jackson & Black Uhuru.
Solo career
Upon leaving school at the age of 18 Donalds travelled to England, the Netherlands and New York City, in order to develop his musical abilities as singer and songwriter. He met the producer and songwriter Eric Foster White, who had hits with stars such as Frank Sinatra, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Jessica Simpson, Julio Iglesias, Backstreet Boys, Regina Belle, Hi-Five and Boyzone. Together they produced the debut album Andru Donalds. The two singles from this - Mishale and Save Me Now - became successful worldwide.
His second album Damned, If I Don’t was published two years later in 1997. The song Somebody’s Baby was taken from this for the soundtrack of the Oscar-winning film Good Will Hunting.
In April 1998 Donalds received a call from producer and songwriter Michael Cretu, who wanted to engage him for the Enigma project. The outcome was that they collaborated not only on Enigma songs but also on two solo albums. His third album Snowin’ Under My Skin included two singles: All Out of Love, a cover version of the Air Supply song which achieved international platinum status, and Simple Obsession.
Let’s Talk About It, his fourth album, featured the single One Night Lover.
Five years after his last solo album, Donalds released a "best of" album in 2006. It included five new songs, of which Dreamer and Let The Stars Fall Down were released as singles.
Enigma
Since 1999 Donalds has been one of the lead singers in Enigma, Cretu’s music project which has sold over 50 million records worldwide, received more than 100 platinum and gold awards and took over 50 #1 chart positions. He has performed in Enigma songs such as: Seven Lives, Modern Crusaders, The Screen Behind The Mirror, Boum-Boum, In The Shadow, In The Light, Hello And Welcome (soundtrack for the Felix Sturm’s box). He also co-wrote and performed Je t’aime Till My Dying Day and Distorted Love.
Other collaborations
In 2005 Donalds co-produced and performed the song And I Feel for the soundtrack of the German film Barefoot / Barfuß, starring and directed by Til Schweiger.
In 2005 he co-operated with the Ukrainian singer Evgenia Vlasova. Their songs Limbo & Wind Of Hope gained airplay on Slavic radio stations.
Donalds also wrote a song for Sandra, the former wife of Cretu: The Way I Am, the lead single from her The Art of Love album released in 2007.
Solo albums
Year | Title |
1994 | Andru Donalds |
1995 | Andru Donalds (limited edition) |
1997 | Damned If I Don't |
1997 | Damned If I Don't (limited edition) |
1999 | Snowin' Under My Skin |
2001 | Let's Talk About It |
2006 | Best Of |
2011 | Trouble In Paradise (15 April 2011) |
Singles
Year | Title | ||
1994 | Mishale | ||
1994 | Save Me Now (radio only) | ||
1995 | Tryin' To Tell Ya | ||
1995 | Mishale (remix) | ||
1998 | Beautiful Friday | ||
1998 | (Still) Lovin' You | ||
1999 | All Out Of Love | ||
1999 | Simple Obsession | ||
2000 | Precious Little Diamond | ||
2000 | (I'm Not Your) One Night Lover | ||
2001 | Hurts To Be In Love | ||
2001 | Someday | ||
2005 | Limbo (radio only) | ||
2006 | Wind Of Hope (radio only) | ||
2006 | Dreamer | ||
2006 | Let The Stars Fall Down | ||
2007 | AD07 (EP) | ||
2009 | Stop The Pain (by Sly&Robbie / Taxi Records) | ||
2010 | Marble Eyes | ||
2011 | Falling Down | ||
2012 | Serenade (by Sly&Robbie / Taxi Records) | 20142 | Life (with Aboutblank feat. KLC) |
|}
"Enigma" lead vocals
Other than "Love Sensuality Devotion" not even a single track in listing is performed by Donalds.
Year | Title |
2000 | The Screen Behind The Mirror (album) |
2001 | Love Sensuality Devotion (Greatest Hits) |
2003 | Voyageur (album) |
2004 | Boum-Boum (single) |
2005 | 15 Years After (box set) |
2005 | Hello And Welcome (single) |
2006 | A Posteriori (album) |
2008 | Seven Lives (single) |
2008 | Seven Lives Many Faces (album) |
Soundtracks
Donalds' work has featured on the soundtracks of two films.
Year | Title |
1997 | Good Will Hunting |
2005 | Barfuss (Barefoot) |
Сollaboration with Eugenia Vlasova
- Albums
Year | Title |
2006 | Wind of Hope (album) |
Covers
Donalds' songs have been covered by other artists include:
- Mishale - covered by Tranx-Mission, 4Play and Marianna Gerasimidou
- Ruth Ann Boyle covered Just for One Day (I'd Die for You) on her album What About Us.
Songs that have been covered by Donalds include:
- Jackson Browne's Somebody's Baby
- Led Zeppelin's D'yer Mak'er
- Sinéad O'Connor's Thank You
- Air Supply's All Out Of Love
- Aerosmith's Dream On
- Cretu & Thiers' Snowing Under My Skin
- Fox The Fox' Precious Little Diamond
- Gino Vanelli's Hurts To Be In Love
Also there's another co-writer's version:
- Kari Kimmel Dreamer released on the album A Life In The Day
See also
References
- ↑ Joel Whitburn (2000). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (7th ed.).