Sheléa

From the moment she became a buzzed-about up-and-comer crooning her heart- tugging, self-penned “Love Fell On Me” (the end credits theme to the romantic comedy, “Jumping the Broom”), singer/songwriter/keyboardist Sheléa snapped up the attention and support of music’s most powerful icons, including Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, David Foster, Narada Michael Walden, Ricky Minor and Dave Koz. The depth of emotion she plumbs via her vocal interpretations, her composing and her piano playing has been steadily making her an artist to be reckoned with across the top shelf of the ‘beyond category’ international pop music spectrum. This led to her debut album, Love Fell On Me (Breath of Life Records – 2013).

Sheléa (pronounced shuh-lay-yuh) possesses a resume and list of performance credits that is as staggering as it is multi-faceted. She performed at the White House before President Barack and First Lady Michele Obama (both led the room in a standing ovation) for “Smithsonian Salutes Ray Charles,” singing “Night Time is the Right Time” with soul man Anthony Hamilton. Sheléa was handpicked to be the very first artist to perform at Quincy Jones jazz club, Q’s Bar and Lounge, located in Palazzo Versace, Dubai. Sheléa traveled internationally as a featured vocalist in “An Intimate Evening with David Foster” singing selections made famous by Natalie Cole (“Unforgettable”), Chaka Khan (“Through the Fire”), Whitney Houston (songs from “The Bodyguard” motion picture soundtrack) and Toni Braxton (“Unbreak My Heart”), as well as the power duet “Tell Him” on which she sang Barbra Streisand’s lines (her new nickname: “The Black Barbra”) with Pia Toscano singing Celine Dion’s part. Sheléa also sang on the PBS-TV special “Zoltan Maga: Live from Budapest with David Foster” as a special guest of the Hungarian violinist.

In the fall of 2016, Sheléa appeared in HBO’s multi-Emmy-nominated film “All the Way” singing and acting as a funeral choir soloist loosely based on the great Mahalia Jackson. For five consecutive years, she has toured with saxophonist Kirk Whalum on his “The Gospel According to Jazz Christmas” shows, and is immortalized on his Grammy/NAACP Image Award-nominated live double-CD The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter IV (a concert also available on DVD). Sheléa sang the spiritual “Wade in the Water” at the Kennedy Center Honors accompanying the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in tribute to choreographer Carmen de Lavallade. At the Governor’s Ball (an event that leads up to the Grammy Awards), Sheléa sang the Diane Warren-penned World Humanitarian Day anthem “I Was Here” (originally recorded by Beyonce’). Meanwhile, Sheléa’s own composition/recording “Can’t Play it Cool With You” (a jazzy ballad featuring trumpeter Chuck Findley) was tapped for an episode of the CW-TV superhero show “Black Lightning.”

As a member of NARAS (The Recording Academy), Sheléa was a guest speaker at the 2018 “Grammy Museum Summer Sessions,” prepping high school students on music’s value, songwriting craft, vocal technique, and all-around professionalism. Sheléa is also a staunch proponent for female empowerment. She teamed up with Grammy Award-winning producer/songwriter Tena Clark to sing the anthem “Break the Chain” for the global launch of “One Billion Rising” headed Eve Ensler, closed the 2016 TEDWomen conference in San Francisco singing “I Believe” (also penned by Clark), and performed for the National Women’s History Museum honoring Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Dolores Huerta.