Sheléa Melody Frazier also known as Sheléa ( ), stylized as SHELÉA or sheléa, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Her 2014 track "I'll Never Let You Go" peaked at 23 on ''Billboard'''s Adult R&B chart. She is mentored by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

, and is a protégée of

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

. Sheléa portrays gospel singer Dorinda Clark Cole in the 2020 Lifetime biopic, ''

The Clark Sisters The Clark Sisters are an American gospel vocal group originally consisting of five sisters: Jacky Clark Chisholm (born 1948), Denise "Niecy" Clark-Bradford (born 1953), Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark (born 1954), Dorinda Clark-Cole (born 1957), ...

: First Ladies of Gospel''.

Life and career

Sheléa Frazier was born in

Redwood City Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 according to the 2020 census. The Port of Redwo ...

, California, and raised in

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

, California.via sheleamusic.com
/ref> She has been singing and playing piano since she was a child. She has cited

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...

's album '' Unforgettable...with Love'' as the impetus for her desire to become a singer. Sheléa co-wrote and performed the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

to the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

television sitcom ''

All of Us ''All of Us'' is an American sitcom that premiered on the UPN network in the United States on September 16, 2003, where it aired for its first three seasons. On October 1, 2006, the show moved to The CW, a new network formed by the merger of UP ...

'' from 2003 to 2006. Sheléa began her professional career working with producers

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/ pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with var ...

. In 2008, she sang lead on the track " Someone to Watch Over Me", at the request of

Take 6 Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy Awards as well as D ...

; the song was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

. Afterward,

contacted the singer for collaborations. Sheléa first gained wider prominence in 2012 after she posted a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

video singing a medley of

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

covers after the singer's death, which went viral. Later that year, she was invited to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

to sing for the Obamas at the

Gershwin Prize The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is an award given to a composer or performer for their lifetime contributions to popular music. Created in 2007 by the United States Library of Congress, the prize is named after brothers ...

presentation. The next year, Sheléa performed a Whitney Houston tribute at the

Grammy Museum The Grammy Museum is any of a group of museums containing exhibits relating to winners of the Grammy Award for achievement in recording. The museums in this group include: *The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, which opened in 2008 in Los Angeles, Cali ...

. Shelea's debut album, ''Love Fell On Me'', was released in 2013. The track "I'll Never Let You Go" song peaked at 23 on Billboard's Adult R&B chart. She also wrote and performed the 2011 track "Love Fell On Me" for the film '' Jumping the Broom''. In 2019, she released an album ''Pretty World. A Tribute to Allen & Marilyn Bergman'', which included Stevie Wonder and

Kirk Whalum Kirk Whalum (born July 11, 1958) is an American R&B and smooth jazz saxophonist and songwriter. Whalum has recorded a series of commercially and critically acclaimed solo studio albums. Along with several film soundtracks, with music ranging fro ...

. Later that year,

produced a concert special on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

featuring the singer, called ''Quincy Jones Presents: Sheléa.'' Shelea's performance featured

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

. She starred in the 2020 Clark Sisters biopic '' The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel'' as

Dorinda Clark-Cole Dorinda Grace Clark-Cole (born Dorinda Grace Clark; October 19, 1957) is an American Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, songwriter, musician, talk show host, and evangelist. Clark–Cole is best known as a member of family vocal group The Clar ...

Mentorship and influences

Sheléa is mentored by Stevie Wonder and is a protégée of Quincy Jones. She was a backup singer for Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life Tour in 2014 and 2015. In 2018, she held a two-month residency at Jones' Q's Bar & Lounge in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. She has stated that Whitney Houston is one of her biggest inspirations.

Discography

Albums

*2013: ''Love Fell on Me'' *2015: ''You'' *2019: ''Pretty World. A Tribute to Allen & Marilyn Bergman'' *2022: ''Love Fell On Me (Remastered)''

Extended plays

*2019: ''Don't Wanna Wait 'Til Christmas''

Soundtracks

*2020: '' The First Ladies of Gospel: The Clark Sisters Biopic Soundtrack''

Singles

*2012: ''Seeing You'' *2012: ''Don't Want To Wait 'Til Christmas'' *2013: ''Love the Way You Love Me'' *2013: ''I'm Sure It's You (The Wedding Song)'' *2013: ''

America the Beautiful "America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Church (Newark), Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New ...

'' *2014: ''I'll Never Let You Go'' *2015: ''

What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life What or WHAT may refer to: * What, an English interrogative word * "What?", one of the Five Ws used in journalism Film and television * ''What!'' (film), also known as ''The Whip and the Body'', a 1963 Italian film directed by Mario Bava * ...

'' *2018: ''Moonlight'' (featuring

) *2018: ''Pretty World'' (featuring

) *2019: ''City of Angels'' *2019: ''Don't Wanna Wait 'Til Christmas'' *2020: ''You Are Enough'' *2020: ''We the People'' *2020: ''Mary Did You Know'' *2020: ''Silent Night'' *2021: ''Grace'' *2022: ''Final Say''

Album appearances

References

External links

Official website

AllMusic biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheléa 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women pianists African-American jazz musicians African-American pianists American gospel singers American jazz singers American keyboardists American performers of Christian music American rhythm and blues musicians American women singers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1980 births