Timotha Lanae (pronounced ) is an international and multi-octave singer-songwriter, playwright and actress. Her debut album ''Red'' reached #1 on the UK Soul Charts. Her follow-up EP ''Rewind'' reached #1 on the Sweet Rhythms Chart and peaked at #2 on the UK Soul Chart. Elements of soul, R&B, funk, jazz, and hip hop can be found in Lanae's music. She cites

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine; namesake of the word ''sadism'' * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * ...

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

Gap Band The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets (Greenwood, Archer, a ...

, and

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

as some of her main influences.

Early life and education

Named after her father Timothy, Lanae was born and raised in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and currently resides in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Growing up she could often be found on either the piano or recruiting the local neighborhood kids to participate in her self-produced and directed backyard concerts. Lanae attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, where she majored in elementary education with an emphasis in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. Lanae received a scholarship to pursue her master's degree in education at the

; however, because of her passion for creating and experimenting with music she decided to leave her graduate program and pursue her career in music and the arts.

Music career

During her college years, Lanae was regularly performing at some of Minneapolis’ top jazz venues, where she met her mentor Severin Behnen, a jazz pianist and instructor at

MacPhail Center for Music The MacPhail Center for Music is one of the nation's oldest and largest community-based music education centers. Located in the Mill District of Downtown East, Minneapolis, Minnesota, the school has over 16,000 students, providing instruction ...

. Shortly after leaving her graduate program, Lanae began working closely with international producer Ben Obi at Savannah Street Music. Lanae's debut album ''Red'' reached #1 on the UK Soul Charts. Her single "People Pleaser" peaked at number #6 on the UK Soul Charts. Her second project, ''Rewind'', reached #1 on the UK Sweet Rhythms Chart, and was "strongly recommended" by SoulTracks. August 2015 marked her third #1 on the UK Charts for the contribution of her single "8 Days 'Til Spring", to the So Soulful Collection Vol. 2. The So Soulful Collection Vol. 2 was also named “The Best Soul Compilation of the Year” by SoulTracks.

Theater/acting career

After being cast as “Anita” in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'' in high school, Lanae has gone on to perform across the globe from the US to Japan. She has toured and performed in productions such as: ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...

'', '' Hello, Dolly!'' (as Dolly), ''

'', ''

H.M.S Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, whi ...

'', ''The Producers'', '' Singin’ in the Rain'', ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

'', ''Footloose'', ''All Shook Up'', ''Swing!'', Irving Berlin’s ''

Easter Parade The Easter parade is an American cultural event consisting of a festive strolling procession on Easter Sunday. Typically, it is a somewhat informal and unorganized event, with or without religious significance. Persons participating in an East ...

'', ''Beehive'', ''Xanadu'', ''For the Sake of the Children'' and ''Johnny Baseball''. She was named Outstanding Actress in a Musical by the Minneapolis ''

Star Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the List of newspapers in the United States, seventh- ...

'' for her role in ''Respect: a Musical Journey of Women''.''Star Tribune'', These were a few of our favorite things, September 29, 2015
/ref> Lanae has also been featured on-camera in TV and film as an actress, singer, spokesperson, and voice over talent. Her work has appeared in film festivals including the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. Her credits include: ABC Family:

The Nine Lives of Chloe King ''The Nine Lives of Chloe King'' is an American supernatural drama television series which premiered on ABC Family on June 14, 2011, and ended on August 16, 2011. The one-hour drama is based on the book series of the same name by Liz Braswell. ...

(music featured: Indigo), Rosie, Soul Survivors, Elmer’s Glue,

Best Buy Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

K-Mart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and its territories. It operates four remaining Kmart big-box department stores � ...

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

, The

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions among Sir Tyrone Gut ...

Presents: Gilbert and Sullivan’s

on PBS, U Care, Keranique and Once Upon a Child.

Awards/recognition

* "Red": #1 Album-UK Soul Charts * "Rewind": #1 Album-Sweet Rhythm Charts and #2 Album-UK Soul Charts * "Jazzy Lady": #1 Fair Trade 4 Music Chart * "Voting Member for the Grammy Awards" * "Soultracks" New Artist of the Year Nomination * "UK Pride Magazine" named “One to Watch” * "Rosie"-

* "Song-Indigo" featured in

* "Outstanding Actress in a Musical"-

* "2007

" (Hollywood Finalist)

Albums

* ''Rewind'' * ''Red'' * ''Timotha Lanae''-EP

Singles

* "Open Road-ft. Ryan Liestman" * "God, Love, Music-Remix" * "8 Days Til Spring" * "Who’s that Girl" * "People Pleaser" * "Radio" featuring Stokley Williams of

Mint Condition Mint Condition is an American R&B band from St. Paul, Minnesota. The band is focused on diverse genres such as jazz, hip hop, funk and dance. Mint Condition has also been nominated for one Grammy and three Soul Train Awards. The group is cr ...

* "Indigo"-DJ Unwind featuring Timotha Lanae * "Night Foil"-DJ Unwind featuring Timotha Lanae

EDM mixes

* "8 Days Til Spring-Dre Hall Trap Mix" * "Who's That Girl-Dre Hall Trap Mix"

Videos

* "Open Road ft. Ryan Liestman" * "God, Love, Music-Remix" * "My Man-Jigsaw Remix" * "People Pleaser" * "Getting To Know You" * "Talkin To Myself" * "Night Foil"-DJ Unwind featuring Timotha Lanae

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanae, Timotha Actresses from Minneapolis African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American dance musicians American film actresses American funk singers American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Living people Singers from Minneapolis University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development alumni Writers from Minneapolis Year of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from Minnesota 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers