Amanda Louisa Gosein-Cameron (born 10 July 1974), known professionally as Amanda Ghost, is a British music executive, songwriter, singer, and former president of

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

(2009–10).

Career

Born in North London to a

Gibraltarian The Gibraltarians (Spanish: ''gibraltareños'', colloquially: '' llanitos'') are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranea ...

mother and an

Indo-Trinidadian Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or Indian-Trinidadians and Tobagonians, are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago whose ancestors came from India and the wider subcontinent beginning in 1845. Indo-Trinidadians an ...

father, Ghost was encouraged at an early age to play guitar. In 1997, she contributed a version of

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...

's "Absolution" to the tribute album ''

Random In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of pattern or predictability in events. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Individual ran ...

''; unlike the other tracks on the album, it was a song Numan had not released, and came out months before his own version. Her first recording contract was with Warner Bros. Records in Los Angeles, for whom she recorded her first album, ''Ghost Stories''. Ghost's second album was released in autumn 2006 on her own record label, Plan A Records, and was preceded by a limited edition EP, ''Blood on the Line''. Ghost co-wrote

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount; 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. A former reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army, he served under NATO during the 1999 Kosovo War. After ...

's " You're Beautiful", "

Beautiful Liar "Beautiful Liar" is a song by American singer Beyoncé and Colombian singer Shakira. It was written by Beyoncé, Amanda Ghost, Ian Dench, and Stargate members Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, and produced by Stargate and Beyoncé for th ...

" for

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

and

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular ...

, and

Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks-Thomas (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. Her self-titled debu ...

' first single "

Tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...

". Amanda also co-wrote four songs for Beyoncé's third album, ''

I Am… Sasha Fierce ''I Am... Sasha Fierce'' is the third studio album by American singer Beyoncé. It was released on November 12, 2008, by Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment. In its original release, the album was formatted as a double album, intendin ...

'': "Disappear", "Satellites", "Ave Maria" and "Once in a Lifetime". She co-wrote and sang backing vocals on "Colours", which was on the Prodigy's 2009 album, ''

Invaders Must Die ''Invaders Must Die'' is the fifth studio album by English electronic dance music group The Prodigy. The album was released on 23 February 2009 on the band's new record label Take Me to the Hospital, and was distributed by Cooking Vinyl. Altho ...

''. She also collaborated with John Legend on the lyrics for the track "Getting Nowhere" by Magnetic Man. On 3 February 2009, Ghost was named the new president of

. She replaced Charlie Walk, who left at the end of 2008 to start his own company. Ghost co-wrote, with

Scott McFarnon Scott McFarnon (born 8 August 1979) is a singer and songwriter from southeast London, England He has collaborated with some of the biggest superstars in the music business. McFarnon's discovery by the music industry is credited to internationall ...

and Ian Dench, "Red", a top-5 hit for Daniel Merriweather in the UK in May 2009, and "For the Glory" and "Vanity Kills" by

Ian Brown Ian George Brown (born 20 February 1963) is an English singer and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the split in 1996, he began a solo career, r ...

, which she co-wrote with Ian and Dave McCracken. She also co-wrote and produced the

multi-platinum-selling single "Gypsy", from the album ''

She Wolf ''She Wolf'' ( es, Loba, link=no) is the eighth studio album and third English-language album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was released on 9 October 2009, by Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. As executive producers, Shakira and Am ...

''. Amanda left her position as president of Epic Records in 2010. and is now the CEO of her own record label, Outsiders, a joint venture with The Universal Music Group. In 2011, she was executive producer for the Scissor Sisters album ''Magic Hour'', and co-wrote the smash hit "Only The Horses", co-produced by Calvin Harris. She co-wrote two songs for the Florence and The Machine album ''Ceremonials'', and has more recently collaborated with John Legend, Sub Focus and ASAP Rocky. Ghost is a three-time

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

winner, a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

nominee, and has been nominated for three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s. One of the latter was as co-producer of two tracks on Beyoncé's album, ''I Am... Sasha Fierce'', which was nominated as Album of the Year, and the other for "Once in a Lifetime", which she co-wrote with Scott McFarnon, Ian Dench, Jody Street, James Dring and Beyoncé. The song was the title track from Beyoncé's

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

, ''

Cadillac Records ''Cadillac Records'' is a 2008 American biographical drama film written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-compan ...

'' and was nominated for the Best Song Written for a Motion Picture Award.

Discography

Singles

*"Idol" (2000) - UK #63 *"Glory Girl" (2000) *"Filthy Mind" (2000) - only released in the U.S./Australia *"Break My World" (2004) - UK #52 † *"Feed" (2004) † *"Girls Like You" - digital only release (2005) *"Monster" - digital only release (2005) *"Blood on the Line" EP (2006) *"Time Machine" (featuring

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

) (January 2007) † Credited to Dark Globe featuring Amanda Ghost

Albums

*''

Ghost Stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

'' (2000) *''Blood on the Line'' - The Download Collection (2008)

Songwriting credits

References

External links

Amanda Ghost's MySpace
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost, Amanda 1974 births Living people English dance musicians English songwriters English record producers British music industry executives Ivor Novello Award winners Singers from London English people of Indian descent English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent British people of Gibraltarian descent People from Enfield, London Ghost, Amanda