Miriam Arlene Stockley (born 15 April 1962) is a British singer. She was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

, South Africa, and her work is influenced by the African music of her home country. Her distinctive ''

vocalise A vocal warm-up is a series of exercises meant to prepare the voice for singing, acting, or other use. There is very little scientific data about the benefits of vocal warm-ups. Relatively few studies have researched the effects of thesexercis ...

'' style gained international acclaim when Karl Jenkins launched the '' Adiemus'' project with '' Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary'', with Stockley as the lead singer. In 1992 she performed as a backing vocalist at

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was a benefit concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992, at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis ...

, which was broadcast live to 1 billion people worldwide from the

Old Wembley Stadium The original Wembley Stadium (; originally known as the Empire Stadium) was a stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its successor. Wembley hosted the FA Cup fin ...

Early life

At the age of eleven, Stockley and her older sister Avril formed the group the Stockley Sisters and had a hit with a cover of

Shocking Blue Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band formed in 1967 in The Hague. It was part of the music movement in the Netherlands that was generally known by the name Nederbeat. The band had a number of hits throughout the counterculture movement during ...

's "Venus" in 1976 on the South African Top 30, ten years before

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. T ...

's version. Later in her life, she moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, settling in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to further pursue her musical career. There, she contributed vocals to several albums and TV commercials.

Career

1970s

She formed part of 'Blush', a short-lived South African disco act consisting of Stockley herself, Malie Kelly and guitarist Mike Pilot.

1980–1999

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Stockley worked as a session singer for the UK songwriting and production trio Stock, Aitken and Waterman, and appeared on tracks by

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 m ...

and

Sonia Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

. Alongside fellow session singer Mae McKenna, Stockley is credited with being partly responsible for the distinctive Stock, Aitken and Waterman sound of the 1980s. Stockley provided backing vocals for the United Kingdom's

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

entry on several occasions, most notably with Emma in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

and for

Katrina and the Waves Katrina and the Waves were a British rock band widely known for the 1985 hit " Walking on Sunshine". They also won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Love Shine a Light". History Pre-history (1975–1980) The band's earliest in ...

when they won in Dublin in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. In 1991, Stockley became a part of the dance group Praise whose single "Only You" reached number four in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. A year later, the band, with Stockley on vocals, released its second single, "Dream On". This failed to have the same success as their previous single and the band decided to call it a day. In 1995, she worked with Karl Jenkins as the multi-layered vocalist on his first '' Adiemus'' release, which also gave her broad international exposure in a

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along ...

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

and release on the album ''

Pure Moods ''Pure Moods'' is the first United States release of a series of compilation albums of new-age music released by Virgin Records. The original was titled ''Moods – A contemporary Soundtrack'' and released in the UK in 1991. This was followed by ...

''. Stockley's song "Perfect Day," written by

Colin Towns Colin William Towns (born 13 May 1948 in West Ham, London) is an English composer and keyboardist. He was noted for playing in bands formed by ex-Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, and later worked extensively in composing soundtracks for film, telev ...

and also known as "Theme for the Lake District," was used as the theme song for the BBC children's programme ''

The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends ''The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends'' is a British animated anthology television series based on the works of Beatrix Potter, featuring Peter Rabbit and other anthropomorphic animal characters created by Potter. 14 of Potter's stories were ...

'', which ran from 1992 to 1998. She has also appeared as a singer on several

BBC Schools BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based o ...

programmes, most notably ''

Look and Read ''Look and Read'' is a BBC Television programme for primary schools, aimed at improving children's literacy skills. The programme presents fictional stories in a serial format, the first of which was broadcast in 1967 and the most recent in 2 ...

'', and contributed to the soundtrack for the 1997 film ''

One Night Stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

''.

2000s

Stockley is featured as a member of the choir for ''

The Fellowship of the Ring ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by '' The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the ficti ...

''. Her cover version of the Rose Royce song "

Wishing on a Star "Wishing on a Star" is a slow ballad written by former The Undisputed Truth member Billie Rae Calvin and produced by Norman Whitfield. The song was originally offered to Barbra Streisand for her album project but later declined. It was first ...

", feature on ''

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''. In 2004, Yamaha released

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, in 2000 and was not originally intended to b ...

software that allows people to synthetically create background vocals. One of the three available voices from the studio

Zero-G Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G. Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...

released for the first edition of the software is based on material recorded by Stockley. In December 2006, Stockley contributed as a solo vocalist and as a co-vocalist with

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

at the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Night of the Proms Night of the Proms is a series of concerts held annually in Belgium (since 1985), the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. Regularly there are also shows in France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, the United States and Sweden. The co ...

tour, consisting of 18 concerts. She also released her third solo album, a collection of rearranged classical standards entitled ''Eternal'', in 2006. In 2006, she joined Richard Gannaway and

Jay Oliver Jay Russell Oliver (born April 26, 1959) is an American jazz musician (piano, piano keyboard, keyboards and music synthesizer, synths), music composer, composer, record producer, programmer and engineer. He began his professional music career at t ...

as a primary member of the world music group AO Music (also known as AO). She first appeared on the album "Twirl", released 17 February 2009 on the group's indie label Arcturian Gate (debuted on international music charts at No. 5). ''Twirl'' contained the song "On Jai Ya"; a piece composed as

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

theme music (2008) at the request of the Beijing Olympic Committee. Ultimately, the song was not selected and later chosen as soundtrack music for the 2011 promotional trailer "Project Peace on Earth". ''Twirl'' was released to an international audience in 2009 with Stockley as the group's main vocalist. In June 2009, she, Richard Gannaway and

composed and produced the song "Gaiya Lo Mane" as theme music for the

Give Kids the World Give may refer to: making someone get or receive something from someone Places * Give, Denmark, a small town ** Give Municipality, a former municipality Music * ''Give'' (Balkan Beat Box album), 2012 album by Balkan Beat Box * ''Give'' (The Bad ...

Foundation. In February 2011 Arcturian Gate released the AO Music's third album ''...and Love Rages on!'', where Stockley's voice is joined by children's choral ensembles from

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...

and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

(charted at No. 2 internationally and awarded

Zone Music Reporter Zone Music Reporter (formerly ''New Age Reporter'') is a website tracking New Age, world, and instrumental music. The site features weekly playlist, monthly airplay charts, and album reviews. Premium services are also offered to artists and their ...

's "Best World Album of 2011"). With the release of "...and Love Rages on!", Miriam and AO Music aligned with ''HavServe'' under

GlobalGiving GlobalGiving is 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in the United States that provides a global crowdfunding platform for grassroots charitable projects. Since 2002, more than 1.6 million donors on GlobalGiving have donated more than $750 mi ...

to build sustainable villages for the children of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

who were displaced by an earthquake in 2010. On 28 March 2011, she was invited to give a private performance for the Education Without Borders International conference in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

. In March 2013 the AO Music group released ''Hokulea'', which charted #3 internationally and sustained top 20 ranking (

) for five consecutive months. With the release of "Hokulea" AO Music officially established themselves as 100% non-profit through ''AO Foundation International'', supporting several world organizations that attend to disadvantaged children. Stockley was also credited on the ''Hokulea''

co-producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, dir ...

Personal life

Stockley is married to

Rod Houison Rodney Houison (born ), is a British musician, producer, and sound engineer who has worked with The Who, Pete Townshend, Cliff Richard, Shakin' Stevens, Judge Dread, and Echo & the Bunnymen. He has also worked with, and is married to, Miriam ...

, and the couple live in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

, United States. They have two children, Carly Houison and Leigh Brandon Houison.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Miriam Stockley'' (1979) * ''Miriam'' (1999) * ''Second Nature'' (2006) * ''Eternal'' (2007)

Band/ensemble albums

* Adiemus I: Songs of Sanctuary (1995) *Adiemus II: Cantata Mundi (1996) *Adiemus III: Dances of Time (1998) *AO Music – ''Twirl'' (2009) * AO Music – ''...and Love Rages On!'' (2011) * AO Music – ''Hokulea'' (2013) * AO Music – ''Asha'' (2017) * AO Music – ''Kutumba'' (2021)

Backing vocals and guest appearances

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 we ...

- ''The One and Only'' (1983) *

Hanoi Rocks Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving accide ...

– ''

Back to Mystery City ''Back to Mystery City'' is the fourth studio album by the Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks, released in 1983. It was produced by ex-Mott the Hoople members Dale Griffin and Pete "Overend" Watts, and was the first with Razzle on drums. Besides Han ...

'' (1983; backing vocals on "

Until I Get You "Until I Get You" is a single by the Finnish rock and glam punk band Hanoi Rocks. The band's guitarist and primary songwriter Andy McCoy wrote this song at the band's manager Seppo Vesterinen's house in Helsinki. McCoy hated the song but the ba ...

") *

Nik Kershaw Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Kershaw came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during th ...

– ''

Radio Musicola ''Radio Musicola'' is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released on 24 October 1986 by MCA Records, just under two years after Kershaw's previous studio album, '' The Riddle'' (1984). It was the first studio al ...

'' (1986) *

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include " My Generation", " Pinball Wizard", " Won't Get Fooled ...

– ''

Can't Wait to See the Movie ''Can't Wait to See the Movie'' is the seventh solo studio album by English singer, songwriter and actor Roger Daltrey, the lead vocalist for the Who. It was released in June 1987 by Atlantic Records, and was primarily produced by Alan Shacklo ...

'' (1987) *

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

Montserrat Caballé Montserrat Caballé i Folch or Folc (full name: María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch (, , ; (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), known simply as Montserrat Caballé, was a Catalan Spanish operatic soprano. She sang a wide v ...

– ''

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

'' (1988; backing vocals on " The Golden Boy") *

Elaine Paige Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professiona ...

– ''

The Queen Album ''The Queen Album'' is a solo cover album of the band Queen by Elaine Paige. It was released in 1988 and peaked at No. 51 in the UK in November 1988. This is the only album from Paige to be released on Siren Records and distributed by Virgin Re ...

'' (1988) * Alphaville – '' Romeos'' (1989) *

– '' Can't Forget You'' (1989) *

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

– ''

Back to the Light ''Back to the Light'' is the debut solo studio album of Queen guitarist's Brian May, released on 28 September 1992 by Parlophone Records in the UK, and on 2 February 1993 by Hollywood Records in the US and Canada. May's second solo release fol ...

'' (1992) * Eloy – '' The Tides Return Forever'' (1994; backing vocals on "Company of Angels") *

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

– ''

Made in Heaven ''Made in Heaven'' is the fifteenth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 6 November 1995 by Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom and by Hollywood Records in the United States. It was the band's first and only release s ...

'' (1995) *

– '' The Art in Heaven Concert'' (2000; backing vocals; lead vocal on "

Moonlight Shadow "Moonlight Shadow" is a song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983 by Virgin Records, and included on his eighth album, ''Crises'', of the same year. The vocals were performed by ...

") * Atlantis vs Avatar – "Fiji" (2000; lead vocals) * '' ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' soundtrack'' (2001; choir member) *

: ''

'' DVD (2002) * '' Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure'' (video game, 2011) *

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...

– '' Between the Earth and the Stars'' (2019) *

– ''

The Best Is Yet to Come "The Best Is Yet to Come" is a 1959 song composed by Cy Coleman to lyrics by Carolyn Leigh. It is associated with Frank Sinatra, who recorded it on his 1964 album '' It Might as Well Be Swing'' accompanied by Count Basie under the direction of ...

'' (2021) 2021 Back up vocal "On my knees" Rufus Du Sol

References

External links

*
Aomusic website

Official German Nokia - Night of the proms Website

Inferno Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stockley, Miriam 21st-century British women singers 1962 births Living people People from Johannesburg South African expatriates in the United Kingdom Musicians from Orlando, Florida 20th-century South African women singers South African classical musicians Vocaloid voice providers New-age musicians South African pop singers