Sananda Francesco Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard; March 15, 1962), who started his career with the stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer and songwriter who came to fame with his debut studio album, '' Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby'' (1987). The album included the singles " If You Let Me Stay", " Sign Your Name", " Dance Little Sister", and the number one hit "

Wishing Well A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe water well, wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the notion that water housed deity, deities or had been ...

Early life

Terence Trent D'Arby was born Terence Trent Howard in Manhattan in 1962. His mother is Frances Howard, a

gospel singer Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

, teacher and counselor. Frances Howard married Bishop James Benjamin Darby, who became his stepfather and raised him. He took this stepfather's last name and later added the apostrophe. He trained as a boxer in Orlando and in 1980 won the Florida

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight ...

championship. He received an offer to attend boxing school in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, but went to college instead. After enrolling at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

, he quit a year later and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was posted at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and then served in the 3rd Armored Division, near

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, West Germany. He was formally court-martialed and dishonorably discharged by the army in April 1983 after going absent without leave. While in West Germany, he worked as a band leader with the band The Touch, releasing an album of material called ''Love on Time'' (1984). It was later re-issued in 1989 as ''Early Works'' after his worldwide success as a solo artist. In 1986, he left West Germany for London, where he briefly played with The Bojangles, who were his backing group on his 1988 tour. In London, he signed a recording contract with CBS Records.

Fame as Terence Trent D'Arby

D'Arby's debut solo album, '' Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby'', was released in July 1987. The album produced hits including " If You Let Me Stay", " Sign Your Name", " Dance Little Sister", and the number one hit "

". In an interview, D'Arby expressed a high opinion of his first album, claiming that it was the most important album since

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' '' Sgt. Pepper''. After the comments leaked to US media outlets, he stated that most of what he said was exaggerated, but that it is sometimes necessary to "hit people over the head" to get their attention. The album earned him a

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 ...

in the category

Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B V ...

(1989) and a BRIT Award for International Breakthrough Act, and he also received Grammy and '' Soul Train'' nominations for Best New Artist.

D'Arby's follow-up album, '' Neither Fish Nor Flesh'' (1989), was very different from his debut, and producer Martyn Ware stated in a 2021 interview that the album was ahead of its time. It took four more years and a move to Los Angeles until his next album, '' Symphony or Damn'' (1993), was released. The record contained the singles "Delicate" and "She Kissed Me". It peaked at No. 4 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. In 1995, D'Arby released '' Vibrator'', which was followed by a world tour. D'Arby's music has been included on several movie and television soundtracks. He sang the theme song of 1991's '' Frankie and Johnny''. "Right Thing, Wrong Way" featured prominently in the end credits of ''

Beverly Hills Cop III ''Beverly Hills Cop III'' is a 1994 American action comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by John Landis, who had previously worked with Murphy on ''Trading Places'' and ''Coming to America''. It is the third film in the Beverly Hills C ...

''. "What Shall I Do?" was featured in an episode of the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

television series '' Girlfriends''. He sang the ending song, "Letting Go", in the 1996 film '' The Fan''. D'Arby's songs were also used in ''

Prêt-à-Porter Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure Made-to-measure ( ...

'' and the 1995 miniseries ''The Promised Land''. In 1999, D'Arby collaborated with INXS to replace his friend, the late vocalist

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into th ...

, so the band could play at the official opening of

Stadium Australia Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

(a major venue for the Sydney Olympics).

Later career as Sananda Maitreya

D'Arby legally changed his name to Sananda Maitreya on October 4, 2001, explaining "Terence Trent D'Arby was dead... he watched his suffering as he died a noble death. After intense pain I meditated for a new spirit, a new will, a new identity". Maitreya has said that his name change resulted from a series of dreams he had in 1995. Though the name does not have any religious significance, Maitreya explained that he understood it to mean "rebirth" in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. () means 'possessed of happiness', and () means 'friendly, kind, loving, benevolent. From 2001 to 2021, Maitreya released nine studio albums and four live albums. 2001 also marked the release of the ''Wildcard'' album. Initially downloadable for free from the artist's official website, the album received great support from international critics in particular for its single, the song "O Divina". At the beginning of 2002, Maitreya moved to Milan for love, where he married Italian Architect and TV presenter Francesca Francone in 2003, and began his sixth project, '' Angels & Vampires - Volume I''. The artist initially chose to publish the project on the official website in chapters, as the recordings continued and then released it on June 29, 2005, in Mp3 format. In July 2005, Maitreya began the second volume of the project: '' Angels & Vampires - Volume II'', successfully continued the division into chapters. On 29 April 2006, the second mastered volume is published. ''The Angels & Vampires'' album contains 40 songs, including a cover of "Angie", a tribute to

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. The genre of the album is Post Millennium Rock. Maitreya played all the instruments during the recordings and entirely produced, wrote, and arranged the entire project by himself. In 2007, three of his songs were played in

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films ' ...

's movie ''

Knocked Up ''Knocked Up'' is a 2007 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann. It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a sl ...

''. After the 2007 European tour, new concerts followed in 2008, and television participation in the 2008 Christmas concert. In addition to the studio albums, Maitreya has released four live albums from 2007 to 2012: ''Influenza in Firenze'', ''Camels At The Crossroads'', ''Lovers & Fighters'', and ''Confessions of a Zooathaholic''; a selection of the best songs from live concerts and tours performed in the same year. Maitreya released '' Nigor Mortis'' in 2008, which followed the same evolutionary process as ''Angels & Vampires''. The album was first published in chapters during the recordings, and then came out in the mastered version at the end of 2008 and is available on CD and MP3 at the link of his website. '' The Sphinx'' album was released in March 2011; in the same month the instrumental version of ''The Sphinx'' and the new live album by the artist related to the 2010 concerts of the ''Post Millennium Rock: Confessions of a Zooathaholic'' has been released. In March 2013, '' Return to Zooathalon'' was released, followed in 2015 by the double album '' The Rise of the Zugebrian Time Lords''. 2017 marked the release of a monumental work: '' Prometheus & Pandora'', 53 songs divided into three volumes, the artist declared that this album has become so important and impressive because through music he has elaborated the mourning for the loss of his great friends and idols,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

, George Michael, and

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the la ...

. In December 2020, a new live album, ''Some Sake in Osaka'', was released, it showcases a Japan tour with his historic American band. On 15 March 2021, Maitreya released his 12th studio album, '' Pandora's PlayHouse'', which included three collaborations, the song "Reflecting Light", composed with the Australian duo

The Avalanches The Avalanches are an Australian electronic music group formed in Melbourne in 1997. They are known for their studio albums '' Since I Left You'' (2000), ''Wildflower'' (2016), and '' We Will Always Love You'' (2020), as well as their live and ...

; " Time Is On My Side" with Irene Grandi and the opening song of the project: "Pandora's Plight" with jazz pianist Antonio Faraò. The project has an instrumental song called "Prince", which honors the memory and the friendship of Maitreya and

. In 2022, he was featured on Calvin Harris' new Love Regenerator track "Lonely" (a record which Harris recorded with Italian producer Riva Starr), with the vocals coming from 1989's "…And I Need to Be with Someone Tonight".

Film career

Maitreya has appeared in two films and in the TV mini-series '' Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story'', in which he played the part of Jackie Wilson.

Personal life

Maitreya married Italian television host and architect Francesca Francone in 2003. They have two sons. Maitreya also has a daughter from a previous relationship, London-based musician Seraphina Simone.

Discography

as Terence Trent D'Arby

*'' Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby'' (1987) *'' Neither Fish nor Flesh'' (1989) *'' Symphony or Damn'' (1993) *'' Vibrator'' (1995)

as Terence Trent D'Arby/Sananda Maitreya

*''

Wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

'' (2001)

as Sananda Maitreya

*'' Angels & Vampires – Volume I'' (2005) *'' Angels & Vampires – Volume II'' (2006) *'' Nigor Mortis'' (2009) *'' The Sphinx'' (2011) *'' Return to Zooathalon'' (2013) *'' The Rise of the Zugebrian Time Lords'' (2015) *''Prometheus & Pandora'' (2017) *'' Pandora's Playhouse'' (2021)

Filmography

;as Terence Trent D'Arby *1984: ''Schulmädchen '84'' (feature film directed by

Nikolai Müllerschön Nikolai Müllerschön is a German film Writer/Director. He was born in 1958 in Stuttgart, West Germany and moved to Munich in 1968. He has lived in Los Angeles since 1992. He started as a Stills Photographer, worked as Continuity-Supervisor, Ass ...

) *1993: '' Heimat II: A Chronicle of a Generation'' (TV series, 1 episode, "Kennedys Kinder") *1999: '' Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story'' as Jackie Wilson (TV mini-series) *1999: '' Clubland'' as Toby (feature film directed by Mary Lambert) *2000: ''

Static Shock ''Static Shock'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero List of animated television series, animated television series based on the Milestone Media/DC Comics superhero Static (DC Comics), Static. It premiered on September 23, 2000, on the W ...

'' (TV series, 1 episode, "They're Playing My Song" as DJ Rock)

Notes

References

External links

*
YouTube Official Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Arby, Terence Trent 1962 births Living people African-American male singer-songwriters African-American rock musicians African-American rock singers American people of Scotch-Irish descent American expatriates in Germany American expatriates in Italy American expatriates in England American multi-instrumentalists American male pop singers American contemporary R&B singers American rock singers American rock songwriters American soul singers People from Manhattan People from DeLand, Florida University of Central Florida alumni Brit Award winners Grammy Award winners 20th-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Singer-songwriters from Florida