Alannah Myles (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Byles; born December 25, 1958) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has won both 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 ...

and a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for the song " Black Velvet". The song was a top-ten hit in Canada and a number one hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1990.

Early life

Myles was born Alannah Byles on Christmas Day, 1958 in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. She is the daughter of William Douglas Byles, a pioneer in the Canadian broadcasting industry who was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Hall of Fame in 1997. She is the second of five children. Raised by her parents in Ontario, Myles spent her childhood composing and learning music. Myles began writing songs around age 9 and performed in a songwriting group for the Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto at age 12.

Career

At the age of 18, she began performing solo gigs in

southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

, eventually meeting Christopher Ward, a recording artist and songwriter with

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

. With Ward's help, she formed her own band and performed cover versions of rock and blues songs while polishing her own material. Myles changed her surname from Byles at the age of 19 after deciding to pursue a career in entertainment. Appearances in TV commercials paid for music demos that led to numerous rejections in Canada until she recorded masters for three songs; "Who Loves You" and a video demo for "Just One Kiss", directed by photographer Deborah Samuel. With matched financing from her songwriting collaborator,

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

( City TV) and program director Christopher Ward, she signed her first record contract with Atlantic Records in 1987. Myles was featured in several TV and film productions as a guest host and actor prior to becoming a recording artist. She appeared in a 1984 episode of the television series ''

The Kids of Degrassi Street ''The Kids of Degrassi Street'' is a Canadian children's television series created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler. The first entry in the ''Degrassi'' franchise and the only one to focus on children instead of teenagers, it follows the lives of a ...

'', in which she played the role of an aspiring singer and single mother. In 1989, she appeared in an episode of '' War of the Worlds'', which aired only three weeks after the release of her self-titled debut album. Myles was a candidate to be the original host of

FashionTelevision ''FashionTelevision'', also known as ''FT'', is a Canadian-produced special interest show focusing on fashion. The show, created by Jay Levine in 1985, was last hosted by Jeanne Beker. Production of the broadcast ended on April 11, 2012. The p ...

, as shared by

Jeanne Beker Jeanne Beker, (; born 19 March 1952) is a Canadian television personality, fashion editor, and author. Family Jeanne Beker was born in Toronto, Ontario to father Joseph Beker and mother Bronia Beker, two Jewish Holocaust survivors born in K ...

on the ''Reinvention of the VJ'' podcast, hosted by

Erica Ehm Erica Miechowsky (born September 30, 1961), known professionally as Erica Ehm, is a Canadian writer, actor, songwriter, entrepreneur and TV host. She is best known as a pioneering video jockey at the Canadian cable television station MuchMusic. ...

. Beker suggested that Ward was lobbying for Myles to get the role on the new TV program. Beker would eventually become the program's first host. In late 1987, Warner Music Canada's director of

artists and repertoire Artists and repertoire (or A&R for short) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for scouting, financing, and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. It also acts as a l ...

(A&R), Bob Roper, sent Myles's three-song video package to all of

's US affiliates, which garnered a contract for seven or eight years from Atlantic Records (WMG), given by head of A&R Tunc Erim and Atlantic label founder

Ahmet Ertegun Ahmet Ertegun ( ; , ; July 31, 1923 – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist. Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and championed many lead ...

. Myles left her acting career and co-wrote and recorded the remainder of her first album with Christopher Ward and producer David Tyson. In May 1989, Warner Music in Canada released ''Alannah Myles'', which produced four

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hits, including " Love Is", "Lover Of Mine", "Still Got This Thing" and her number-one classic rock hit, " Black Velvet". It was ineligible for Grammy nominations until the early 1990 US single release "Black Velvet" became a number-one hit, claiming ASCAP's most played song on radio for 1989 and 1990. By 2005, it had received ASCAP Millionaire Award for over four million radio airplays.About
at AlannahMyles.com; published 2007; via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

"Black Velvet" won Myles the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance in 1991 and three

Juno Awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...

. The album was the first debut album from a Canadian artist to be certified Diamond by the

Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to some of Canada's leadin ...

for sales of over one million units, and was reported to have sold more than six million copies internationally. In 1992, Myles was nominated for a second Grammy award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for her second CD '' Rockinghorse''. "Song Instead Of a Kiss", written and composed by Myles, Nancy Simmonds, and Canadian poet

Robert Priest Robert Priest (born 10 July 1951, in Walton-on-Thames, England) is a Canadian poet, children's literature, children's author and singer-songwriter. He has written eighteen books of poetry, four children's novels, four children's albums, and six ...

, was a 60-piece orchestrated ballad that reached number one on several radio stations around the globe but was met with little response in America, whose audiences were accustomed to "that slow southern style" of "Black Velvet". The album, released that year, included the other hit singles "Our World, Our Times", and "Sonny, Say You Will". Myles received a Grammy nomination for ''Rockinghorse'' and several global awards, including a Juno and Much Music's People's Choice Award for "Our World, Our Times". In 1991, Myles sang "

O Canada "O Canada" () is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the music, after which French- ...

" at a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

game at

Skydome Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to ...

. It was broadcast on

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. In 1995, Myles released her final album on Atlantic Records before being released from the label, granting Warner/Atlantic a ''Best Of'' CD after only three records. The ''A-lan-nah'' album, which contained no Top 40 singles, included two tracks which made it into the Top 100, namely "Family Secret" and "Blow Wind, Blow". In 1997, she terminated her eight-record contract with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

with the help of her then-manager

Miles Copeland III Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of The Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producing ...

, who immediately signed her to his own

Ark 21 Records Ark 21 Records was a record label established by Miles Copeland III and Stewart Copeland in 1997. It was based in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Artists * Kathem Al-Saher * Ragheb Alamah * Aswad *The Badlees * The Beautiful South * John Berry * ...

. On Ark 21, she released ''A Rival'', which contained the Top 40 hit "Bad 4 You", written and recorded by Myles,

Desmond Child John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and record producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. He has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, a Primet ...

, and Eric Bazilian at Copeland's Castle songwriting retreat at Grand Brassac, France. The ''A Rival'' album agreement with Miles Copeland III, Ark 21 Records was successfully terminated in 2014 with 100% copyright reversions returned to ''Alannah Myles'' by 2015 and re-released on Myles's independently owned label, Fascinate inc. After the release of ''A Rival'', Myles released two ''Best Of'' compilations, in 1998 and 2001, and both featuring two new songs, and then left Ark 21 Records. She maintained a low profile for almost a decade but gigged around Canada and Europe during this time. In 2001, Myles duetted with

Saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

frontman Michael Sadler on a cover of

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

and

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

's " Don't Give Up", released as a B-side to the Saga single "Money Talks". In 2004, she released a cover of " I Can't Stand the Rain", with

Jeff Healey Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz guitarist, singer and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " Ang ...

on guitar, for a

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

tribute album ''What's Love? A Tribute to Tina Turner''. In February 2005, together with the Swedish band Kee Marcello's K2, Myles participated in the third semi-final of

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...

, the Swedish national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2005 The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "Wild Dances" by Ruslana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ( ...

. Their selection, "We Got It All", scored very few points and finished seventh out of eight songs, yet it managed to dominate the leading newspaper and media headlines in Sweden. Myles' first new solo release in a decade was an

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's sexuall ...

Tribute EP, released on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

in August 2007, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death. The EP features a re-recording of her signature song "Black Velvet", as well as two new songs. All three of them were later included on her next album. In April 2008, Myles released her fifth studio album, ''Black Velvet'', which featured a new recording of her song of the same name, in addition to 10 new studio recordings. Myles financed and co-produced the album. In early 2008, Myles released the CD ''Black Velvet'' on Linus Entertainment, which resulted in a staggered release internationally while the indie label merged with Canada's True North Records, followed by a video for the song "Trouble" featuring a jug band performance. "Trouble" was awarded an 'Honourable Mention' as a finalist in the blues category at the 2009 International Songwriting Contest. Myles won the 15th annual USA Songwriting Competition for both Best Rock/Alternative Song as well as grand prize finalist for a selection, written and composed jointly with Nancy Simmonds for her ''Black Velvet'' CD, titled "Give Me Love". Myles' song "Black Velvet" was one of four selected to be covered on the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

reality television show '' Cover Me Canada.'' After terminating a six-year lease with Canadian indie label Linus Entertainment in August 2013, Myles' ''Black Velvet'' album was retitled ''85bpm'', repackaged for her 25th anniversary with new images photographed by fellow Canadian Deborah Samuel. A newly recorded song written by Anne Peebles, produced by Michael Borkosky, "Can't Stand the Rain" was added to ''85bpm'', featuring a solo played by Canadian guitarist

, re-released on Myles' independently owned label, Fascinate inc., digitally distributed by Tunecore.com, with audio CDs and a 25th anniversary live concert DVD, both distributed by

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

in the US.

Discography

* ''

Alannah Myles Alannah Myles (née Byles; born December 25, 1958) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has won both a Grammy and a Juno Award for the song " Black Velvet". The song was a top-ten hit in Canada and a number one hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot ...

'' (1989) * '' Rockinghorse'' (1992) * '' A-lan-nah'' (1995) * ''Arival'' (1997) * ''Black Velvet'' (2008) * ''85 BPM'' (2014)

Awards and nominations

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" , Award ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Nominee(s) ! scope="col" , Category ! scope="col" , Result ! scope="col" , , - !scope="row" rowspan=2, AMOA Jukebox Awards , rowspan=2, 1990 , Herself , Rising Star , , rowspan=2, , - , rowspan=2, " Black Velvet" , Pop Record of the Year , , - !scope="row" rowspan=2, Canadian Music Video Awards , 1990 , Most Popular Female Video , , rowspan=2, , - , 1993 , "Our World, Our Times" , People's Choice: Favourite Female Artist , , - !scope="row" rowspan=2,

Grammy Awards 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 ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, " Black Velvet" , rowspan=2, Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female , , rowspan=2, , - ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, '' Rockinghorse'' , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=9,

, rowspan=4,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, " Love Is" , rowspan=2, Single of the Year , , rowspan=9, , - , " Black Velvet" , , - , ''

'' , Album of the Year , , - , rowspan=2, Herself , Most Promising Female Vocalist , , - ,

, Canadian Entertainer of the Year , , - ,

, " Song Instead of a Kiss" , Single of the Year , , - , rowspan=2,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, '' Rockinghorse'' , Album of the Year , , - , rowspan=2, Herself , rowspan=2, Female Vocalist of the Year , , - ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, , - !scope="row" rowspan=2,

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

, rowspan=2,

, rowspan=2, " Black Velvet" , Best New Artist in a Video , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Female Video ,

References

External links

* *
Alannah Myles
biography on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...