Amanda Brown (singer)
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Amanda Leah Brown (born June 4, 1985) is an American singer and dancer from New York City. She was a contestant on the third season of
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’s '' The Voice'' and finished in fifth place.


Early life and education

Amanda Leah Brown was born on June 4, in the
Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, New York, the oldest of three children. She is Puerto-Rican/Jamaican. She began singing at her local church in the Bronx at the age of six. At the age of 12, Brown decided to audition for the prestigious New York performing arts school, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. There she was introduced to a world of music: classical, jazz, pop, and rock. With a background in
gospel music 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 vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...
, Brown began to explore other music genres and experiment with her own singing/songwriting style. At the age of 18, Brown attended
Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
in Washington, D.C. After her first year of college, she decided to return to New York to pursue a career in music and transferred to
Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...
. Amanda's younger sister, Samara performed on the 21st season of The Voice. John Legend and Ariana Grande turned their chairs and she chose John Legend as her coach.


Career

While attending college in New York, Brown began auditioning for various singing opportunities, which eventually led her to a life-changing offer to join
Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...
on her worldwide As I Am Tour in 2007 as a background singer. Brown went on to sing backing vocals for artists such as
Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...
and
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
. Brown is currently on tour with hozier for the unreal unearthed tour 2025 Brown began singing at the popular live-music venue, the Village Underground, located in the lower west side of Manhattan. In 2011, Brown digitally released her first single 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 ...
entitled "Dreamer", which was co-written by Texacal, and produced by Z Musik.


''The Voice''

In 2012, Brown auditioned for the third season of '' The Voice''. She won a spot on Cee Lo Green's team, and was later stolen by
Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine ( ; born March 18, 1979) is an American musician who is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and sole continuous member of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, for ...
after a duet performance with Trevin Hunte of
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...
's "
Vision of Love "Vision of Love" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, recorded for her eponymous debut studio album (1990). It was written by Carey and Ben Margulies. After being featured on Carey's demo tape for Columbia Records, t ...
", which was considered one of the best battles in the history of ''The Voice''. She had also become the first stolen contestant in the history of ''The Voice''. Brown's biggest moment came during her performance of
Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...
's " Dream On", which was met with praise in ''
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 ...
'' magazine. During her appearance on ''The Voice'', Brown appeared on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Billboard Digital Songs with her singles of " Dream On", "
Stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...
" and " Someone Like You". She was also the first contestant on season three to perform by herself alongside another major artist (
Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...
) for a performance that opened the live show on December 3, 2012. Despite her success on the show, Brown was eliminated after making it to the top six contestants. During her exit interview, Brown stated, "This has been an extremely beautiful and amazing ride, and I owe my existence on this show for as long as I was here to he fans So from the bottom of my heart – thank you."


Performances and results

: – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes


After ''The Voice''

After appearing on ''The Voice'', Brown recorded a cover of the
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
funk track "
The Payback ''The Payback'' is the 37th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in December 1973, by Polydor Records. It was originally scheduled to become the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film ''Hell Up in Harlem'', but ...
" for the soundtrack to the 2013 film ''
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''. She was also a contributing writer for ''Parade'' Magazine, publishing episode reviews of ''The Voice: Season Four''. In May 2013, Brown performed Magic to Do at the
Ben Vereen Benjamin Augustus Vereen (né Middleton; October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer and singer. He gained prominence for his performances in the original Broadway productions of the musicals ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', for which he received ...
Lifetime Achievement Gala at her former High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Within a week of her Ben Vereen feature, Brown also performed both
Ain't No Mountain High Enough "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and ...
and
How Am I Supposed to Live Without You "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" is a song co-written in 1982 by Doug James and Michael Bolton. The track was originally recorded by Laura Branigan in 1983, charting at number one in both the US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. Bolt ...
in two
duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...
s with
Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin (born February 26, 1953), known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton performed in the hard rock and heavy metal music genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo a ...
on
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In June 2013, Brown released a song on EMW Music Group's album "Shuffle". All the proceeds from the album went to VH1 Save The Music Foundation. In December 2015, Brown performed backing vocals for
Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...
in the NBC special, " Adele Live in New York City" at
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...
. Brown then went on to tour with Adele for her
Adele Live 2016 Adele Live 2016 (titled as Adele Live 2017 for the shows in 2017) was the third concert tour by English singer-songwriter Adele in support of her third studio album, '' 25''. It began on 29 February 2016, in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the S ...
world tour from February 29, 2016 to June 29, 2017. Adele would also bring her back for all of her live shows during the ‘30’ era, including Adele One Night Only, An Audience With Adele, and the
Weekends with Adele Weekends with Adele was the first concert residency by English singer Adele, held at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Initially scheduled to commence on 21 January 2022, she postponed it due to production delays and her team contra ...
Vegas Residency. In 2024 she also perform backing vocals for
Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...
in the
Adele in Munich Adele in Munich was the second concert residency by English singer Adele. Organised to support her 2021 album ''30 (album), 30'', the residency was held in a temporary venue on the fairgrounds within the (English: ) complex on the outskirts of ...
residence In February 2018, Brown dropped "Believers", the first single of her first full-length project "Dirty Water", released on May 11, 2018. In April 2018, Brown released "No Good", the second single of her debut album "Dirty Water".


Discography

* ''Dirty Water'' (2018)


Singles


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Amanda 1985 births American contemporary R&B singers Singers from New York (state) The Voice (franchise) contestants Living people American female dancers American dancers 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers American women rock singers African-American rock singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century African-American women singers