Amel Eliza Larrieux (née Stowell; born March 8, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

. Larrieux rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a founding member of the duo Groove Theory along with Bryce Wilson. After leaving the group in 1999, she released her debut solo album, '' Infinite Possibilities'', the following year on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. In late 2003, Larrieux and her husband, producer Laru Larrieux, founded the independent label Blisslife Records, on which she has released four albums so far. Larrieux cites

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

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, Sade,

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, an ...

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, and

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as her musical influences.

Life and career

Early life

Larrieux was born Amel Eliza Stowell on March 8, 1973, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Groove Theory

In 1991, Larrieux met Mantronix member Bryce Wilson at Rondor Music. Wilson, who wanted to begin his solo career as producer and musician, was looking for a vocalist to work with. Wilson and Larrieux began to produce demos together and subsequently formed the duo Groove Theory. Their debut release, '' Groove Theory'', spawned several radio hits such as "Tell Me", "Keep Tryin'", and "Baby Luv". The duo were also featured in successful motion picture soundtracks such as 1996's '' Sunset Park'' and 1997's '' Love Jones''. Larrieux, pursuing a solo career, would not be involved in the duo's eventually-shelved second album ''The Answer''. Makeda Davis would step in as lead singer in 1999 until Groove Theory officially disbanded in 2001. Larrieux said of leaving the group, "You have to make a bunch of compromises and .. you know, I just couldn't go on forever. We wanted different things and a combination of that and the label wanting different things from us just made me decide that it was time to move on."

Solo career

In 1996, Larrieux guested on the self-titled debut album of Sade's backing band Sweetback, yielding the single "You Will Rise", which reached number 42 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. Larrieux co-wrote and co-produced her debut solo album '' Infinite Possibilities'', released in February 2000 on

, along with husband Laru Larrieux; the album reached number 79 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 21 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

, and produced the hit " Get Up", her highest-charting solo hit to date. Larrieux parted ways with Epic Records after this CD. "I was asked to tone it down as a solo artist, which is one of the reasons why I was really glad to leave the major label where I was signed", she said. Husband Laru Larrieux, who had been co-writing and producing most of Amel's material, started the independent label Blisslife Records with her to distribute her music. In 2001, Larrieux covered " Sophisticated Lady" with artist

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album '' Red Hot + Indigo'', a tribute to

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing

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awareness and fighting the disease. On November 10, 2010, Larrieux spoke about going independent, saying, "This is the right time o be independent People are more hip to the internet. People are more open to what independent means." She went on to say that black independent artists are too under the radar. Her second album '' Bravebird'' was released under Larrieux's independent label Blisslife Records label on January 20, 2004. While it underperformed on the ''Billboard'' 200, it peaked at number 28 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number five on

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

. It spawned the midtempo radio single "For Real", which showcases her ability to utilize the whistle register and inspired ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

'' magazine to rave about her "ethereal high-octave vocals that bring to mind

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single " Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. Born in 1947, Riperton grew ...

. A portion of the album's seventh track, "Giving Something Up", could be heard in the commercial for BET's HIV/

awareness campaign Rap-It-Up, in which Larrieux participated in September 2003. Larrieux's collaboration with

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fus ...

and Glenn Lewis, a cover of

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

and

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, backing vocalist, and arranger who ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto" ...

's 1972 song "

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" from Clarke's 2003 album ''1, 2, To the Bass'', received a nomination for

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award 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 th ...

at the 2004 Grammy Awards. Larrieux's third album ''

Morning Morning is either the period from sunrise to noon, or the period from midnight to noon. In the first definition it is preceded by the twilight period of dawn, and there are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and nigh ...

'' was released in April 2006 and features the single "Weary", which reached number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Adult R&B Airplay chart in May 2006. ''Morning'' is her highest-charting album to date, peaking at number 74. The song "No One Else", written for Mike Shaunessy, was featured on the soundtrack to

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...

's 2007 film '' Why Did I Get Married?''. In May 2007, Larrieux released an album of

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

covers titled '' Lovely Standards''. It broke into the top five of the Top Jazz Albums and sold 3,700 units in its first week of release. Larrieux was featured on

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

's 2007 greatest hits album '' Best of 2Pac Part 1: Thug'', on the previously unreleased song "Resist the Temptation". On February 4, 2010, SoulSummer.com announced that Larrieux is currently in the studio with Bryce Wilson working on Groove Theory's second official album. The duo had their first live show together in years on October 7, 2010, in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan. Larrieux said of the show, "Tokyo was too fly, as usual. The audiences just got better and better." Larrieux said in a November 2010 interview that she and Wilson are currently looking for a label they feel comfortable with. As of August 2011 Larrieux stated Groove Theory have not recorded any new material. In March 2009, Larrieux released the songs "Orange Glow" and "Don't Let Me Down" from her fifth studio album, ''Ice Cream Every Day'', to iTunes and other online music stores. Larrieux also contributed "Don't Let Me Down" to the Enough Project. Proceeds from the compilation fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo's women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo. Larrieux said on Oct 19, 2010 that she was "dutifully" trying new things for her fifth studio album. In August 2011, Larrieux confirmed through Power Player Magazine the release date for her new album to be late January 2012. When asked about the five-year delay on her fifth album, Larrieux said she wanted to add and delete more songs to perfect the final product. "I stay on the road a lot", she said. "My experiences inform me as a writer, so then I come back and I have more songs to write, and I keep adding and subtracting, so the editing process made this album take a little bit longer than I expected." Larrieux's song "Don't Let Me Down" was used in the 2014 film '' Beyond the Lights''.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Promotional singles

Guest appearances

Music videos

Notes

References

External links

* – official site * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Larrieux, Amel 1973 births 550 Music artists African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters African-American record producers American contemporary R&B singers Record producers from New York (state) American sopranos American soul keyboardists Epic Records artists Living people American neo soul singers Musicians from Manhattan People from Greenwich Village Singers from New York City American ballad musicians American women record producers Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts alumni 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state)