Amelia Jae Nina McMurray (born 29 July 1983) is an Australian

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

singer-songwriter and musician. In 2011, Amelia launched her critically acclaimed debut album, No Ordinary Day to a sold out capacity audience of over 500 people. In the same year, she officially introduced herself to the entertainment world through

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

's Entertainment News Reporter, Georgia Hawkins. In July 2011, Amelia supported United States'

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

phenomenon

David Choi David Choi (born March 22, 1986) is a Korean-American singer, songwriter, producer, music composer, entrepreneur, YouTuber, and a member of parody K-pop group Boys Generally Asian, BgA based in Los Angeles. He has worked with companies such as ...

in his

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

leg of his

APAC APAC or Apac may refer to: Places * Apac, a city in Uganda ** Apac District, the district of Uganda in which the city is located * Asia-Pacific, a country grouping and region in Asia and Oceania Arts, entertainment, and media * A-PAC, Austr ...

tour.

Early life

Amelia Jae was born and raised in Kurrajong on the western, mountainous outskirts of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

Australia. She is the daughter of Judy McMurray and Steve McMurray and is the third of four children, having two older brothers and one younger sister. From the age of 7, Amelia started taking dance lessons. She started singing at the age of 12 when her teacher decided to put on a school musical. Some of Amelia's musical influences include

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

, and Rob Thomas

Education & Training

Amelia Jae studied drama at local drama schools throughout her schooling at

St Paul's Grammar School St Paul's Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational Christian, co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day school. The school was founded in 1983 in , an outer western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. St ...

and Colo High. In 1999 she was accepted to the prestigious McDonald College of Performing Arts to continue her performing education, where she was coached by singing teacher Megan Shorey. At 15 years of age she made the conscious effort to move to a NSW state school, Colo High School, where she auditioned for the NSW Schools Spectacular' and spent 3 years in this program before graduating from the prestigious Talent Development Project. During this time, Amelia was introduced to Opera singer and teacher extraordinaire

Jonathon Welch Jonathon Charles Welch (born 5 October 1958) is an Australian choral conductor, opera singer and voice teacher. As a singer, Welch has been a tenor for the Victoria State Opera, Lyric Opera of Queensland and Opera Australia. During 2006 Welc ...

, who was also the founder of The Choir of Hard Knocks and went on to study full-time for a year at Australia's prestigious NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts), graduating from the 'Singer Dancer Actor' course in 2004. Amelia Jae graduated from

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain (British Army and Royal ...

with a Bachelor of Education (Primary).

Music career

Amelia Jae first began singing and performing when she was cast to play the lead role as Joseph in her primary school's rendition of the musical

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...

. Amelia Jae wrote her first song at the age of 14 and has been developing her singer/songwriting skills since graduating from the Talent Development Project. She says, 'Knowing that through my music, people will be gaining a glimpse into my soul is both scary and exciting. I knew I wasn't the only one out there to experience these feelings, these emotions and thoughts, and if in some small measurement someone could relate to my stories, then I wanted these stories to be heard'. In February 2010, Amelia Jae was signed by
Monsoon Productions
In August 2010, Amelia performed before 4000 young people at the Sydney Entertainment Centre from her debut single "'The World is Sick'" for th
RICE YOUTH EVENT
Working with USA based producers Joshua Brown (Nashville, TN), Dakarai Gwitira (New York), and Australian based producer

Jake Nauta Jake may refer to: Name * Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer * Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach * Jake, a member of the band Enhy ...

, her debut album, No Ordinary Day was launched in Australia on 1 December 2010. January 2011, Amelia Jae performed at the Glenbrook Park

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

Festival. In July 2011, Amelia Jae opened for YouTube star,

, for the

leg of his APAC tour, they performed in Australia cities,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Other supporting act included fellow Australian pop duo Jayesslee. In 2011,

Total Girl ''Total Girl'' is a monthly Australian tween girls magazine, the magazine targeting girl age 6-13 years. The magazine was launched in 2002. The magazine focuses on fashion and celebrities and offers information about the latest entertainment and ...

magazine ran a competition for a TG reader to meet Amelia Jae. Applicants had to write in their most extraordinary thing they have done In Oct 2011, Amelia Jae performed at the Black Stump Music and Arts Festival at the Metro Stage and the Plunge

Albums

* No Ordinary Day

Singles

* Wannabe (Rock What You Got) * Broken Promises * Beautiful Eyes * No Ordinary Day * Worth The Fight * Collide * Rainy Day Girl * Now's The Time * Perfect Lullaby * The World is Sick

Music videos

* World is Sick, RICE Rally 2010 * Beautiful Eyes * Now's the Time

References

External links

Amelia Jae official website

Amelia Jae YouTube channel

Monsoon Productions - Amelia Jae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jae, Amelia 1983 births Living people Australian pop singers Australian women singer-songwriters Musicians from Sydney 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian singer-songwriters