Emily King (born July 10, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter. She started her career in 2004 and her first album '' East Side Story'' was released in August 2007. In December 2007, King was listed as a Grammy nominee for Best Contemporary R&B Album. In 2019 Emily King was nominated for Best R&B Song for the 62nd

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 the most prestigious ...

s and her album ''Scenery'' was nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. In 2020 Emily King was nominated again, this time for the category of Best R&B Performance for her song "See Me".

Biography

Born in New York City in 1985, King grew up in a small apartment on the Lower East Side. Her parents, Marion Cowings and Kim Kalesti, were a singing duo who performed and traveled regularly taking her and her older brother with them. At age 16, King left high school after earning her

GED Ged or GED may refer to: Places * Ged, Louisiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * Ged, a village in Bichiwara Tehsil, Dungarpur District, Rajasthan, India * Delaware Coastal Airport, in Delaware, US, callsign GED People * Ged B ...

to pursue her music career. She began playing shows in restaurants and venues around New York City including

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

and

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually s ...

Career

King signed her first record deal with

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG's record labels in late 2008 at the end of their merger. It was distribut ...

in 2004 and appeared on

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

' 2004 album '' Street's Disciple'' credited as simply "Emily". Her first album '' East Side Story'' was released in August 2007. It received 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 ...

nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album of the Year. After leaving the label in 2008, King continued her work independently with producer Jeremy Most. She self-recorded her follow-up EP ''Seven'' in her home, released in July 2011. Throughout this time, King toured domestically and internationally with many artists including Nas,

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

Floetry Floetry were an English contemporary R&B, R&B duo comprising Marsha Ambrosius ("the Songstress") and The Floacist, Natalie Stewart ("the Floacist"). The group recorded two studio albums, one live album, and sold over 1,500,000 records worldwid ...

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 ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

, and

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...

. In 2012, King was awarded the Holly Prize (a tribute to the legacy of

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

) from The Songwriters Hall of Fame for recognition of the "all-in songwriter" whose work exhibits the qualities of Holly’s music: true, great and original. In the fall, King was invited by

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé ( ; previously Gouraguine; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a British singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Sandé rose t ...

to open for her UK tour playing sold out shows in five cities including at The Royal Albert Hall in London. King collaborated with José James on his album ''No Beginning No End'' in 2013 and can be heard on the tracks "Heaven on the Ground" and the acoustic version of "Come to My Door". In 2014, King performed as an opening act for

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles ( ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. Bareilles has earned various accolades, including ...

' Little Black Dress tour. King's second studio album, '' The Switch'', was self-released by her own label, Making Music Records, on 26 June 2015. ''The Wall Street Journal'' remarked that the album is "a tasteful collection of eleven songs that showcase King’s distinctive voice". She signed with the independent label

ATO Records ATO Records (or According to Our Records) is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was established in 2000 by Dave Matthews and manager Coran Capshaw. ATO's roster includes My Morning Jacket, Brittany Howard, ...

in 2017 and with them released her third studio album, ''

Scenery Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether the item was custom-made or ...

'', on 1 February 2019. In late 2019, King once again performed as an opening act for

in her Amidst The Chaos Tour. In 2019, King helped to compose "Being Human", the ending theme song for the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

animated series ''

Steven Universe Future ''Steven Universe Future'' is an American animated series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It serves as an epilogue to ''Steven Universe'' (2013–2019) and a follow-up to its Television film, television film Sequel, sequel ''Steven ...

'', which she sang. Her song "Can't Hold Me" was also used in an episode of the series. King released her fourth studio album, ''Sides'', on January 17, 2020. The album features acoustic takes on her previous songs, and includes a guest appearance by Sara Bareilles on the track "Teach You." In response to racial unrest in the summer of 2020, King released the song "See Me" in August. The song was nominated for Best R&B Performance in the

63rd Annual Grammy Awards The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 201 ...

. King appeared on stream with Marc Rebillet on March 21, 2021, as his first ever guest performer.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Instrumental albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

Tours

Headlining

*''The Switch Tour'' (2015–16) *''You and I Tour'' (2017) *''Scenery Tour'' (2019) *''Ever After Tour'' (2021–22)

Supporting

*''

Hands All Over Tour The Hands All Over Tour was the sixth concert tour by the American pop rock band Maroon 5, in support of their third studio album '' Hands All Over'' (2010). It began on February 16, 2011, in Bristol, England, and concluded on July 21, 2012, in S ...

'' (2011) *'' Our Version of Events Tour'' (2012–13) *''Amidst the Chaos Tour'' (2019)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Emily 1985 births African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American soul musicians American people of Italian descent J Records artists Living people Singers from New York City 21st-century American women singers American contemporary R&B singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters ATO Records artists 21st-century African-American women singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state)