Suzanne Casale Melone (' Casale; born March 1, 1979), better known by her stage name Lil Suzy, is an American

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

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 who was mainly active in the 1990s. Lil Suzy is best known for the singles " Take Me in Your Arms", " Promise Me", and " Can't Get You Out of My Mind".

Early life

Melone was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, a borough of New York City. While singing cover songs in

Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn Manhattan Beach is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east, by Sheepshead Bay on the north, and Brighton Beach to the west. Traditionally known as an Itali ...

at age 5, she was discovered by an

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

. She then began performing as an

opening act An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform ...

for

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1943) is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for ...

and

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the re ...

Music career

1987–1994: Career beginnings, ''Love Can't Wait'', and ''Back to Dance''

At 8 years old, Melone got her first contract with Fever Records, and in 1988 released her first single, "Randy". At age 12 she joined the label Warlock Records. In November 1991, Melone released her first studio album, '' Love Can't Wait,'' which was produced by Tony Garcia. It was preceded by the single " Take Me in Your Arms" which peaked at No. 67 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Another single, "Falling in Love", was released in 1992. She was named ''Billboard'' magazine's Best New Dance Artist that year, making her the youngest artist ever to receive the honor. In early 1994, her second album '' Back to Dance'' was released. This album was again produced by Tony Garcia. "

Turn the Beat Around "Turn the Beat Around" is a disco song written by Gerald Jackson and Peter Jackson, and performed by American actress and singer Vicki Sue Robinson in 1976 (see 1976 in music), originally appearing on her debut album, '' Never Gonna Let You Go' ...

" was released in late 1993 as the sole single from the album but was not successful. Due to the limited success of the album, Lil Suzy left Warlock Records and went on to become president of her own record label, Empress Records.

1995–2001: ''Life Goes On'' and ''Paradise''

In April 1995, Melone released her third album, '' Life Goes On'', a

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

release. The album spawned four singles, the first being " Promise Me", which peaked at No. 62 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 1997, Melone released her fourth studio album, ''

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

.'' The album spawned four singles; Can't Get You Out of My Mind was the most successful of these releases. The album contains a collaboration with singer

Crystal Waters Crystal Waters (born November 19, 1961) is an American house music, house and dance music singer and songwriter, best known for her 1990s dance hits "Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song), Gypsy Woman", "100% Pure Love", and 2007's "Destination Cal ...

on the track "Love Letter Lost". The album also contains a cover of the Netzwerk song, "

Memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is Encoding (memory), encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future Action (philosophy), action. I ...

". In 1999, Melone released '' The MegaMix'', a compilation of old hits and new remixes.

2002–present: ''The Greatest Hits'' and later releases

In 2002, Melone released ''

The Greatest Hits The Greatest Hits may refer to: * ''The Greatest Hits'' (3 Doors Down album), 2012 * ''The Greatest Hits'' (Amii Stewart 2005), 2005 * ''The Greatest Hits'' (Australian Crawl album), 2014 * ''The Greatest Hits'' (Baby Bird album), 1997 * ''The ...

'', a compilation of her greatest hits re-recorded. In the same year, together with

Collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

, she released the single "Don't You Want Me", exclusively for the German market. The single is a cover of the song by

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

. In 2009, Melone released the single "Dance Tonight". In 2015 and 2022 she toured in Freestyle Explosion shows.

Personal life

Melone is married to Marc Melone. They have a daughter (born 2007) and two sons (born 2009 and 2012). In her 20s, between recording and performing music, Melone attended school to become a registered

medical assistant A medical assistant, also known as a "clinical assistant" or healthcare assistant in the US, is an allied health professional who supports the work of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health professionals, usuall ...

. She worked part-time for a

OB/GYN Obstetrics and gynaecology (also spelled as obstetrics and gynecology; abbreviated as Obst and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and t ...

for three years. On 2 October 2000, she opened a beauty salon in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, which has since closed.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Video clips

Other songs

* 1996 - "Suzanna", with

, released on the compilation ''Metropolitan Freestyle Extravaganza Volume 7''. * 1997 - "Runaway", released on the compilation ''Dance Trip 2000''. * 1999 - "He's All I Want for Christmas / Letter to Santa", released on the compilation ''Freestyle X-Mas''. * 1999 - "All I Want ", with

, released on the album ''Chapter II: 1999''. * 2002 - "Treat Me Right", originally recorded in 2001, released on the compilation ''Euro Freestyle Invasion''. * 2003 - "I Still Cry", originally recorded in 2002, released on the compilation ''Euro Freestyle Invasion II''.

References

External links

Lil' Suzy's Official Web Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lil Suzy 1979 births Living people 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers American child singers American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American freestyle musicians American musicians of Puerto Rican descent American people of Italian descent American child pop musicians Singers from Brooklyn Singer-songwriters from New York (state)