Simone Andrea Denny is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is best known as a vocalist with the

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

groups Love Inc. and Widelife, appearing most prominently on the hit dance singles " Broken Bones", " You're a Superstar" and " All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)".

Background

Born and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, her parents are of Guyanese heritage. She discovered her passion for music while competing in a talent show in grade six, later training as an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer but choosing instead to pursue pop music. She quickly developed a following in local bands, landed the role of "Mama" in the Canadian production of '' Mama, I Want to Sing!'' opposite

Deborah Cox Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before ...

, and performed as a backing vocalist for artists such as

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is credited ...

and

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. After meeting DJ Chris Sheppard, she contributed as a guest vocalist to several songs by his band BKS, as well as the songs "Tonight It's Party Time" and "I Can't Take the Heartbreak" by

Barry Harris Barry Doyle Harris (December 15, 1929 – December 8, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. He was an exponent of the bebop style. Influenced by Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, Harris in turn influenc ...

and Rachid Wehbi's group Outta Control (a.k.a. Killer Bunnies).

Love Inc.

In 1997 Sheppard and Brad Daymond formed Love Inc., in which Denny was a full member. They released their self-titled debut album in 1998; the album spawned the chart hits "Broken Bones" and "You're a Superstar", with the former song winning the

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Dance Recording of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 1999 The Juno Awards of 1999 honouring Canadian music industry achievements were held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The primary ceremonies at Copps Coliseum on 7 March 1999 were broadcast by CBC Television and hosted by Mike Bullard. Nominations wer ...

, and became the first dance music album by Canadian artists ever to receive platinum certification for Canadian sales. Despite the band's initial success, the 2000 followup album ''Into the Night'' was more poorly received, performing poorly on the charts and containing only one noteworthy hit single,Larry LeBlanc, "BMG Canada Ventures 'Into the Night' With Radio-Friendly Dance Act Love Inc.". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', August 26, 2000. although the band did again win the Juno for Dance Recording of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2001 The Juno Awards of 2001 were held in Hamilton, Ontario Canada during the weekend of 3–4 March 2001. The primary ceremonies were hosted by Rick Mercer at Copps Coliseum on 4 March 2001 and broadcast on CBC Television. Performers during the tele ...

, and critics praised Denny's vocals as the best thing about an otherwise weak album. In this era, Sheppard was also beginning to develop a reputation for egotism: in early 2001, Denny had to back out of a previously-unannounced surprise appearance as a special guest who would perform several live songs at one of Sheppard's DJ shows at a dance club in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. The club cancelled the show outright since it considered Denny to be the real star of the event, but Sheppard tried to use legal threats to force the club to pay him anyway. The band did not release any further recordings, and broke up after ''Into the Night'', with Denny attributing the breakup to Sheppard mistreating her because he felt like he was the true creative force behind the band even though Denny was generally considered its star. Denny later noted that she had remained on friendlier terms with Daymond right up until his death in 2018.

Widelife and solo career

Denny then began collaborating with Widelife, performing on that band's singles "I Don't Want You" and "All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)", the latter of which was best known as the theme song to the original version of '' Queer Eye''. In 2005 she released "Cliché", the first single on which she was directly credited as a solo performer. She subsequently appeared as a featured vocalist on several other dance singles before finally releasing her own full-length debut album, ''The Stereo Dynamite Sessions, Vol. 1'', in 2015. In 2020 Denny appeared on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

special, performing "You're a Superstar" with

Tyler Shaw Tyler Shaw (born April 8, 1993) is a Canadian singer and actor. After winning the "MuchMusic Coca-Cola Covers Contest 2012" organized by the Canadian music cable channel Much (TV channel), MuchMusic, he released his debut single, "Kiss Goodnig ...

. She has also continued to perform live shows, notably as part of an

Electric Circus ''Electric Circus '' (also known as ''EC'') is a Canadian live dance music television program that aired on MuchMusic and Citytv from September 16, 1988, to December 12, 2003. The name originated from a nightclub that once existed at Citytv's fir ...

reunion bill of dance acts from the 1990s and 2000s. In 2024 she released a country rendition of "You're a Superstar".Allie Gregory
"Love Inc.'s Simone Denny Reimagines "You're a Superstar" as a Country Song"
''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', August 12, 2024.

Discography

Studio albums Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denny, Simone 20th-century Black Canadian women singers 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Black Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers Canadian women pop singers Canadian dance musicians Canadian electronic musicians Singers from Toronto Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian contemporary R&B singers