Wendy Starland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wendy Starland | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 9, 1980 in New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Jazz, world music, rap |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, producer, musician |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, saxophone, drums |
| Label(s) | Universal Records |
| Website | wendystarland.com |
Wendy Starland (b. February 9, 1980, New York City), is an American singer, songwriter, music producer and musician.
Starland was discovered at a concert held by Maceo Parker who noticed her singing along with many of his numbers. Parker brought Starland onstage to perform; the performance received a standing ovation.
Since then, her music, videos and image have been used in numerous musical genres and advertising media. She is currently a spokesperson and model in a US$50 million print and television campaign for the celebrity clothing line, Deesh.
Though her musical style places her in the smooth jazz category, her writing syle extends well beyond that genre into rhythm and blues and rap, including music for Def Jam stars Wu Tang Clan. A prolific writer for motion pictures and television, Starland's original work may be heard in Swipe with Forrest Whitaker and The Rules featuring The Jerky Boys. She is currently composing the entire two-hour score for an upcoming HBO documentary, Sample Sale. Other original songs used in visual media include Stolen Love, written in memory of ten friends and loved ones lost in the September 11, 2001 attacks as well as on MTV; another is Garden of Temptation, featured in promotional advertising for the NBC-TV primetime series, Las Vegas. Starland is also an accomplished backup singer, having performed on numerous occasions with crooner Michael Bolton and appearing with him on the CBS-TV morning series, The Early Show.
Major awards and recognition include her being named as "VH1's Best Emerging Artist" and "Best Emerging Songwriter" by the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. VH1 has also licensed five of her songs for use in their programming.
Starland's current single, Dancing With The Sea, reached a high of number eight on the Billboard music charts within two weeks of its release and was twice featured on the ABC-TV daytime talk show, Live with Regis and Kelly.
Current projects include a new song for the NBC series Hawaii and a compilation album on Backlight Records featuring Duncan Sheik.
