About this Artist
Having completed the Circle of One and undergone an Evolution to become one of the world's finest singer-songwriters, then Moving On to the next level as a producer and reaching a spiritual high with Come Walk With Me, OLETA ADAMS is now expressing All the Love.
The greatly anticipated release of All the Love (Oleta's first pop album in five years) is an artistic culmination of the insightful observations and deep feelings Oleta Adams brings to life, featuring great new songs by top writers and several lyrically rich songs by her.
Since the runaway success of her 1990 debut album Circle of One (which went platinum), Oleta Adams has inspired a growing legion of fans in the U.S. and Europe with journeys of the heart via songs that draw deeply from her roots in gospel, while crossing effortlessly into the realms of soul, R&B, urban, and popular music. Her success, nurtured by worldwide tours with Tears for Fears, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton, and Luther Vandross, has been solidified by three Grammy nominations and a seemingly bottomless well of creative energy.
A long-time resident of Kansas City, Kansas, where she has found sanctuary from the turmoil of the entertainment industry, Oleta Adams also remains anchored by her upbringing in the Pacific Northwest. The youngest of three girls and two boys, Oleta spent her formative years in Seattle before traveling over the mountains at age six to Yakima, Washington, an idyllic town of 60,000. She first demonstrated her budding vocal gifts in the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, where her father served as minister.
By the time Oleta was eleven, she was directing and accompanying four choirs, having already established herself as a piano prodigy. She credits her further musical development in junior high school to Lee Farrell, "the brilliant Juilliard-trained teacher and voice coach who changed my life."
Turning down the chance to pursue an operatic career as a lyric soprano, along with a scholarship to Pacific Lutheran University, Oleta instead spent a summer in Europe before heading to Los Angeles in the early 1970s. One demo tape and $5,000 later, she discovered that the disco movement had deafened music executives. Oleta's gospel-flavored voice was not "in." With the help of coach Lee Farrell she wound up in Kansas City, where she launched her career playing piano bars, hotel lounges, and showrooms.
Finally serendipity came in the form of the British band Tears for Fears, whose frontmen Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith asked her to appear on their 1989 The Seeds of Love album, video, and European tour. Proving that good things come to those who wait, upon her return to the U.S. Oleta signed a record deal for her first solo album in 1991.
With a hot new release, worldwide acclaim, and over two-and-a-half million albums sold, Oleta's musical odyssey continues - spiritually and creatively. For this consummate artist-composer-producer-musician, other goals remain on the horizon. "I'd eventually like to write a musical or at least star in one," says Oleta, professing a love for Broadway. "There are not a lot of modern musicals that feature the kind of singing I do, so I guess I'll have to write one!"