Ameera
Cleveland, Ohio, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2016
Music
Press
Black Americans have had an impact on Jamaican music for 50 years, starting with impresario Danny Sims and singer Johnny Nash in the mid-1960s.
Singer Ameera is looking to emulate her compatriots.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, she released her first reggae song in October, a cover of Adele’s mega-hit Hello with Mr Vegas.
“I am very comfortable singing reggae and dancehall songs; these are two of my favorite genres of music. My dad is Jamaican, so I grew up listening to a lot of Jamaican artistes like Beres Hammond, Shabba Ranks, Buju Banton, Cobra, Shaggy and Dennis Brown.” - Jamaica Observer
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
In Arabic, her name means ‘princess’. A young princess of the stage, Ameera is. Ameera Perkins was born in Cincinnati, OH, being of Jamaican and American descent. Early on she was heavily influenced from World and American music. This triggered her passion for music and her call to sing. At the tender age of eight years old she joined a citywide gospel group, called Vessels of Praise, led by the Stellar Award winning, and Grammy nominated, gospel musician Ricky Dillard.
At 10, Ameera then became a member in the Cincinnati Black Theater Company, broadening her music performance to musical theatre. She starred in the Broadway classic, “The Wiz”, as Dorothy in the company when she was 14 years old, and brought the audience to tears with her touching rendition of “Be a Lion”.
Ameera attended, and graduated from The School of Creative and Performing Arts; the very school that is the focus of MTV’s ‘Taking the Stage’. She was a Jazz Vocal and Musical Theatre major. Ameera started performing at local jazz clubs, and many found her performance of “God Bless the Child”, by Billie Holiday, one of a kind.
Ameera has received several awards for music and dramatic arts such as “Best Dialect” and Cincinnati’s “Future Idol”. Throughout her musical career she’s performed with prestigious artists such as Manhattan Transfers, Kelly Price, Lady Gaga and Elton John. Performing locally, and nationally, she has received encouraging words from mentors such as Patti Austin, Bobbi Wilsyn (lead vocalist of Chicago Jazz Ensemble), and Antonio Fargas.
Ameera attended Columbia College of Chicago, and was awarded a scholarship for her jazz and rhythm & blues vocal abilities. In the spring of 2009, while at Columbia, she auditioned for MTV’s Making His Band, where she moved to Los angeles and competed to advance to the top eight vocalists.While in college,January 2010, Ameera was chosen by Lady Gaga to be one of Gaga's background singers. Ameera has perfromed alongside Lady Gaga all around the world in places like New Zealand, Australia, Japan, UK, Germany, Ireland and others also being televised on shows such as The Today Show and The Jonathon Ross Show. With true vocal ability, mesmerizing stage presence, and gorgeous looks, Ameera is destined to be the next generation’s superstar!
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