Mica Paris

Event information

Silken Voiced Singer

Soul and gospel singer best known for hit 'My One Temptation'.

Mica's roots are in soul and gospel music. She grew up singing in her grandparents' church and by her mid teens was making regular appearances with 'The Spirit of Watts' gospel choir.

She was soon noticed as a distinctive voice and at 17 got her first break as a backing vocalist with the UK chart band 'Hollywood Beyond'.

The range, power, and sheer soulfulness of her singing made a major impact on the UK scene and in the following year, 1988, she released her debut, platinum selling album, 'So Good', from which she had her first top ten hit with 'You Are My One Temptation'.

This led to a collaboration with American soul singer, Will Downing, on a cover version of 'Where Is The Love', a song made famous by Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack in the early '70s.

In 1991, Mica's second album,'Contribution', was released. This extended Mica's soul and gospel influences to bring in hip-hop and house music and included a track written especially for Mica by Prince, which she recorded at his Paisley Park studios.

Her third album, 'Whisper a Prayer' (1993), marked another departure for Mica, fusing soul, jazz and blues with lush string arrangements.

Mica then decided to take a break from recording and turned to the stage, where she starred in two acclaimed West End shows, 'Mama I Want to Sing' and 'Sweet Lorraine'.

In 1997 she returned to the studio to record and produce her fourth album, 'Black Angel', and in 2001, another collaboration, this time with Dave Gilmore and Jools Holland on Screamin' Jay Hawkins' classic track, 'I Put A Spell On You', once again topped the charts.

In 2002 Mica extended her talents into broadcasting. She presented two shows for television: a documentary tracing the influence of gospel on American popular music, 'The Gospel of Gospel', for Lion Television and Channel 4, which featured interviews with legendary artists Ray Charles, BB King, Al Green, Issac Hayes and Chaka Khan; and Channel 4's 'Gospel Singer of the Year' competition.

She also began hosting her own radio show, 'Soul Solutions', on BBC Radio 2. With an average of half a million listeners, it is the most successful soul and R&B show in the UK.