Marla Glen

Marla Glen
Marla Glen in concert, Germany, 2003

Marla Glen (born January 3, 1960 in Chicago) is an American jazz and (rhythm and) blues singer.

Contents

Life

Marla grew up on the South Side of Chicago, the daughter of Dell Glen (American-Jamaican) and Cortez Glen (Mexican-American). Glen's father was a blues guitarist, her grandmother a gospel singer, and her mother was friends with the legendary blues guitarist BB King. Her mother Dell graduated from the University of Chicago and went on to become a successful banker who worked for Merrill Lynch. Glen's father, an American patriot who joined the military at a young age, became an engineer based in Frankfurt, Germany. Like many other children in Chicago's historic Bronzeville neighborhood (also known as the Black Metropolis) who received gifts and inspiration from folks like Muddy Waters and BB King, Marla was given a toy harmonica as a child, and her musical talent became immediately apparent. Glen was only 11 years old when she wrote her first song "Repertoire", a title that has won 3 gold records and one platinum, and appears on Glen's 1996 release, "Love and Respect". Since 1998 she lives in Heilbronn in Germany. On July 2, 2004 she entered a civil union with Sabrina Conley at the local Rathaus.[1] In the meantime, they got divorced.[2]

Career

As a teenager, Marla Glen set out to pursue her musical career. The story of Glen's early days "taking a gamble" on her musical abilities is recorded in the lyrics of "Travel," a song that appears on her first breakthrough album, "This Is Marla Glen".

The gamble paid off: Glen won first prize performing at a local Jam-session in New Orleans and was rewarded with a trip to France, where she first performed before a European audience. When invited to stay in Europe, she did, and formed the Marla Glen Band in Niort France. In 1993, catapulted to stardom overnight sensation her debut album "This Is Marla Glen" (two-time gold, two-time platinum).

Marla Glen was ruthlessly exploited by the music industry, and spent a period in deep reflection, which she talks about in a 2002 interview[3] with Jakob Buhre (in German). The interview is accompanied by a spectacular series of photos[4] which may say as much to the English-language reader as the German words can barely convey.

In 1998, Glen went on tour with her 1997 release "Our World", and made a strong comeback in 2003, with "Friends".

Glen is known for her haunting lyrics, for her fierce commitment to social change and the cause of human unity. Most recently, she has dedicated her time and efforts to the education of children, and was declared the "patron saint" of the Knowledge Festival, organized by Bildung ohne Grenzen (Education without Barriers) in Hamburg, Germany (2007).

Discography

Albums:

  • 1993: This Is Marla Glen
  • 1996: Love and Respect
  • 1997: Our World
  • 1998: The Best of Marla Glen
  • 2003: Friends
  • 2005: Greatest Hits Live
  • 2006: Dangerous
  • 2011: Humanology

Notes

  1. ^ (German) NETZEITUNG | ENTERTAINMENT PEOPLE: Marla Glen heiratet eine Schwäbin
  2. ^ (German) "Die Musik hat Marla Glen gerettet". derwesten.de. 2011-05-01. http://www.derwesten.de/kultur/Die-Musik-hat-Marla-Glen-gerettet-id4599399.html. Retrieved 2011-06-15. 
  3. ^ (German) Interview mit Marla Glen - Planet Interview
  4. ^ Marla Glen Bildergalerie

External links

Photo Collections:


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Marla Glen — (2003) Marla Glen (* 3. Januar 1960 in Chicago) ist eine US amerikanische Sängerin. Seit 1998 lebt sie in Deutschland. Inhaltsverzeichnis …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Marla (disambiguation) — Marla is a female given name in English. It is a variant of the name Marlene, which comes from Mary Magdalene, the biblical woman to whom Jesus Christ first appeared after his resurrection. Contents 1 People named Marla 2 In fiction 3 Other 4 …   Wikipedia

  • Glen (disambiguation) — Glen may refer to:* A glen is a valley, typically one that is long, deep, and often glacially U shaped.*Used as a place name, Glen may refer to one of the following::*Glen Parva, Leicestershire, England:*Glen Norman, Ontario, Canada:*Glen,… …   Wikipedia

  • Glen — ist: ein männlicher Vorname, siehe Glenn Glen ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Cornell Glen (* 1981), Fußballspieler aus Trinidad und Tobago Emery Glen, US amerikanischer Bluessänger der 1920er Jahre Esther Glen (1881–1940),… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Marla — Marla, Marle Kurzform von → Marlene. Namensträgerin: Marla Glen, US amerikanische Sängerin …   Deutsch namen

  • Marla Glenn — Zu diesem Stichwort gibt es keinen Artikel. Möglicherweise ist „Marla Glen“ gemeint. Kategorie: Wikipedia:Falschschreibung …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Glen Lang — is an American businessman and politician who served as mayor of Cary, North Carolina from 1999 to 2003.Lang, a millionaire and CEO of [http://www.capband.net Capital Broadband] , a wireless communications company, first entered politics in 1997… …   Wikipedia

  • Marle — Marla, Marle Kurzform von → Marlene. Namensträgerin: Marla Glen, US amerikanische Sängerin …   Deutsch namen

  • Глен, Марла — В Википедии есть статьи о других людях с такой фамилией, см. Глен. В Германии в 2003 году Марла Глен (англ.  …   Википедия

  • Openair Gampel — Luftaufnahme Open Air Gampel Publikum Das Open Air Gampel ist ein Musikfestival in Gampel (Wallis, Schweiz), welches jährlich im August stattfindet …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”