Tanya Blount

Born in Washington, D.C., Tanya studied vocal music at Potomac High School in Oxon Hill, MD, Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Morgan State University under the leadership of the Late Dr. Nathan Carter. By the tender of 19 Tanya had secured a major recording deal with Polydor now Island/Def Jam Records and by age 20 Tanya was featured in the box office sensation Sister Act 2 with Whoppi Goldberg. Her unforgettable performance of “His Eye on the Sparrow” featuring Lauryn Hill introduced the world to both her vocal and acting abilities.

Tanya’s first release on island Records would be “Natural Thing” where she collaborated with the late 11 time Grammy Award winning Arif Mardin (The Bee-Gees, Aretha Franklin, Phil Collins) and two time Grammy Nominated Producer Steve Silk Hurley. Tanya’s debut single “Through the Rain” captivated audiences and climbed to a US chart peak of #20 on the Billboard Charts and earned her a nomination for The Soul Train Awards Best New Artist 1995.

Over the years, Tanya has starred in many stage plays with powerhouse talents such as “What Every Woman Wants featuring Miguel Nunez”, “Sneaky” featuring Howard Hewitt, “Preacher’s Kids” featuring Destiny’s Child, “Born to Sing” featuring Lisa Fisher, “Christmas in Washington” featuring Karen Clark Sheard and a host of other performances throughout the years. Also during this time, Tanya released her first inspirational book entitled “Through the Rain” 40 principles for Surviving Life’s Challenges” which is available for purchase on Amazon.

In August 2008, Tanya signed a new recording deal with Habakkuk Music with distribution through Universal Music’s new Gospel music division. One of the first appearances of Tanya’s recent works “Right Here” will be in the upcoming Tyler Perry Film “The Family That Preys” scheduled for release Sept 12, 2008.