Sananda Maitreya

:"Sananda Maitreya redirects here. This article is about the singer. For other people named Sananda Maitreya, see Sananda Maitreya (disambiguation)."Infobox musical artist
Name = Sananda Maitreya
Birth_name = Terence Trent Howard
Background = solo_singer
Alias = Terence Trent D'Arby
Born = birth date and age|1962|3|15
New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin = London, England, UK
Genre = Pop, rock, soul, R&B
Years_active = 1987–present
Label = Columbia, Work, Rock Up, Treehouse Publishing
URL = [http://www.sanandamaitreya.com www.sanandamaitreya.com]

Sananda Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard on March 15, 1962), better known by his former stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer-songwriter. He also plays many of the instruments on and produces his own albums.

Early life and career

Maitreya was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, the son of Reverend James Benjamin Darby, a minister with the Pentecostal Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and Frances Darby, a teacher and counselor. Maitreya was known to childhood friends as Terry Darby. Maitreya's family moved from New York to New Jersey to Chicago and then settled in DeLand, Florida, north of Orlando. Maitreya's mother was a gospel singer.Gilmore, Mikal (June 16, 1988). "Can Terence Trent D'Arby Be As Good As He Thinks He Is". "Rolling Stone". Issue 528.] A graduate of DeLand High School, Maitreya sang with the Modernaires, a show choir, as a junior, undistinguished member.Fact|date=September 2008

Maitreya trained as a boxer in Orlando and won a regional Golden Gloves lightweight championship. He received an offer to attend boxing school in the United States Army, but his father insisted he go to college instead. Maitreya enrolled at the University of Central Florida but quit less than a year later, enlisting in the U.S. Army. Maitreya was posted at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and then served in Elvis Presley's old division: the 3rd Armored Division, near Frankfurt, Germany. He was formally discharged by the army in April 1983 after going absent without leave. While in Germany, he also worked with the band The Touch, releasing an album of material called "Love On Time" (1984). It was later re-issued in 1989 as "Early Works" (Frank Farian production) after Maitreya's world-wide success as a solo artist. In 1986 he left Germany for London, where he briefly played with the band, The Bojangels, after which he signed a solo recording deal.

As Terence Trent D'Arby

His debut solo album, "Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby", released in 1987, is his best-known and, in commercial terms, most successful work. The album, which produced hits like "If You Let Me Stay," "Wishing Well," "Dance Little Sister," and "Sign Your Name", sold over a million copies in the first three days of its release, and its sales currently total over 12 million. The album also earned Maitreya a Grammy Award in March 1988 in the category Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. In that same year, he earned a Soul Train Award nomination for Best New Artist.

Maitreya's follow-up was the somewhat more experimental and serious "Neither Fish Nor Flesh: A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope & Destruction" (1989). It gathered generally hostile reviews from the critics, and was less successful commercially than its predecessor. Nevertheless, it sold over 2 million copies.

It took four more years and a move to Los Angeles until his next project, "Symphony or Damn: Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness" (1993) was released. The record explored some of the themes of "Neither Fish Nor Flesh", but was musically more straightforward and rock-influenced than its predecessors. It gathered favourable reviews and was played widely on radio.

In 1995 Maitreya released "Vibrator", which largely followed "Symphony or Damn" in its musical direction. It was well received, but like his previous album, failed to return the artist back to the public status that he enjoyed with his first release.

During the 1990s the relations between the artist and his record label Columbia Records became strained, eventually leading to the artist's departure in 1996. He moved to Java Records for four years, during which he recorded "Terence Trent D'Arby's Solar Return", which was not released. In 2000, he bought the rights to his unreleased album and left the record company as well as his management team, Lippman Entertainment.

In 1999, Maitreya collaborated with INXS to replace his friend, late vocalist Michael Hutchence, so the band could play at the opening of facilities for the Sydney Olympics.

As Sananda Maitreya

The artist adopted the name Sananda Maitreya, following a series of dreams. His name was legally changed to Sananda Maitreya on October 4 2001. He proclaimed in an interview that "Terence Trent D'Arby was dead...he watched his suffering as he died a noble death," in what was perceived as an attempt to reinvent himself artistically and free himself from what he believed to be the oppressive nature of the record business.

2001 also saw Maitreya moving back to Europe and Germany, as he resettled in Munich and started his own independent record label, Treehouse Pub. The year also marked his first album release in six years, as the unreleased "Terence Trent D'Arby's Solar Return" was revamped into "Wildcard". The album, which received a warm critical welcome, was at first available for free through his website, and later gained also a commercial release through a one-album distribution deal with Universal Music.

In 2002 Maitreya moved to Milan, Italy, and began working on his next project, "Angels & Vampires - Volume I". the songs were initially released through Weedshare, allowing the fans to get a glimpse of the work as it evolved. In July 29, 2005, the fully mastered album was finally released through his [http://www.sanandamaitreya.com/ecommerce/catalogo.php webshop] utilizing the mp3 format.

In July 2005 Maitreya started working on "Angels & Vampires - Volume II", he released chapter after chapter online as soon he finished recording the songs. On April 29 2006 he released the fully finished and mastered album in his [http://www.sanandamaitreya.com/ecommerce/catalogo_2.php webshop] . Maitreya currently lives in Milan, Italy where he continues to create music. Since the early stages of his music career he has always written, composed, arranged and produced all his tracks. In his last albums such as "Angels & Vampires" and "Nigor Mortis" he is also playing all instruments.

Film career

Maitreya has appeared in two films, as well as the TV mini-series "Shake, Rattle and Roll" where he played the part of Jackie Wilson. His music has also been included on several movie and television soundtracks, most notably as the theme song of 1991's "Frankie and Johnny", as well as having one of his songs featured prominently in the end credits of "Beverly Hills Cop III". The song "What Shall I do" was also featured in an episode of the popular UPN television series "Girlfriends."

Names

Sananda Maitreya was born as Terence Trent Howard. His former stage name, Terence Trent D'Arby, came from taking his adoptive father's (James Benjamin Darby) family name, and including an apostrophe. At the early years when he joined the Band "The Touch" he used Terence Trent Darby as his stage name without an apostrophe. The name Sananda Maitreya, on the other hand, purportedly came to the artist in a series of dreams, after which he considered it to reflect his present self better than his former stage name. Said Maitreya: "After intense pain I meditated for a new spirit, a new will, a new identity." [ [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=7001 Sananda Maitreya "Wishing Well" Songfacts entry] Retrieved December 14, 2006]

Collaborations

Maitreya was featured on 'A Stronger Man', a dance single by Everything But The Girl's Ben Watt. (Buzzin' Fly)He also duetted with Des'ree on the single "Delicate" from the album Symphony or Damn.

In 2008 he appeared on the track "This Land Is Still My Home" by Nathan Jay, from the album "Virtually"

Discography

* 1987 - "Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby"
* 1989 - "Terence Trent D'Arby's Neither Fish Nor Flesh (A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope & Destruction)"
* 1993 - "Terence Trent D'Arby's Symphony or Damn* (*Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness)"
* 1995 - "Terence Trent D'Arby's Vibrator"
* 2001 - "Wildcard" (reissued in 2002 as "Terence Trent D'Arby's Wildcard! - The Jokers' Edition")
* 2005 - "Angels & Vampires - Volume I" Only available through his [http://www.sanandamaitreya.com/ecommerce/catalogo.php Webshop]
* 2006 - "Angels & Vampires - Volume II" Only available through his [http://www.sanandamaitreya.com/ecommerce/catalogo_2.php Webshop]
* 2007 / 08 - "NIGOR MORTIS" Only available through his [http://www.sanandamaitreya.com/ecommerce/nigor_mortis.php Webshop]

ee also

*List of Number 1 albums from the 1980s (UK)
*List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
*BRIT Awards
*Grammy Awards of 1988

Notes

External links

*Official|http://www.sanandamaitreya.com/
*Myspace|sanandamaitreya|Sananda Maitreya
*YouTube user|maitreyasananda|Sananda Maitreya
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/terencetrentdarby Terence Trent D'Arby] at "Rolling Stone"