Leona Naess

Infobox musical artist
Name = Leona Naess


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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Leona Kristina Naess
Alias =
Born = Birth date and age|1974|7|31 New York City, US
Died =
Origin = London, England, UK
Instrument = Guitar
Genre = Alternative Rock/Pop
Occupation = Singer, songwriter
Years_active = 1998–present
Label = Outpost, MCA, Geffen, Verve Forecast
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.leonanaess.com/ www.leonanaess.com]
Notable_instruments =

Leona Kristina Naess (or Næss) (born July 31, 1974) is a British singer-songwriter.

Biography

Early life

Naess was born in New York City and raised in London. She is the daughter of Filippa Kumlin D'Orey, a Swedish-Brazilian interior designer and Arne Næss, Jr., a Norwegian mountaineer and business magnate. She has an older brother, Chris, and a sister, Katinka, from that marriage. Naess was 7 years old when her parents divorced in 1982. She attended school in the Chelsea neighbourhood of London while growing up, and later attended the Purcell School in Hertfordshire, where she studied music composition. Her father married American entertainer Diana Ross in 1986 and had two boys, Ross and Evan. Naess would often travel to their Connecticut home. She has multiple half-siblings and step-siblings from her parents' different marriages.

Naess received her first guitar at the age of 14, a gift from her mother. The first song she learned to play was "The Cross" by Prince from the 1987 album "Sign “O” the Times". She soon began writing her own songs and poetry. [Diehl, Audrey (2002). "Leona Naess". "teenmag.com".] In addition to Julie Andrews in the musicals "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music", her early influences were 1980s British rock: Joy Division, The Cure, New Order, The Specials and Madness. Naess soon found inspiration in the contemporary singer-songwriters Tracy Chapman, Sinéad O'Connor, and Edie Brickell, as well as in Joni Mitchell and Carole King.Sampson, Desmond (August/September 2000), "Love Life", "Pavement"] Her other musical influences include Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and John Lennon.

Career

At the age of 18, Naess moved to New York City to study music at New York University, she later switched her major, receiving a degree in anthropology. A resident of Greenwich Village, she began performing with her guitar at open mikes and was soon performing regularly in coffeehouses, bars and clubs like The Bitter End around Lower Manhattan, even busking at times. A friend, who was an intern at Sony Records, invited an executive to see Naess perform. Soon, a number of record companies were interested in signing her. She signed with producer Scott Litt's record label, Outpost Records, at the age of 22, shortly after graduating from NYU.

Naess began work on her first album in 1998, which was completed in June 1999. A series of business mergers postponed the album, meanwhile the Outpost label went out of business. The head of MCA Records, another division of the Universal Music Group of which Outpost had become part of, brought her contract over to MCA. Naess's first album, "Comatised", was released in March 2000. Naess continued to develop as a performer during the delays. "Comatised" produced the single "Charm Attack" (Adult Top 40 #29), which was also featured in the teen comedy film "Whatever It Takes". She appeared as a model for Calvin Klein prior to the release of the album. Naess soon released her second album, "I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll" (2001), produced by Swedish producer Martin Terefe.

In 2002, Naess recorded backing vocals on Counting Crows album "Hard Candy", primarily on the song "Black and Blue". She signed with Geffen Records and released her third album, "Leona Naess" (2003), produced by Ethan Johns. The album was a new direction for Naess with its stripped-down instrumentation. A song from this album, "Ballerina", appeared in the first season of the Showtime program, "Weeds" (2005), in the episode entitled "". Another song from her third album, "Christmas", also appeared in "The O.C." on the episode, "The Debut", and the soundtrack '. In 2004, her song "Calling" was featured on the soundtrack to '.

In January 2004, Naess' father died in a climbing accident in South Africa. Devastated by the loss, she withdrew from music and moved back to London. Naess was dropped from her record label and also split with her manager. Eventually, she resumed songwriting and began collaborating with music producer Samuel Dixon. [Lindgren, Hugo (August 24, 2008). " [http://nymag.com/guides/fallpreview/2008/pop/49558/ Up From the Depths] ". "New York". Retrieved on September 18, 2008.] Naess released a fourth album, "Thirteens", on September 16, 2008 with Verve Forecast Records. [Cohen, Johnathan (July 15, 2008). " [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003827750 Billboard Bits: Metallica, Rush, Leona Naess] ". "Billboard". Retrieved on July 15, 2008.] The title refers to thirteen lo-fi home-recorded albums that Naess created over approximately two years before the album's release . A single, "Heavy Like Sunday", was released on June 2, 2008 on Blue Flowers Records; [" [http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/video/leonanaessx27x05x08 Leona Naess - Heavy Like Sunday, Video] ". Retrieved on May 30, 2008.] [" [http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/36760 Leona Naess set for new single release] ". "NME". May 21, 2008. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.] copies of the 7" vinyl version include a Polaroid picture taken by Naess. [Barnes, Anthony (June 5, 2008). " [http://news.q4music.com/2008/06/track_of_the_day_leona_naess.html Track Of The Day: Leona Naess] ". "Q". Retrieved on June 5, 2008.]

Naess will be featured on the forthcoming Ray LaMontagne album, "Gossip in the Grain" (2008), on the songs "A Falling Through" and "I Still Care for You", [Hasty, Katie (June 3, 2008). " [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003811314 Ray LaMontagne Works Against The 'Grain'] " "Billboard". Retrieved on June 4, 2008.] and will tour with LaMontagne in September-November 2008. [" [http://www.glidemagazine.com/articles/53667/ray-lamontagne-announces-radio-city-music-hall-show.html Ray LaMontagne Announces Radio City Music Hall Show] ". Glidemagazine.com. July 15, 2008. Retrieved on July 15, 2008.] She has also toured with Eagle-Eye Cherry, David Gray, The Barenaked Ladies, Travis, Ryan Adams, Emm Gryner, Hem, Josh Rouse, Ben Lee and Badly Drawn Boy.

Personal life

Naess lives in New York City and frequently travels back to London. She was engaged to singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, the engagement ended in 2003. [Udovitch, Mim (2003), " [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=1540 Leona Naess Review on Blender] ", "Blender"]

Discography

Albums

* "Comatised" (2000), MCA - debut album
* "I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll" (2001), MCA
* "Leona Naess" (2003), Geffen
* "Thirteens" (2008), Verve Forecast

ingles

*"Charm Attack" (2000), MCA - Adult Top 40 #29
*"I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll" (2001), MCA
*"Mayor of Your Town" (2001), MCA
*"Calling" (2003), Geffen
*"Ghosts In the Attic" (2007), Leona Naess
*"Heavy Like Sunday" (2008), Blue Flowers
*"Leave Your Boyfriend Behind" (2008), Verve Forecast

Notes

References

* Brennan, Carol. [http://arts.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/naess-leona-biography Naess, Leona Biography: Contemporary Musicians] . enotes.com. Retrieved on July 20, 2007.
* Henderson, Alex. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:h9fyxqtkldhe~T1 Leona Naess Biography] . Allmusic. Retrieved on June 11, 2007.

External links

* [http://www.leonanaess.com/ Leona Naess official website]
*Myspace|leonanaess
*YouTube channel|leonanaess|Leona Naess