Amanda Ghost
Encyclopedia
Amanda Ghost is a singer and songwriter
from Enfield
, North London
, England
. After an initial period in which she performed as a solo
artist
, she formed a band
which performed under her name, and of which she was the lead singer. From February 2009 until December 2010, Ghost was also president of Epic Records
, however she left the role to resume her career as a songwriter and music producer.
father, Ghost was encouraged at an early age to play guitar
. Her first recording contract
was with Warner Bros. Records
in Los Angeles
, California
, for whom she recorded
her first album
, Ghost Stories.
For the past couple of years she has worked and performed with her long-term collaborator and partner in 'Amanda Ghost', Ian Dench
(formerly a guitarist with EMF
). Ghost's second album was released in autumn 2006 on her own record label
, Plan A Records, and was preceded by a limited edition
EP
, Blood On The Line.
As a songwriter, Ghost was a co-writer for James Blunt
’s “You're Beautiful
”; "Beautiful Liar
" by Beyoncé
and Shakira
; and Jordin Sparks
' first single, "Tattoo". She co-wrote the theme music
to the NBC
drama, Journeyman
. The song uses the melody from the swedish song Vandraren (Swedish wiki) performed by Nordman (Swedish wiki). [She has co-written four songs for Beyonce's third album, I Am… Sasha Fierce
; "Disappear", "Satellites" and "Ave Maria" and "Once In A Lifetime". She also co-wrote and sang backing vocals on "Colours", which was on the Prodigy's 2009 album, Invaders Must Die
as well as working collaboratively with John Legend on the lyrics for the track "Getting Nowhere" by Magnetic Man.
On 3 February 2009, Ghost was named the new president of Epic Records
. She replaced Charlie Walk
, who left at the end of 2008 to start his own company.
Ghost co-wrote, with Scott McFarnon
and Ian Dench, "Red" a top 5 hit for Daniel Merriweather
in the UK in May 2009. She has worked with Beverley Knight
(writing and producing on her new album and lead single "Beautiful Night
") and "I Did It For The Glory" by Ian Brown
, which she co-wrote with Ian and Dave McCracken. She also worked with Shakira
on the track "Gypsy", from the album She Wolf
.
Ghost is a three time Ivor Novello Award winner; a Golden Globe nominee; and has been nominated for three Grammy Award
s. One of the latter was as co-producer of two tracks on Beyoncé's album, I Am... Sasha Fierce, which is nominated as Album of the Year, and the other for "Once In A Lifetime", which she co-wrote with Scott McFarnon, Ian Dench, Jody Street, James Dring and Beyoncé. The song was the title track from Beyoncé's film
, Cadillac Records
and was nominated for the Best Song Written for a Motion Picture Award.
In October 2010, it was announced that Amanda Ghost would leave her position as president of Epic Records at the end of the year.
† Credited to Dark Globe featuring Amanda Ghost
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
from Enfield
London Borough of Enfield
The London Borough of Enfield is the most northerly London borough and forms part of Outer London. It borders the London Boroughs of Barnet, Haringey and Waltham Forest...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. After an initial period in which she performed as a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, she formed a band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
which performed under her name, and of which she was the lead singer. From February 2009 until December 2010, Ghost was also president of Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, however she left the role to resume her career as a songwriter and music producer.
Career
Born in North London to a Gibraltarian mother and an IndianNon-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...
father, Ghost was encouraged at an early age to play guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. Her first recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
was with Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, for whom she recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
her first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Ghost Stories.
For the past couple of years she has worked and performed with her long-term collaborator and partner in 'Amanda Ghost', Ian Dench
Ian Dench
Ian Dench is a British songwriter and musician. Dench was the guitarist and principal songwriter for EMF, who scored a major international hit reaching number 1 in the United States with "Unbelievable" in 1991....
(formerly a guitarist with EMF
EMF (band)
EMF were an indie dance band from the United Kingdom. The band, from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, came to prominence at the beginning of the 1990s. During its initial eight year run , EMF had released three studio albums and had gone on hiatus and reformed twice...
). Ghost's second album was released in autumn 2006 on her own record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Plan A Records, and was preceded by a limited edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Blood On The Line.
As a songwriter, Ghost was a co-writer for James Blunt
James Blunt
James Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005...
’s “You're Beautiful
You're Beautiful
"You're Beautiful" is a pop rock song co-written by British singer James Blunt, Sacha Skarbek, and Amanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam . It was released as the third single from the album in 2005. In the UK and Australia the song reached number one and number two respectively...
”; "Beautiful Liar
Beautiful Liar
"Beautiful Liar" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé and Colombian Latin pop singer Shakira. The song was written by Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Ian Dench, and Stargate members Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, and produced by Stargate and Knowles for the re-release of Knowles'...
" by Beyoncé
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
and Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
; and Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks
Jordin Brianna Sparks is an American pop / R&B singer-songwriter and actress. She hails from Glendale, Arizona who rose to fame as the winner of the sixth season of American Idol. Sparks won when she was 17 years old, making her the youngest winner in Idol history...
' first single, "Tattoo". She co-wrote the theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
to the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
drama, Journeyman
Journeyman (TV series)
Journeyman is a 2007 American science fiction television drama created by Kevin Falls for 20th Century Fox Television which aired on the NBC television network. It starred Kevin McKidd as Dan Vasser, a San Francisco reporter who involuntarily travels through time...
. The song uses the melody from the swedish song Vandraren (Swedish wiki) performed by Nordman (Swedish wiki). [She has co-written four songs for Beyonce's third album, I Am… Sasha Fierce
I Am… Sasha Fierce
I Am... Sasha Fierce is the third studio album by American R&B recording artist Beyoncé. It was released on November 18, 2008, by Columbia Records. The album was released in dual disc format, in which both discs represent a contrasting facet to Knowles' personality and musical style...
; "Disappear", "Satellites" and "Ave Maria" and "Once In A Lifetime". She also co-wrote and sang backing vocals on "Colours", which was on the Prodigy's 2009 album, Invaders Must Die
Invaders Must Die
Invaders Must Die is the fifth studio album by English electronica group The Prodigy. The album was released on 18 February 2009 on the band's new label Take Me to the Hospital, and was distributed by Cooking Vinyl....
as well as working collaboratively with John Legend on the lyrics for the track "Getting Nowhere" by Magnetic Man.
On 3 February 2009, Ghost was named the new president of Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
. She replaced Charlie Walk
Charlie Walk
Charlie Walk is the former President of Epic Records .-Early life:Walk’s passion for music began as an undergrad at Boston University’s School of Management, where he started as a collegiate Marketing Representative for Sony Music....
, who left at the end of 2008 to start his own company.
Ghost co-wrote, with Scott McFarnon
Scott McFarnon
Scott McFarnon is a singer and songwriter from southeast London, England. After spending many years writing and performing in relative obscurity in London, he has recently begun collaborating with some of the biggest superstars in the music business....
and Ian Dench, "Red" a top 5 hit for Daniel Merriweather
Daniel Merriweather
Daniel Paul Merriweather is an Australian R&B singer-songwriter who has worked as a featured vocalist for other artists and has a solo career. His guest vocals are included on album tracks by Disco Montego, Mark Ronson and Phrase...
in the UK in May 2009. She has worked with Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight MBE is a British soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer who released her debut album in 1995. Heavily influenced by soul greats such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released six studio albums to date...
(writing and producing on her new album and lead single "Beautiful Night
Beautiful Night (Beverley Knight song)
"Beautiful Night" is the first and lead single released from British singer-songwriter Beverley Knight's sixth studio album, 100%. It was released independently via her own record label, Hurricane Records, on 7 September 2009 as a digital download only....
") and "I Did It For The Glory" by Ian Brown
Ian Brown
Ian George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...
, which she co-wrote with Ian and Dave McCracken. She also worked with Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
on the track "Gypsy", from the album She Wolf
She Wolf
She Wolf or similar can mean:*She Wolf , a 2009 album by Shakira**"She Wolf" , Shakira's first single taken from her third English studio album, She Wolf*"She-Wolf", a track from Megadeth's Cryptic Writings album...
.
Ghost is a three time Ivor Novello Award winner; a Golden Globe nominee; and has been nominated for three Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s. One of the latter was as co-producer of two tracks on Beyoncé's album, I Am... Sasha Fierce, which is nominated as Album of the Year, and the other for "Once In A Lifetime", which she co-wrote with Scott McFarnon, Ian Dench, Jody Street, James Dring and Beyoncé. The song was the title track from Beyoncé's film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Cadillac Records
Cadillac Records
Cadillac Records is a 2008 musical biopic written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-company executive Leonard Chess, and the musicians who recorded for Chess...
and was nominated for the Best Song Written for a Motion Picture Award.
In October 2010, it was announced that Amanda Ghost would leave her position as president of Epic Records at the end of the year.
Singles
- "Idol" (2000) - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#63 - "Glory Girl" (2000)
- "Filthy Mind" (2000) - only released in the U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
/AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... - "Break My World" (2004) - UK #52 †
- "Girls Like You" - digital only release (2005)
- "Monster" - digital only release (2005)
- "Blood On The Line" EP (2006)
- "Time Machine" (featuring Boy GeorgeBoy GeorgeBoy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...
) (January 2007)
† Credited to Dark Globe featuring Amanda Ghost