Amel Larrieux

Amel Larrieux, the R&B singer and songwriter, spent her childhood in New York's Greenwich Village amid an artistic household shaped by her mother, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, a dance critic and professor. She launched the duo Groove Theory with Bryce Wilson, the ex-Mantronix member also known as Bryce Luvah; the act landed a contract with Epic Records and earned a gold-certified Top Ten placement on both the pop and R&B charts in October 1995 for the single "Tell Me," which paved the way for their Groove Theory album to reach the R&B Top 20.

In 1996 she supplied vocals for Sweetback's self-titled album, a project from three members of Sade that entered the charts. Her first solo single, "Get Up," arrived in November 1999 and climbed to number 37 on the R&B chart, while her debut solo album Infinite Possibilities appeared via 550 Music the following February.

She paired with crooner Glenn Lewis to record "What's Come Over Me?" for the Barbershop soundtrack issued in 2002. They reconvened a year later to contribute their reading of "Where Is the Love" to Stanley Clarke's album 1, 2, to the Bass, a performance that drew a Grammy nomination.

Larrieux started her own Blisslife label in 2004 and issued Bravebird, Morning (2006), the stripped-down vocal jazz set Lovely Standards (2007), and the playfully eclectic Ice Cream Everyday (2013).