Melanie Fiona Profile

Born:  in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Offering a throwback sound to complement her rich, womanly voice, Melanie Fiona is a bright R&B artist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Born Melanie Hall, the singer grew up in inner-city Toronto to Guayanese parents. Fiona developed a passion for music at an early age, influenced by groups and artists such as the Ronettes and Whitney Houston. Though she has been active as a performer since 2002 -- she was a member of the groups X-Quisite and the Renaissance, the latter of which featured Drake -- her first recording didn't arrive until 2008. Somebody Come Get Me, a reggae single issued under the alias Syren Hall on the Black Chiney label, was featured on the Reggae Gold 2008 compilation, and it helped her get signed to Universal Motown. She was the opening act on Kanye West's European tour in 2008, which is notable because she hadn't even released an album at that time. The following year, Fiona released her debut single, Give It to Me Right, which samples Time of the Season by the Zombies. Fiona's melismatic and dynamic vocal propelled the single to the Top 20 on the Canadian Hot 100, in addition to charting on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart. Her debut album, The Bridge, was released in May 2009, and was a Top Five album on the R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. Its greatest success was the follow-up to Give It to Me Right, the number one R&B single It Kills Me. Fiona released her second album, The MF Life, in March 2012. ~ Matthew Chisling, Rovi