Nikka Costa
Encyclopedia
Domenica "Nikka" Costa (born June 4, 1972) is an American
singer whose music combines elements of funk
, soul
, and blues
. She also had a career as a child singer starting in the early 1980s. She is the daughter of notable music producer Don Costa
and is married to Australian producer/songwriter Justin Stanley
.
, Japan
. Her father Don Costa
was a notable producer and a musician with many connections in the music business. During her childhood Costa was surrounded by famous musicians and traveled around the world with her father.
At age 5 Costa recorded a single with Hawaiian singer Don Ho
. Italian producers Danny B. Besquet and Tony Renis were working with her father on the album Don Costa Plays the Beatles when they had a brainstorm to produce an album with Nikka singing while her father played acoustic guitar. The album was well-received in Europe and Costa became known as a child star. At age 9 Costa sang with Frank Sinatra
in an appearance on the lawn of the White House
.
Costa's career as a recording artist under her own name started in 1981, when she recorded the song "(Out Here) On My Own" (from the musical Fame
). The single, recorded in Milano with the conductor Victor Bach and produced by Besquet and Renis, spent fourteen weeks at #1 in Italy, nine weeks at #1 in Spain, and five weeks at #1 in France. The song also reached #7 in Switzerland and #32 in the Netherlands. The album Nikka Costa, produced by Besquet and Remis, was released outside the U.S. in 1981. The album reached #1 in Europe and South America and Costa toured around the world. Her second album Fairy Tales (cuentos de hadas) was released in 1983. Don Costa died of a heart attack shortly after the album was recorded. The pop album Here I Am... Yes, It's Me was released to fulfill a contractual obligation in 1989, though it still topped some charts in Europe. In 1990 she performed at the SanRemo Music Festival with a rendition of All for the Love, an English version of Vattene amore by Mietta
and Amedeo Minghi
.
After graduating from high school, Costa decided to move away from pop and moved toward funk and soul, becoming influenced by Motown artists.
in Australia, which reached the Top 20. The record led to a nomination for ARIA Music Awards
Breakthrough Artist in 1996 and Best Female Artist in 1997.
In 2000, Costa's song "Like A Feather" was featured in a Tommy Hilfiger
television advertising campaign
. That exposure coupled with the track's music video helped launch her U.S. music career. The album Everybody Got Their Something
was released in 2001 and reached #120 on the Billboard 200
. The title track and "Like a Feather" were radio hits, although the latter did peak in the UK Singles Chart
at #53. In 2005, Costa released the album can'tneverdidnothin'
. She toured with Lenny Kravitz
who also performed on the record. In 2006 she and her husband Justin recorded and performed the theme to the short-lived CBS
sitcom "Courting Alex
", which starred Jenna Elfman
.
Costa was a guest singer on Mark Ronson
's album Here Comes the Fuzz. Ronson has produced some of Costa's songs. Her song "Push & Pull" from the album Everybody Got Their Something is included in the soundtrack of the 2001 movie Blow
starring Johnny Depp
. Her song "Everybody Got Their Something", was used in the soundtrack of the 2009 movie All About Steve
starring Sandra Bullock
and Bradley Cooper
. Her song "Stuck To You" from the album Pebble to a Pearl
was used in an episode of Grey's Anatomy
in season five.
Costa is currently signed with Stax Records. Her latest studio album Pebble to a Pearl
was released on October 14, 2008. In 2010 she released the single "Ching Ching Ching" in Europe. The song is notable from a genre change from soul/funk to electro-pop. The single reached #77 in Germany, making it Costa's first single to chart in Germany since "On My Own" in 1981. A new album titled PRO★WHOA!
was set for release in late 2010 but has been delayed until early 2011. Costa co-wrote the song "Diamonds Made from Rain" on Eric Clapton
's 2010 album Clapton
.
Costa sings a reinterpreted version of the "INXS
" hit "Kick" on the new INXS album "Original Sin" digitally released in Australia in October 2010 and in the United States in April 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer whose music combines elements of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
. She also had a career as a child singer starting in the early 1980s. She is the daughter of notable music producer Don Costa
Don Costa
Don Costa was an American pop music arranger and record producer, best known for his work with Frank Sinatra.-Career:...
and is married to Australian producer/songwriter Justin Stanley
Justin Stanley
Justin Stanley is an Australian born, initially Sydney based musician/producer who has worked with The Vines, Beck, Holidays On Ice, Daniel Merriweather and others. He is the lead guitarist of Wounded Cougar...
.
Early life
Nikka Costa was born in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Her father Don Costa
Don Costa
Don Costa was an American pop music arranger and record producer, best known for his work with Frank Sinatra.-Career:...
was a notable producer and a musician with many connections in the music business. During her childhood Costa was surrounded by famous musicians and traveled around the world with her father.
At age 5 Costa recorded a single with Hawaiian singer Don Ho
Don Ho
Donald Tai Loy "Don" Ho was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:Ho, of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, but he grew up in Kāneohe on the windward side of the island of Oahu...
. Italian producers Danny B. Besquet and Tony Renis were working with her father on the album Don Costa Plays the Beatles when they had a brainstorm to produce an album with Nikka singing while her father played acoustic guitar. The album was well-received in Europe and Costa became known as a child star. At age 9 Costa sang with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
in an appearance on the lawn of the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
Costa's career as a recording artist under her own name started in 1981, when she recorded the song "(Out Here) On My Own" (from the musical Fame
Fame (musical)
A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...
). The single, recorded in Milano with the conductor Victor Bach and produced by Besquet and Renis, spent fourteen weeks at #1 in Italy, nine weeks at #1 in Spain, and five weeks at #1 in France. The song also reached #7 in Switzerland and #32 in the Netherlands. The album Nikka Costa, produced by Besquet and Remis, was released outside the U.S. in 1981. The album reached #1 in Europe and South America and Costa toured around the world. Her second album Fairy Tales (cuentos de hadas) was released in 1983. Don Costa died of a heart attack shortly after the album was recorded. The pop album Here I Am... Yes, It's Me was released to fulfill a contractual obligation in 1989, though it still topped some charts in Europe. In 1990 she performed at the SanRemo Music Festival with a rendition of All for the Love, an English version of Vattene amore by Mietta
Mietta
Daniela Miglietta , is an Italian singer. She released 10 albums in all and two million copies of her records were sold.-Biography:She started her career as a model and as a radio actress....
and Amedeo Minghi
Amedeo Minghi
Amedeo Minghi is an Italian singer/songwriter. He has written songs for Andrea Bocelli, Mietta, Mia Martini, Anna Oxa, Marcella Bella, Gianni Morandi and Rossana Casale and composed several sound tracks as for the television film Fantaghirò .*2000: Anita*2002: L'altra faccia della luna*2003:...
.
After graduating from high school, Costa decided to move away from pop and moved toward funk and soul, becoming influenced by Motown artists.
Career in Adulthood
While already a music business veteran, in the early 1990s Costa transitioned away from childhood pop to mature soul. She married Australian producer/songwriter Justin Stanley and moved to his country. (Costa and Stanley now have a daughter named Sugar McQueen.) While in Australia, Costa began writing her own songs and formed a "happy funk" band called Little Mona & The Shag Daddies, which broke up after four gigs in Sydney. Costa's next venture was a band called Sugarbone, which toured Australia in 1994. Costa describes the experience as "It was really scary to unveil it but the reaction was good. It helped my confidence." After Sugarbone, she signed to the Mushroom label in Australia. In 1996 Costa released the album Butterfly RocketButterfly Rocket
Butterfly Rocket is Nikka Costa's first "adult" album, released in 1996 in Australia on Mushroom Records.-Track listing:Later copies of the album were released with the limited edition bonus CD "Live at the Bridge"...
in Australia, which reached the Top 20. The record led to a nomination for ARIA Music Awards
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
Breakthrough Artist in 1996 and Best Female Artist in 1997.
In 2000, Costa's song "Like A Feather" was featured in a Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger
Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfiger is an American fashion designer and founder of the premium lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger.-Early life:...
television advertising campaign
Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
. That exposure coupled with the track's music video helped launch her U.S. music career. The album Everybody Got Their Something
Everybody Got Their Something
Everybody Got Their Something was Nikka Costa's first album on Virgin Records, released on May 22, 2001. Although she had released numerous albums internationally, this was her first release in the United States. It peaked at #120 on the Billboard 200....
was released in 2001 and reached #120 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. The title track and "Like a Feather" were radio hits, although the latter did peak in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The 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 ...
at #53. In 2005, Costa released the album can'tneverdidnothin'
Can'tneverdidnothin'
Can'tneverdidnothin' is Nikka Costa's second studio album recorded for Virgin Records. The album was released on May 24, 2005. It was originally due to be released on October 5, 2004, but was delayed and the order of songs was changed....
. She toured with Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...
who also performed on the record. In 2006 she and her husband Justin recorded and performed the theme to the short-lived CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom "Courting Alex
Courting Alex
Courting Alex is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from January 23, 2006 to March 29, 2006, and was a vehicle for Jenna Elfman of Dharma & Greg fame....
", which starred Jenna Elfman
Jenna Elfman
Jennifer Mary "Jenna" Elfman is an American television and film actress. She is known for her role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg and as Billie on the short-lived CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose....
.
Costa was a guest singer on Mark Ronson
Mark Ronson
Mark Daniel Ronson is an English DJ, guitarist, music producer, artist and co-founder of Allido Records. He currently works with his band under the music alias of Mark Ronson & The Business Intl....
's album Here Comes the Fuzz. Ronson has produced some of Costa's songs. Her song "Push & Pull" from the album Everybody Got Their Something is included in the soundtrack of the 2001 movie Blow
Blow (film)
Blow is a 2001 biopic about the American cocaine smuggler George Jung, directed by Ted Demme. David McKenna and Nick Cassavetes adapted Bruce Porter's 1993 book Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellín Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All for the screenplay. It is based on the real...
starring Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
. Her song "Everybody Got Their Something", was used in the soundtrack of the 2009 movie All About Steve
All About Steve
All About Steve is a 2009 American comedy film, directed by Phil Traill, which stars Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church and Bradley Cooper. It is distributed by 20th Century Fox...
starring Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
and Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
. Her song "Stuck To You" from the album Pebble to a Pearl
Pebble to a Pearl
Pebble to a Pearl is the fourth album by the American funk/soul singer Nikka Costa. The album was produced by Costa's husband Justin Stanley, who also worked with Jamie Lidell and Beck. It was released independently on Costa and Stanley's label Go Funk Yourself Records, and distributed by the then...
was used in an episode of Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
in season five.
Costa is currently signed with Stax Records. Her latest studio album Pebble to a Pearl
Pebble to a Pearl
Pebble to a Pearl is the fourth album by the American funk/soul singer Nikka Costa. The album was produced by Costa's husband Justin Stanley, who also worked with Jamie Lidell and Beck. It was released independently on Costa and Stanley's label Go Funk Yourself Records, and distributed by the then...
was released on October 14, 2008. In 2010 she released the single "Ching Ching Ching" in Europe. The song is notable from a genre change from soul/funk to electro-pop. The single reached #77 in Germany, making it Costa's first single to chart in Germany since "On My Own" in 1981. A new album titled PRO★WHOA!
PROWHOA
PRO★WHOA! is the fifth "adult" album and eighth album overall by the American soul singer-songwriter Nikka Costa. The album is noteworthy for its music direction change, from the funk and soul of its immediate predecessor toward a more pop-oriented aesthetic...
was set for release in late 2010 but has been delayed until early 2011. Costa co-wrote the song "Diamonds Made from Rain" on Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's 2010 album Clapton
Clapton (2010 album)
According to review aggregator Metacritic, Clapton received an average of 72 out of 100 indicating generally favorable reviews from music critics, based on ten critiques...
.
Costa sings a reinterpreted version of the "INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
" hit "Kick" on the new INXS album "Original Sin" digitally released in Australia in October 2010 and in the United States in April 2011.
Albums
- Nikka Costa (1981) - Released in Europe and South America
- Fairy Tales aka Cuentos de Hadas (1983) - Spanish album, released in Europe and South America
- Here I Am... Yes, It's Me aka Loca Tentación (1989) - Spanish album, released in Europe and South America
- Butterfly RocketButterfly RocketButterfly Rocket is Nikka Costa's first "adult" album, released in 1996 in Australia on Mushroom Records.-Track listing:Later copies of the album were released with the limited edition bonus CD "Live at the Bridge"...
(1996) - Released only in Australia - Everybody Got Their SomethingEverybody Got Their SomethingEverybody Got Their Something was Nikka Costa's first album on Virgin Records, released on May 22, 2001. Although she had released numerous albums internationally, this was her first release in the United States. It peaked at #120 on the Billboard 200....
(2001) - US #120 - can'tneverdidnothin'Can'tneverdidnothin'Can'tneverdidnothin' is Nikka Costa's second studio album recorded for Virgin Records. The album was released on May 24, 2005. It was originally due to be released on October 5, 2004, but was delayed and the order of songs was changed....
(2005) - US #157 - Pebble to a PearlPebble to a PearlPebble to a Pearl is the fourth album by the American funk/soul singer Nikka Costa. The album was produced by Costa's husband Justin Stanley, who also worked with Jamie Lidell and Beck. It was released independently on Costa and Stanley's label Go Funk Yourself Records, and distributed by the then...
(2008) - US #157 - PRO★WHOA!PROWHOAPRO★WHOA! is the fifth "adult" album and eighth album overall by the American soul singer-songwriter Nikka Costa. The album is noteworthy for its music direction change, from the funk and soul of its immediate predecessor toward a more pop-oriented aesthetic...
(2011)
Demos
- Sugarbone (1994) - Three-track demo tape recorded in Australia
- Everybody Got Their Something - Demo (2001) - Featuring unreleased tracks and alternate mixes from the album sessions
- Can'tneverdidnothin' - Unreleased Version (2004) - Featuring unreleased tracks and alternate mixes from the album sessions
Remix albums
- Return of the Funky White Bitch (2001) - a promo release featuring remixed versions of songs from Everybody Got Their Something, with remixes by Mark Ronson
Live albums
- Live at the Bridge (1996) - EP bundled with the re-released version of Butterfly Rocket
- Live in Tokyo (2001) - promo CDR featuring a performance at Astro Hall
- Live at the Roxy (2005) - DVD sold at concerts