Sylvia Tella is a British lovers rock

Lovers rock

Lovers rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid 1970s.-History:...

 singer, who after working as a vocalist for Boney M

Boney M

Boney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...

 embarked on a successful solo career, releasing her first album in 1981. She had a top 40

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 ...

 hit in 1989 in collaboration with the Blow Monkeys

The Blow Monkeys

The Blow Monkeys are a British new wave band that formed in 1981 as a new wave-oriented act. The first single, "Live Today Love Tomorrow" was released in 1982. They subsequently recorded more commercial pop rock hit makers, and finally became a dance group, shortly before splitting up at the...

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Biography

Born c.1960 in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England, Tella's career began as a vocalist for Boney M. After the group split up, she recorded as a solo artist, initially under the guidance of veteran reggae artist Lloyd Charmers

Lloyd Charmers

Lloyd Charmers is a ska and reggae singer, keyboard player and record producer.-Career:...

. Her 1981 debut album, Spell, became one of the best-selling lovers rock albums of all time. In 1983 she provided backing vocals on the Alton Ellis

Alton Ellis

Alton Nehemiah Ellis, OD, was a Jamaican musician best known as one of the innovators of rocksteady music and was often referred to as the "Godfather of Rocksteady". In 2006, he was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame.-Biography:Ellis was born in 1938 and...

 album Daydreaming. In the late 1980s she had a major success on the UK reggae chart with "Spell", and contributed to a charity record in aid of victims of Hurricane Gilbert

Hurricane Gilbert

Hurricane Gilbert was an extremely powerful Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season and created widespread destruction in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is the second most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin behind only...

 released under the collective name Windjammer. She then collaborated with the Blow Monkeys, having a hit single in 1989 with "Choice" (which reached number 22), and another minor hit with "Slaves No More" (#73) three months later. In 1996 she had several successes on the reggae chart both with Vivian Jones

Vivian Jones (singer)

Vivian Jones is a Jamaican-born British reggae singer who performed with several bands in the 1970s before recording as a solo artist from 1980.-Biography:...

, and solo with "Searching For The One" and "Happy Home". In 1997 she toured internationally with Saint and Campbell, appeared at London's Notting Hill Carnival

Notting Hill Carnival

The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1964 has taken place on the streets of Notting Hill, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , London, UK each August, over two days...

 alongside Beenie Man

Beenie Man

Anthony Moses Davis , better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Grammy award winning Jamaican reggae artist. He is the self-proclaimed "King of the Dancehall".-Biography:...

 and the Main Street Crew, and received a nomination for Best British Reggae Artist at the MOBO Awards

MOBO Awards

The Music of Black Origin Awards, established in 1995 by Kanya King MBE and Andy Ruffell, are held annually in the United Kingdom to recognise artists of any ethnicity or nationality performing black music....

. A second album was issued in 2000, recorded mostly in New York City and produced by Sidney Mills

Sidney Mills

Sidney Mills was born in the UK in 1959 and moved to Jamaica as a child. He was raised in the Saint Thomas Parish and became a musician from an early age he moved to Kingston the late sixties....

 of Steel Pulse

Steel Pulse

Steel Pulse is a roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen .-History:...

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Discography

• Spell (1981), Sarge
• Tella – Like it Is (2000), Living Room

Compilations:

• Sylvia Tella Collection (1995), Stingray
• Reggae Max (1998), Jet Star