Joss Stone: A Mini Biography

Joscelyn Eve Stoker, in Dover, Kent, England on April 11, 1987.

Growing up, Joss lived in the rural county of Devon, England. The first album she owned, Aretha Franklin's Greatest Hits, inspired her to become a singer. After growing up listening to classic R&B and soul, she developed a throaty style of singing like some of her idols. In 2001, when she was 14, she got her first taste of singing for the masses when she appeared on the BBC television show "Star for a Night" and sang Aretha's "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman." Then, in 2002, she flew from England to New York for an audition with S-Curve Records CEO Steve Greenberg and was offered a contract.

She later flew to Miami to start work on her debut album, The Soul Sessions, which was mainly covers of Soul classics, some of which Joss grew up listening to. While working on the album, she collaborated with people with solid credentials in the Miami soul scene such as Betty Wright, Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas and Little Beaver, as well as contemporary acts Angie Stone and The Roots. The album, which was released in late 2003, reached the top 40 on the U.S. Billboard album chart and went on to sell over 610,000 copies in the United States.

After achieving critical acclaim for The Soul Sessions, Joss recorded an album full of original songs in 2004 called Mind, Body and Soul. It proved to be an even bigger success than her first album; it debuted at #1 in her native U.K. when she was still only 16, breaking the record for the youngest female ever to top the albums charts there, a record previously held by Avril Lavigne. It also just missed the top ten of the U.S. Billboard albums chart after peaking at No. 11. In March 2007, her third album, Introducing Joss Stone, was released and her fourth, Colour Me Free, came out in October 2009.

2009: Colour Me Free
2008: Introducing Joss Stone
2004: Mind, Body and Soul
2003: The Soul Sessions

"Who says soul has only one color?" - Joss Stone.