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Rozalla

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Rozalla
Birth nameRozalla Miller
Born (1964-03-18) 18 March 1964 (age 60)
Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)
Genres
Years active1989–present
LabelsEpic, Pulse 8

Rozalla Miller (born 18 March 1964), better known as simply Rozalla, is a Zimbabwean electronic music performer who was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). She is best known for her three 1991/92 hit singles "Faith (In the Power of Love)", "Are You Ready to Fly", and particularly "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)", which has been remixed and re-issued several times. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 98th most successful dance artist of all-time.[1]

Musical career

[edit]

Rozalla began performing at a young age in her native Zambia singing in clubs and at events; then at age 13, she was singing on a children's TV show. Still in her teens, she relocated to Zimbabwe where she fronted various R&B cover bands before beginning her own recording career with a resultant five number-one hits on that nation's chart.[2] In 1988, Rozalla relocated to London with her manager Chris Sergeant and worked with the Band of Gypsies, a production duo consisting of Nigel Swanston and Tim Cox.[3]

Rozalla's first UK single "Born to Luv Ya" became a club hit in 1990. The singer's career really took off when the dance anthem "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)",[3] reached number 6 on the UK Singles Chart in 1991. It became a top 10 hit in many European countries soon afterwards and reached the Billboard Top 40 the following year. It remains her biggest hit to date. It was later included on her debut album Everybody's Free, which peaked at number 20 on the UK Albums Chart and went silver. The album spawned two more sizeable hits in "Faith (In the Power of Love)" and "Are You Ready to Fly", reaching number 11 and 14 respectively on the UK Singles Chart, plus a lower charting single with the ballad "Love Breakdown".[4]

In 1992, Rozalla toured with Michael Jackson, opening all of his shows on the European leg of his Dangerous Tour, including the UK. She enjoyed four UK top 40 hits in 1994/95, including her rendition of "I Love Music", the theme song to the film Carlito's Way. The attendant album Look No Further featured more R&B and soul elements than her previous album.[5]

A 1996 remix of "Everybody's Free" reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Her 1998 album Coming Home saw her reunite with the Band of Gypsies and spawned a stateside club hit with its lead single "Don't Go Lose It Baby", produced by Metro.[6]

In 2003, Rozalla entered the lower regions of the UK Singles Chart alongside Plastic Boy with the song "Live Another Life". She issued the jazz/soul album Brand New Version in 2009, adding her surname Miller to her recording guise. She promoted the album by performing as Billy Ocean's support act on his UK tour of 2009. A Global Deejays remix of "Everybody's Free" reached number 7 in Australia in 2009 after it had been used as the theme song to So You Think You Can Dance.

In 2015, Rozalla returned to the top 10 of the Billboard Club Dance charts for the first time since 1994 with her track "If You Say It Again".[7]

In February 2024, Rozalla released the album Turn On the Light.

Discography

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Studio albums

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List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart
positions
AUS
[8]
GER
[9]
NED
[9]
SWE
[9]
SWI
[9]
UK
[10][11]
Spirit of Africa
  • Released: 1989 (limited release)
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Tusk Music
Everybody's Free
  • Released: 1992
  • Format: CD, LP, CS
  • Label: Pulse-8, Epic
75 53 62 36 31 20
Look No Further
  • Released: 1995
  • Format: CD, CS
  • Label: Epic
138
Coming Home
  • Released: 1998
  • Format: CD
  • Label: RM Records, Polygram
Brand New Version
  • Released: 2009
  • Format: CD
  • Label:
Turn On the Light
  • Released: 26 February 2024
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital
  • Label: Energise Records

Compilation albums

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  • 1993: Everybody's Free - Style 1993 - Remixed to Perfection
  • 1998: Feelin' Good'
  • 2003: Best Of
  • 2004: Everybody's Free (Special Edition with DVD)

Singles

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Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
Album
AUS
[8]
AUT
[12]
FRA
[12]
GER
[13]
IRE
[14]
NED
[15]
NZ
[12]
SWE
[12]
SWI
[12]
UK
[10][16][11]
US Club
[17]
1990 "Born to Luv Ya" 126 Everybody's Free
1991 "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" 11 10 8 6 8 2 9 4 2 6 1
"Faith (In the Power of Love)" 62 14 14 11 4
1992 "Are You Ready to Fly" 88 21 11 25 16 32 15 6 14 1
"Love Breakdown" 33 65
"In 4 Choons Later" 50 Single only
1993 "Don't Play with Me" 50 Everybody's Free - Style 1993
1994 "I Love Music" 90 69 39 18 1 Look No Further
"This Time I Found Love" 33
"You Never Love the Same Way Twice" 54 16 11
1995 "Baby" 233 26
"Losing My Religion"
1996 "Everybody's Free (Ca$ino Mix)" 30 14 Single only
1997 "Coming Home" 137 Coming Home
1998 "Don't Go Lose It Baby" 134 23
"Friday Night" (with Phat 'N' Phunky) 76 Singles only
2003 "Live Another Life" (with Plastic Boy) 55
2014 "Can You Feel the Love" (with David Anthony)
2015 "Say It Again" 5
2019 "Turn On the Light" Turn On the Light
2020 "Magnificent"
2022 "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" Single only
2023 "Lovefool" Turn On the Light
2024 "Lotta Love"
"You and I"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists Chart". Billboard.com.
  2. ^ Vibe, Vol 2 No. 2, (March 1994) p. 37
  3. ^ a b Colin Larkin, ed. (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 291. ISBN 0-7535-0252-6.
  4. ^ "Artists". Officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  5. ^ Billboard, 30 September 1995, p. 28
  6. ^ Billboard, 17 January 1998, p. 31
  7. ^ "Steve Aoki's 'Neon' Lights Up Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart". Billboard.com. 22 May 2015.
  8. ^ a b Australian (ARIA) chart peaks:
  9. ^ a b c d "australian-charts.com > Rozalla 'Everybody's Free' (album) worldwide peaks". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Official Charts > Rozalla". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  11. ^ a b UK singles and albums chart peaks outside the top 100: "Chart Log UK 1994-2010 > The Rabble Army – RZA". Dipl.-Bibl.(FH) Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d e "lescharts.com - Discographie Rozalla". Lescharts.com.
  13. ^ "Home - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Offiziellecharts.de.
  14. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009.
  15. ^ Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Top 40". Top40.nl.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 473. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  17. ^ "Club Chart Billboard peaks". Billboard. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  18. ^ Search for UK certification Archived 24 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine