Sananda Francesco Maitreya
(born Terence Trent Howard
on March 15, 1962), also known by his former stage name Terence Trent D'Arby
, is an American singer-songwriter. He also plays many of the instruments on and produces his own albums.
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TERENCE TRENT D'ARBY TICKETS
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Early life and career
Sananda Maitreya was born in
Manhattan,
New York City,
New York, in 1962, he grew up with his
stepfather, Reverend James Benjamin Darby, a minister of the Pentecostal church and Frances Darby, a
gospel singer,
[1] teacher and counselor. D'Arby was known to childhood friends as Terry Darby. His family moved from New York to
New Jersey to
Chicago and then settled in
DeLand, Florida, north of
Orlando. A graduate of
DeLand High School, he sang with the Modernaires, a show choir of high school.
Sananda Maitreya trained as a
boxer in Orlando and won the
Golden Gloves lightweight championship. He received an offer to attend boxing school in the
United States Army, but his stepfather insisted he go to college instead. Maitreya enrolled at the
University of Central Florida but quit a year later, enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was posted at
Fort Sill,
Oklahoma, and then served in the
3rd Armored Division, near
Frankfurt, Germany.
He was formally discharged by the army in April 1983 after going
absent without leave. While in Germany, he also worked with the band The Touch, releasing an album of material called
Love On Time
(1984). It was later re-issued in 1989 as
Early Works
after his world-wide success as a solo artist. In 1986 he left Germany for
London, where he briefly played with the band he made, The Bojangels.
Fame as Terence Trent D'Arby
Sananda Maitreya's debut solo album,
Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby
, released in 1987, is his best-known and, in commercial terms, most successful work. The album, which produced hits like "If You Let Me Stay", "
Wishing Well", "Dance Little Sister", and "
Sign Your Name", sold over a million copies in the first three days of its release, and its sales currently total over 13 million. The album also earned him a
Grammy Award in March 1988 in the category
Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. In that same year, he earned a
Soul Train Award nomination for Best New Artist.
His follow-up was the album
Neither Fish Nor Flesh: A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope & Destruction
(1989). It sold over 2 million copies.
It took four more years and a move to
Los Angeles until his next project,
Symphony or Damn: Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness
(1993) was released. The record explored some of the themes of
Neither Fish Nor Flesh
, and contains the singles "Delicate" and "She Kissed me". It gathered favorable
reviews and was played widely on radio. It peaked at #4 on the UK Album Charts.
In 1995, Sananda Maitreya released
Vibrator
, which largely followed
Symphony or Damn
in its musical direction. It was well received, and also followed by a very successful world tour.
During the 1990s, the relations between him and his record label
Columbia Records became strained, eventually leading to his departure in 1996. He moved to Java Records for one year in order to distribute his 5th project, initially called
Terence Trent D'Arby's Solar Return
which was not released. In 2000, he bought the rights to his unreleased album and left the record company as well as his dull management team, Lippman Entertainment.
The collection of songs was then compiled into "WIlDCARD" a fantastic album that was released by the artist independently in 2002 and got international reviews and massive radio airplay. (source official artist MS page http://www.myspace.com/sanandamaitreya )
In 1999, Sananda Maitreya collaborated with
INXS to replace his friend, late vocalist
Michael Hutchence, so the band could play at the opening of facilities for the
Sydney Olympics.
Later career as Sananda Maitreya
The artist adopted the name Sananda Maitreya, following a series of dreams and he legally changed his name to Sananda Maitreya on October 4, 2001. He proclaimed in an interview that "Terence Trent D'Arby was dead...he watched his suffering as he died a noble death", in what was perceived as an attempt to reinvent himself artistically and free himself from what he believed to be the oppressive nature of the record business.
In 2001, Maitreya moved back to
Europe and
Germany, resettling in
Munich and starting his own
independent record label, Treehouse Pub. The year also marked his first
album release in six years, as the unreleased
Terence Trent D'Arby's Solar Return
was revamped into
Wildcard
. The album, which received a warm critical welcome, was at first available for free through his website, and later gained a commercial release through a one-album distribution deal with
Universal Music.
In 2002, the now 40-year-old Maitreya moved to
Milan,
Italy, and began working on his next project,
Angels & Vampires - Volume I
. The songs were initially released through Weedshare, allowing the fans to get a glimpse of the work as it evolved. On July 29, 2005, the fully mastered album was finally released through his utilizing the
mp3 format.
In July 2005, Maitreya started working on
Angels & Vampires - Volume II
. He released each chapter online as soon as he finished recording the songs. On April 29, 2006, he released the fully finished and mastered album in his . In 2009, the album
Nigor Mortis: A Critical Mass
was released on his official website.
Maitreya currently
[] lives in
Milan,
Italy where he continues to create music. Since the early stages of his music career he has always written, composed, arranged and produced all his tracks. In his later albums such as
Angels & Vampires
and
Nigor Mortis
he also played all instruments.
Film career
Sananda Maitreya has appeared in two films, as well as the TV mini-series
Shake, Rattle and Roll
where he played the part of
Jackie Wilson. His music has also been included on several
movie and television soundtracks, notably his version of the theme song of 1991's
Frankie and Johnny
, as well as having one of his songs featured prominently in the end credits of
Beverly Hills Cop III
, "Right Thing, Wrong Way", which he wrote and produced with
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Another of his songs, "What Shall I Do?", was also featured in an episode of the
UPN television series
Girlfriends
. In 2007, three songs appeared on
Judd Apatow's movie
Knocked Up
. In 2009 on the USA Network show "Psych" the two main Characters, Sean and Gus, sang an impromptu version of "Wishing Well" during the credits blooper reel shown at the end of each episode.
Collaborations
Sananda Maitreya was featured on "A Stronger Man", a dance single by
Everything But The Girl's
Ben Watt. He also duetted with
Des'ree on the single "
Delicate" from the album
Symphony or Damn
. In 2008, Nathan Jay remixed the song "As Yet Untitled" on "This Land Is Still My Home", from the album
Virtually
. He also did background vocals on
Corey Hart's "Love and Money" track from his 1992 album
Attitude & Virtue
. Many international artists have covered his songs.
Discography
Albums
- 1987 - Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby
- 1989 - Terence Trent D'Arby's Neither Fish Nor Flesh (A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope & Destruction)
- 1993 - Terence Trent D'Arby's Symphony or Damn* (*Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness)
- 1995 - Terence Trent D'Arby's Vibrator
- 2001 - Wildcard
(reissued in 2002 as Terence Trent D'Arby's Wildcard! - The Jokers' Edition
)
- 2005 - Angels & Vampires - Volume I
Only available through his
- 2006 - Angels & Vampires - Volume II
Only available through his
- 2009 - Nigor Mortis
Only available through his
Singles
| Year
| Title
| Chart Positions [2]
|
| Billboard Hot 100
| U.S. R&B
| U.S. Dance Club Play
| U.S. Dance Maxi Singles
| U.S. Modern Rock
| UK Singles Chart
|
| 1987
| "If You Let Me Stay"
| 68
| 19
| 47
| 26
| -
| 7
|
| 1988
| "Dance Little Sister"
| 30
| 9
| 7
| 18
| -
| 20
|
| 1988
| "Sign Your Name"
| 4
| 2
| 23
| -
| -
| 2
|
| 1988
| "Wishing Well"
| 1
| 1
| 7
| 3
| -
| 4
|
| 1989
| "This Side Of Love"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| 1989
| "To Know Someone Deeply Is To Know Someone Softly"
| -
| 47
| -
| -
| -
| 55
|
| 1990
| "Billy Don't Fall"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| 1993
| "Do You Love Me Like You Say?"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 14
|
| 1993
| "Delicate"
| 74
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 14
|
| 1993
| "She Kissed Me"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 5
| 16
|
| 1993
| "Let Her Down Easy"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 18
|
| 1993
| "Turn The Page"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| 1993
| Neon Messiah
EP
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| 1995
| "Holding On To You"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 20
|
| 1995
| "Vibrator"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 55
|
| 1995
| "Supermodel Sandwich"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| 2002
| "O Divina"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| 2002
| "What Shall I Do"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
NZ Charts
- 1993 Let Her Down Easy 9wks | Peak 6
- 1995 Holding On To You 16wks| Peak 12
See also
- List of Number 1 albums from the 1980s (UK)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- BRIT Awards
- Grammy Awards of 1988
Notes
- Gilmore, Mikal (June 16, 1988). "Can Terence Trent D'Arby Be As Good As He Thinks He Is". ''Rolling Stone''. Issue 528.
- U.S. Billboard Singles. Allmusic.com.
5. official my space: http://myspace.com/SanandaMaitreya