Terence Trent D'Arby

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Sananda Francesco Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard, March 15, 1962), better known by his former stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer-songwriter who came to fame with his album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, released in July 1987, which included the singles "Wishing Well" and "Sign Your Name". The album has sold over 12 million copies.

Early life

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, 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.

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 worldwide success as a solo artist. In 1986 he left Germany for London, where he briefly played with the band, The Bojangels, after which he signed a solo recording deal.

Fame as Terence Trent D'Arby

Maitreya's debut solo album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, released in July 1987, is his best-known commercial 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 14 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 (1989).

It took four more years and a move to Los Angeles until his next project, Symphony or Damn (1993) was released. The record contained the singles "Delicate" and "She Kissed Me". It peaked at #4 on the UK Albums Chart.

In 1995, Maitreya released Vibrator which was 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, during which he recorded Terence Trent D'Arby's Solar Return, which was not released. In 2000, he bought back the rights to his unreleased album and left the record company as well as his management team, Lippman Entertainment.

In 1999, Maitreya collaborated with INXS to replace his friend, the 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 his name (but without the middle name), Sananda Maitreya, following a series of dreams in 1995. He legally changed his name 6 years later 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 became the albumWildcard. The album, which received a very warm critical welcome, was at first available for free through his website (Sananda was one of the pioneers of the internet age), and later gained a commercial release through a one-album distribution deal with Universal Music and then an with an independent release with the artist's own record label.

In 2002, Maitreya moved to Milan, Italy, and began working on his next project, Angels & Vampires - Volume I. The songs were initially released through Weedshare by chapters, 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 webshop utilizing the mp3 format and then became also available in CD format.

In July 2005, Maitreya started working on Angels & Vampires - Volume II. He released each chapter online as he finished recording the songs. On April 29, 2006, he released the finished mastered album in his online shop. That was followed by the release of the 2CD limited edition of 'Angels & Vampires' at the end of 2007. In 2009, the album Nigor Mortis: A Critical Mass was released on his official website both as a CD and as Mp3. In 2010 he started the recording of his next project called The Sphinx, which is now available in CD and mastered Mp3 on the ecommerce of the artist's official website http://www.Sananda.org . Its release was first in chapters and then as the full mastered project in the spring of 2011 at Zooathalon.com (source SanandaMaitreya.com) At the official website the instrumental version of 2 of his studio albums has been made available. (source SanandaMaitreya.com/forum)

Maitreya currently lives in Milan, Italy with his family, 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 new studio albums such as Angels & Vampires and Nigor Mortis and THE SPHINX he also played all instruments. He has been touring with his band 'The Nudge Nudge' around Europe to present his new music called 'Post Millennium Rock'. In April 2011 the live album "Confessions of a Zooathaholic", which contains the best performances of the 'Post Millennium Rock Tour 2010', has been released in Mp3 format at: http://www.sanandamaitreya.com/ecommerce/c...ooathaholic.php (source SanandaMaitreya.com)

Film career

Maitreya has appeared in two films, as well as the TV mini-series Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story 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.

Collaborations

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. With Miki Howard he recorded I Love Every Little Thing About You.

In 1996 he also co-wrote with Hans Zimmer, produced and performed "Letting Go" for the film The Fan starring Robert De Niro.

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