British singer
Yazz
|
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Born
| (
1960-05-19
)
19 May 1960
(age 64)
Shepherd's Bush
, London, United Kingdom
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Genres
| |
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Occupation(s)
| Singer
|
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Instruments
| Vocals, guitar
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Years active
| 1988?present
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Labels
| |
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Musical artist
Yazz
(born
Yasmin Evans
; 19 May 1960)
[1]
is a British pop singer, who remains perhaps best known for her 1988 UK number one single "
The Only Way Is Up
". Some of her records are credited to
Yazz and the Plastic Population
.
Career
[
edit
]
Yazz was born in
Shepherd's Bush
, London, to a Jamaican father and a British mother. She attended
Holland Park School
, where she excelled at sports, including the
400 metres
. She was also a member of the England under-19 volleyball team. Following a spell as a
catwalk model
, she scored a number of
club
hits after
recording
with the group the Biz in 1983. Her first commercial success came in early 1988, when she sang on
Coldcut
's "
Doctorin' the House
".
[2]
She soon launched a solo career on
Big Life
records, a label set up by her husband
Jazz Summers
, releasing her debut solo single, "
The Only Way Is Up
", in the summer of 1988. It went on to spend five weeks at the top of the
UK Singles Chart
,
[3]
eventually becoming the second-biggest-selling UK single of the year. Her follow-up "
Stand Up for Your Love Rights
" was another big hit (UK number 2),
[3]
while her debut album
Wanted
(UK number 3)
[3]
was certified double platinum in the UK in September 1989
[4]
for sales exceeding 600,000.
[5]
She had a fourth UK top-10 single in 1989 with "Fine Time",
[3]
but has since recorded only sporadically. A second Big Life album, titled
Revolution of Love
,
[6]
was scheduled for release in 1990 following the single "Treat Me Good" (peaking at number 20 in the UK).
[3]
The album was shelved, however, when Yazz parted ways with the label.
Yazz signed with
Polydor Records
, and an album titled
One True Woman
was scheduled for release in May 1992
[7]
following the release of the title track, but was also cancelled. She returned to the
Top 40
in 1993, performing with
Aswad
on the hit "
How Long
".
[3]
Her second album,
One on One
was finally released in 1994, including some of the tracks recorded for the
One True Woman
album.
She continued to release singles throughout the 1990s, including a
cover version
of
The Jackson 5
's "
Never Can Say Goodbye
". In 1997, she released
The Natural Life
, an album of cover versions, after signing with
East West Records
. The album was released in Japan, Australia and some parts of Europe, but not in the UK.
During this period, Yazz began to reevaluate her career choices: she wanted to give up a lifestyle that included her failed marriage to
Summers
(their union had resulted in a daughter, Rio, born in April 1990),
[7]
and her dependency on alcohol. After she had researched various religions, a friend who used to be her hairstylist suggested she try visiting her church. Soon, she decided to "turn her life over to
Christ
".
[8]
[
better source needed
]
Her 2008 album
Running Back to You
, distributed in the UK by ICC Records, charted her spiritual journey and her new-found
Christian
faith. Yazz is now based in Spain,
[9]
and is an active member of the Calahonda
Baptist
Church. She returned to Britain occasionally to promote this album, performing songs from it live interspersed with several anecdotes pertaining to her faith.
[
citation needed
]
In August 2009, Yazz performed with a full band on stage for the first time in several years at a church in
Southampton
. In October 2010, she performed again with a band at Cathedral House in
Huddersfield
, home of the Huddersfield Christian Fellowship.
[
citation needed
]
A three-CD remastered deluxe edition of the
Wanted
album, containing Yazz's 1990 single "Treat Me Good", B-sides and remixes, was released on
Cherry Red Records
on 25 November 2016.
[10]
Discography
[
edit
]
Albums
[
edit
]
Year
|
Album
|
Peak chart positions
|
UK
[3]
|
AUS
[11]
|
GER
[12]
|
NED
[13]
|
NZ
[14]
|
SWE
[15]
|
SWI
[16]
|
1988
|
Wanted
|
3
|
43
|
35
|
80
|
27
|
8
|
19
|
1989
|
The Wanted Remixes
|
53
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
1994
|
One on One
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
1997
|
The Natural Life
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
2001
|
At Her Very Best and All the Greatest Hits
|
166
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
2008
|
Running Back to You
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
2011
|
This Is Love
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
"?" denotes a release that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
|
Singles
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Studio albums
| |
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Singles
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Related articles
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International
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National
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Artists
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