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Paris, Mica (27th April 1969-Present)

She is a singer, actress and TV presenter born Michelle Antoinette Wallen in Islington, London who lived in Brockley, South London from the time she was 9 years old.  She  nicknamed herself Mica after being teased about the EastEnders TV series character Michelle Fowler as a child and this led to her using it as her professional name.

Singing from about 7 years old she regularly sang at church and often appeared with the Spirit of Watts gospel choir from the time she was twelve. including the recording Gospel Joy which was an EP released in 1985.  The following year she was heard with the band Hollywood Beyond as a backing vocalist and sang on their album If.

Within the next two years  she had ventured out on her solo career and in 1988, when she was nineteen, she released her debut album So Good.  The album reached platinum status, reached No. 6 on the UK album chart and produced the four single releases “My One Temptation”, “Like Dreamers Do”, “Breathe Life Into Me” and “Where is the Love” which is a duet with Will Downing.

Two years later in 1990 she released the silver certified Contribution which reached No. 26 on the UK album chart and contained the song written by Prince, “If I Love U 2 Nite”, “Contribution” and “South of the River”.  That same year she made recordings with the artists Anita Baer, Natalie Cole and Bonnie Raitt on Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa. The next year she could be heard on the movie Young Soul Rebels soundtrack where she sung the title track. Over the next year or so she was kept busy when she was heard with a range of artists that included Courtney Pine, the Stereo MCs and Bobby Womack.

In 1993 her next album Whisper a Prayer emerged, reaching No. 20 on the UK album charts, with the single releases “I Never Felt Like This Before”, “I Wanna Hold On To You” and “You Put a Move On My Heart”.  That same year she appeared in the West End in the stage shows Mama I Want to Sing and Sweet Lorraine.

Her next album was 1998’s Black Chrysalis which produced the Top 20 chart singles “Stay and “Carefree” as well as the cover of U2’s “One” where she duetted with James Ingram.

When the new millennium came around she collaborated with David Gilmour and Jools Holland in 2001 on the track “I put a Spell On You” and around that time also sang on the soundtrack of the Disney film High Heels and Low Lifes. 2002 saw her on another venture when she became the host of BBC Radio 2’s Soul Solutions and later Purple Reign: The Prince Story and was the presenter of the TV documentary Gospel of Gospel on Channel 4.

She was a featured guest with several artists in the next year or two and appeared in the stage play The Vagina Monologues before releasing her next album If You Could Love Me in 2005.  That same year she made an appearance in the reality series Hit Me Baby One More Time and won the first week of the TV series Come Dine With Me.  Two years later on BBC Television she co-hosted two season of What Not to Wear.

2007 came along and she was seen in the ITV series Marple in the episode “At Bertram’s Hotel” and the following year she appeared with her parents in an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word.   In 2008 she duetted with Alexander O’Neal and released “Secret Lovers” after which had a residency at Indigo O2.  That same year she released here book Beautiful Within: Finding Happiness and Confidence In Your Own Skin.  2009 saw her Born Again released which led to a national tour and produced the singles “Baby Come Back Now” and “The Hardest Thing”.

Many appearances on various television shows occurred and from 2013 she was regularly seen on ITV’s This Morning.  She has also stood in for Craig Charles and Trevor Nelson on their radio shows   In 2015 she participated in the Love Me Tender musical’s UK tour and performed on 2017’s Children in Need.

In 2020, 11 years after her album Born Again, Gospel was released.  It reached No. 1 on the U R&B Albums chart and No. 43 on the UK Albums chart.  Later that year she also acted in the TV series EastEnders and the following year she became part of Gary Barlow’s supergroup that appear on the television project I’m With the Band.

Outside of singing on her own releases she has featured on many other albums by a huge array of artists.  Some of these include Back to Mine by Groove Armada, Breakin’ by Arthur Baker, Double Happiness by Jimmy Barnes, Director’s Cut by Kate Bush, Greatest Love Songs by Will Downing, Evening Moods by Marvin Gaye, Rattle That Lock by David Gilmour, Small World Big Band and Best of Friends by Jools Holland, The Studio Album Collection: 1978-1992 and The Woman I Am by Chaka Khan, Truth About Love by Lemar, Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison, One Million Smiles by Mr. Exe, For Pleasure by Omar, In the Eyes of Creation by Courtney Pine and Connected by Stereo MCs and Unmasked: The Platinum Collection by Andrew Lloyd Webber along with many others.

She is recognised for her charity work which includes being a patron for the Space in Music project and the renovation of the Band on the Wall project as well as being an ambassador for the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Trident following the 2001 killing of her brother,the Amy Winehouse Foundation and supporting the “No Means No” campaign. In 2020 she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Birthday Honours List for her services to music, entertainment and charity.

Sources:

  1. https://www.micaparis.com/about
  2. https://www.micaparis.com/copy-of-listen-1
  3. https://www.npg.org.uk/devotional/mica_paris.html
  4. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mica-paris-mn0000382487/biography
  5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mica_Paris
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Good_(Mica_Paris_album)#Singles
  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contribution_(album)
  8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisper_a_Prayer
  9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_(Mica_Paris_album)
  10. https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/24900/mica-paris/
  11. https://www.discogs.com/artist/25262-Mica-Paris
  12. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mica-paris-mn0000382487/credits
  13. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0969871/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
  14. https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/2020092897917/mica-paris-eastenders-debut-exclusive-interview/