Joss Stone (born Jocelyn Eve Stoker; 11 April 1987) is an English soul singer-songwriter and actress. Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist. Her second album, the equally multiplatinum Mind Body & Soul, topped the Albums Chart for one week and spawned the top ten hit "You Had Me", Stone's most successful single on the UK Singles Chart to date. Both album and single each received one nomination at the 2005 Grammy Awards, while Stone herself was nominated for Best New Artist, and in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2004 was ranked fifth as a predicted breakthrough act of 2004She became the youngest British female singer to top the UK Albums Chart in history to have her first album at number one. Stone's third album, Introducing Joss Stone, released in March 2007, achieved gold record status by the RIAA and yielded the second-ever highest debut for a British female solo artist on the Billboard 200. Stone released her fourth album, Colour Me Free!, on 20 October 2009, which did reach Top 10 on Billboard, but was her least selling album in her career. Joss Stone possesses both contralto and mezzo-soprano vocal ranges.Throughout her career, Stone has sold over 11 million albums worldwide Her first three albums have sold over 2,722,000 copies in the United States, while her first two albums have sold over 2,000,000 copies in United Kingdom. Stone has won two BRIT Awards and one Grammy Award. She also made her film acting debut in late 2006 with the fantasy adventure film Eragon, and made her television debut portraying Anne of Cleves in the Showtime series The Tudors in* 1 Early life * 2 Music career o 2.1 2001–2004: Career music development o 2.2 2004–2006: Commercial success and debut as a songwriter o 2.3 2007–2008: Affirmation on music career o 2.4 2008–present: New image, independence, new record company and new albums o 2.5 Other works * 3 Screen career * 4 Media attention and endorsements * 5 Philanthropy * 6 Personal life * 7 Views on copyright * 8 Discography * 9 Filmography * 10 Awards o 10.1 Grammy Awards o 10.2 Other awards and nominations * 11 References * 12 External linksStone was born at Buckland Hospital in Dover, Kentand spent her teenage years in Ashill, a small village near Cullompton in Devon. She is the third of four children born to Richard and Wendy StokerHer father owns a fruit and nut import/export business her mother worked as Stone's manager until October 2004 Stone made her first public appearance at the Uffculme Comprehensive Schoolwhich she attendedin Uffculme, Devon, with a cover version of Jackie Wilson's 1957 song "Reet PetiteStone blames her dyslexia for the fact that she left school at age sixteen with only three qualifications. "It wasn't that I was stupid. I'm just a little bit dyslexic and I wasn't very academic. I'm more artistic", she says.Stone grew up listening to a wide variety of music including 1960s and 1970s American R&B and soul music performed by such artists as Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin. As a result, she developed a soulful style of singing like her idols. "My first CD that I owned was Aretha Franklin: Greatest Hits. And I saw the advert on TV and it was just like little clips of her songs. I had no idea who she was—I was only like 10 so. I said, 'Oh yeah, that looks really good', so I wrote it down and I said to my mum, 'Can I have that for Christmas?' So she told my friend Dennis, who always gets me good music anyway, and he got that for me. So that was one of my first albums that I loved She would later tell MTV News: "I kind of clicked into soul music more than anything else because of the vocals. You've got to have good vocals to sing soul music and I always liked it ever since I was little.Joss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss StoneJoss Stone
