Song:Life Is Real
Album:Joyful
Ayo is a neo soul singer songwriter from Germany. She's done very well in Europe and is now attempting to translate that success to North America. She was born Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin Sept. 14, 1980 in Cologne, Germany. Her father is Nigerian and her mother is Romanian. She wound up in foster care when her mom went to jail for drugs. She was reunited with her father at age 14. He was a part time DJ and influenced her musical taste. At age 21, she moved to London and then Paris and New York. She was discovered in Paris in 2002 and signed with Polydor Records. The name Ayo is the Yaruba translation of Joy. Ayo lives with the reggae singer Patrice and she gave birth to their son in 2005. Then she recorded her debut CD Joyful in New York with engineer Jay Newland producing. He has worked with Norah Jones. The key musician on the album is veteran guitarist Larry Campbell who worked with Bob Dylan in the 90s. Brian Mitchell plays keyboards but Lucky Peterson is now touring with Ayo. Ayo wrote all the songs including Life Is Real. The album did very well in Europe especially in France. Interscope released it in the US Nov. 2007 and it got some attention on the Heatseekers chart. Her 2008 CD Gravity At Last topped the French charts and went Gold. Ayo and her family now live in New York City and she is continuing to tour in an effort to break the US market. Here's the video for Life Is Real by Ayo.
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