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Joss Stone

With a sound and style that belies her eighteen years; Joss Stone is at the vanguard of a new generation of soul singers. Since emerging on the music scene a scant two years ago, with her Soul Sessions EP, Joss Stone has made major waves in the pop music world. Stone developed her authentic, earthy style thanks to her rather exceptional listening habits, which included heavy doses of American R&B and Classic Soul from the 1960's and 70's.

The young singer's sophisticated tastes were readily reflected in the 2003 release of The Soul Sessions EP, which featured Stone's interpretations of a bevy of classic soul tunes made popular by R&B giants Aretha Franklin, Carla Thomas, and Stone's producer/mentor, Betty Wright. On The Soul Sessions EP, Stone’s ingenuity, as well as her “god-given gift” shone through. Not only did Stone turn country songwriter Harlan Howard's "The Chokin' Kind" into a neo-soul classic, she also pushed her gender-corrected version of The White Stripes, "Fell In Love With A Boy", to the Billboard Top 40.

 

 

 

 
With the release of Mind, Body & Soul in 2004, (the work Stone considers to be her first proper album,) Stone proved that she could deliver the goods with verve, sass and attitude befitting the most established of soul divas. Stone also proved that her talents do not lie in her voice alone, lending a hand in the authoring of 12 of the disc’s 14 tracks. After its September, 2004 release, the album shot to #1 in Stone’s native UK, and summarily peaked at #11 on the Billboard Top 200 in the US, demonstrating that Stone’s amazing debut was no fluke. If Stone’s amazing success in such a short time is any indication of things to come, the young singer has proven that with her talents, the sky’s the limit.
Just when we thought we'd drown in a sea of overhyped and saccharine teen pop stars, this beautiful Brit rescues us by infusing our ears with soulful tunes we thought long gone.

Joss Stone's debut album, The Soul Sessions, revived old soul tunes and arguably the genre itself. At only 16, she had already drawn comparisons to Aretha Franklin and her countrywoman Dusty Springfield. Her star is sure to rise thanks to her starring role as a Gap girl.