Sananda Maitreya

(Redirected from Terence Trent D'Arby)

Sananda Maitreya (formerly known as Terence Trent D'Arby and born Terence Trent Howard on March 15, 1962) is an American-born singer-songwriter currently living in Milan, Italy. He is recognizable through his trademark voice resembling that of Sam Cooke, and the fact that, like such artist as Stevie Wonder, Todd Rundgren and Prince before him, he produces his own albums as well as plays most of the instruments by himself.

Contents

1 Biographical data

2 Maitreya and the film industry

3 Sananda Maitreya's various names

4 Discography

5 External links

Biographical data

Sananda Maitreya was born in Manhattan, New York and joined the army after leaving college, serving in Elvis Presley's old regiment in Germany. He was formally discharged by the army in 1983 after going absent without leave. While in Germany, he also worked with the band The Touch, releasing an album of material called Love On Time (1984). It was later re-issued in 1989 as Early Works after Maitreya's world-wide success as a solo artist. In 1986 he left Germany for London, where he briefly joined the band The Bojangels , after which he gained a recording deal.

His debut solo album, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, released in 1987, is his best-known and, in commercial terms, most successful work. The album, which produced such hits as 'If You Let Me Stay', 'Wishing Well', 'Dance Little Sister' and 'Sign Your Name', sold over a million copies in the first three days of its release, and its sales currently total over 12 million. The album also earned Maitreya a Grammy Award in March 1988 in the category Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. Furthermore, the album's smash hit 'Sign Your Name' has since been covered more than 30 times by other artists.

Maitreya's follow-up was the somewhat more experimental and serious Neither Fish Nor Flesh : A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope & Destruction (1989). It gathered generally hostile reviews from the critics, and was not commercially as successful as its predecessor. Nevertheless, it sold over 2 millions copies.

It took four more years and a move to Los Angeles until his next project, Symphony or Damn : Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness (1993) was released. The record touched many of the issues that had been raised also in Neither Fish Nor Flesh , but was musically more straightforward and rocky than its predecessors. It gathered favourable reviews and gained much airplay in major music stations.

In 1995 Maitreya released Vibrator, which largely followed Symphony or Damn in its musical direction. Also it was well received, but like the previous album, failed to reinstate the artist back to the public status that he had enjoyed at the time of his first release.

During the 1990s the relations between the artist and his record label Columbia Records had became strained, eventually leading to the artist's departure in 1996. This was followed by a four-year spell in Java Records , during which he recorded Terence Trent D'Arby's Soular Return , which however was not released. In 2000, he bought the rights to his unreleased album, and left the record company as well as his then-management-team Lippman Entertainment.

Meanwhile the artist, then still known as Terence Trent D'Arby, had as a result of a series of dreams, adapted to use the name Sananda Maitreya. His name was legally changed to that on October 4th, 2001.

2001 also saw Maitreya moving back to Europe and Germany, as he resettled in Munich and started his own independent record label, Sananda Records . The year also marked his first album release in six years, as the unreleased Terence Trent D'Arby's Soular Return was revamped into Wildcard. The album, which received a warm critical welcome, was at first available for free through his [website], and later gained also a commercial release through a one-album distribution deal with Universal Music.

In 2002 Maitreya moved to Milan, Italy, and began working on his next project, Angels & Vampires - Volume 1 , which was released through Weedshare in 2005.

Maitreya and the film industry

Sananda Maitreya has appeared in two films, as well the TV series Shake, Rattle And Roll where he played the part of Jackie Wilson. His music has also been included on several movie soundtracks, most notably as the theme song of 1991's Frankie and Johnny.