Sharon Rose

In an age where pop music now seems far removed from personal expression, Sharon Rose is emerging as the exception. Wilfully, this Essex-based singer is ready to take the best of pop music and the best of her self and share it with invigorating energy, elegance, and sincerity. She already draws influence from a range of genres – Pop, 80’s-electropop, funk-soul, R’n’B, Indie – but also incorporates Jazz fusion, reggae, neo-soul and virtually anything that expresses her considerable ability and colourful personality. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Rose came to England at the turn of the century and came through various musical experiences – a girl-group called ‘Levi’, church and school performances – before finally finding her own voice, ambition and identity. It would appear the penny dropped really quite suddenly – ‘I woke up one morning in the summer of 2007’, she recalls, ‘and told my brother (producer/musician) that I wanted to do my own project, and he –sharing the same love for spontaneity as me– took the project on board and that’s when it began!’ This unquestioned and inevitable impulse gave birth to her first independent record in the same year (‘Self Tilted’) and an EP in 2009 titled ‘Wildcard’. Rose’s immense talents have been recognised by various radio stations including BBC Oxford, BBC Essex and Premier Radio. MSN.com named her the winner of the MSN Unsigned Podcast Competition in 2009 and she has been featured in some print and online magazines. Performing across London venues like the Jazz Café, Club Pigalle and Brixton Jamm, Rose’s energetic sets have frenzied audiences. Sung with striking vocals that attack uncompromisingly and gracefully Rose’s songs sometimes bounce, sometimes swing–and–sway as ‘Superman’ and ‘L.O.V.E.’ exemplify. It has been said often that her style invokes memories of powerful acts like Beyonce; yet the relevance and sweetness she retains, for example, when performing covers of songs like Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’, are reminiscent of Mary J. Blige or Alicia Keys. On vocal ability alone her name can and should eventually find company among such worthy names. What we have here is effectively a new type of pop-singer: She will move hearts and feet but her sincerity should provide a new mantra for popular music – not just a detached entertainment, but a conscientious art-form.