Wendy Starland Musical artist
Wendy Starland (born February 9, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer and musician. Starland was discovered at a concert held by Maceo Parker who noticed her singing along with many of his numbers. Parker brought Starland onstage to perform; the performance received a standing ovation. Since then, her music, videos and image have been used in musical genres and advertising media. As of 2008 she was a spokesperson and model for the print and television campaign for the US$300 million clothing line, Boy Meets Girl. Major awards and recognition include her being named as "VH1's Best Emerging Artist" and "Best Emerging Songwriter" by the Songwriters Hall of Fame for her top 10 hit Dancing With The Sea. Her self-written & produced single was released in Europe on a Universal Music Group compilation alongside artists Norah Jones, Feist, and Edie Brickell. Her song landed at number eight on the charts, giving her the opportunity to tour Europe. She is a featured lead vocalist on Moby's Grammy nominated album, Last Night, which went to number one on the Billboard charts. Wendy Starland discovered Lady Gaga and landed her a production deal with producer Rob Fusari that resulted in Gaga signing major label record and publishing deals. Starland and Lady Gaga have written songs together. Though her musical style places her in the pop and smooth jazz categories, her writing style encompasses rhythm and blues and rap, including music for Def Jam stars Capone and Wu Tang Clan. Starland collaborated with legends and Grammy winners for her upcoming album: Stephen Bishop (musician), Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, Arturo O'Farrill, Vivek Maddala, Oz Noy, and the A.C.O. Val Vibrata Symphony Orchestra in Abruzzo, Italy, conducted by Luisella Chiarini. Starland's original work may be heard in Swipe with Forrest Whitaker and The Rules featuring The Jerky Boys. She composed the entire two-hour score for an HBO documentary, Sample Sale. Other original songs used in visual media include Stolen Love, written in memory of ten friends and loved ones lost in the September 11, 2001 attacks as well as on MTV; another is Garden of Temptation, featured in promotional advertising for the NBC primetime series, Las Vegas. Starland is also an experienced backup singer, having performed with multi-platinum Grammy winner, Michael Bolton, and appearing with him on the CBS morning series, The Early Show. Starland has opened for Sean Paul, Grandmaster Flash, Shawn Colvin, Fishbone, The English Beat, Michael Posner (musician), and Jonatha Brooke and Lucy Woodward. Starland's single, Dancing With The Sea, reached a high of number eight on the charts within two weeks of its release and was twice featured on the ABC-TV daytime talk show, Live with Regis and Kelly. She was the recipient for "Best Song" at the Independent Music Awards and was featured on Season 5 Episode 1 of MTV's hit series The Hills. Recent projects include a song for the NBC series Hawaii. VH1 has also licensed five of her songs for use in their programming. Her new album, Garden Of Temptation, will be released on Give Back Entertainment/Universal Music in 2011.