Lil Suzy
Suzanne Casale Melone (born March 1, 1979), better known as Lil Suzy, is an Italian-American freestyle/pop singer.[1][2] Lil Suzy is known for her hits "Take Me in Your Arms" (known in Brazil as the Meller's little princess), "Promise Me" and "Can't Get You Out of My Mind" and is a singer and songwriter who was very influential in the freestyle in the early 1990s.
Lil Suzy | |
---|---|
Birth name | Suzanne Casale Melone |
Born | Brooklyn, New York, United States | March 1, 1979
Genres | Freestyle, dance-pop, eurodance |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 1987–present |
History
Lil Suzy was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States on March 1, 1979. She began her career at the age of five years, to be discovered by an agent while singing in Manhattan Beach, California, doing covers of singers like Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna. Then she started doing shows for openings Thelma Houston and Village People.[3]
At the age of 8 years, Suzy got her first contract with a record company, Fever Records, and in 1988 she released her first single, "Randy".
At age 12 she joined the label Warlock Records, and Tony Garcia as a producer, and released her first studio album called Love Can't Wait. The first single released, "Take Me in Your Arms", became her most popular song. Another single, "Falling in Love", was released in 1992.
In early 1994, her second album, Back to Dance produced by Tony Garcia, was released. The only single, "Turn the Beat Around", released in late 1993, did not achieve success. Due to the limited success of the album, Lil Suzy left her label and eventually became president of her own record label, Empress Records.[4]
In April 1995, Lil released her third album, Life Goes On. This album is significant for showing a new musical style geared more for Eurodance. It contains four singles, with the first being "Promise Me", which reached No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1997, Lil Suzy released her fourth studio album and the last to contain new songs, Paradise, with four singles, and Can't Get You Out of My Mind the most popular one. It also contains the participation of the singer Crystal Waters, on the track "Lost Love Letter". This album contains a cover of the Netzwerk song, "Memories".
In 1999, The MegaMix was released, a compilation of old hits and also new remixes.
On 2 October 2000, she opened a beauty salon in Staten Island.[5]
In 2002, The Greatest Hits, a compilation of her greatest hits rerecorded was released. In the same year, together with Collage, she released the single "Don't You Want Me", exclusively for the German market. The single is a cover of the song by The Human League.[4]
In 2009, Lil Suzy released a new song called "Dance Tonight", available exclusively for download on iTunes.
Career
Lil Suzy is regarded as one of the top freestyle singers and was best known for the club hit "Take Me in Your Arms" (written by John Romano and Julian Hernandez), which charted at No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992 (when she was 13 years old) and was named Billboard magazine's Best New Dance Artist that year, making her the youngest artist ever to receive the honor.[6]
She first came to public attention in 1987 when she was just 8 years old, with the release of her debut single "Randy", a feisty freestyle love song.
On October 2, 2000, she opened a nail salon in Staten Island.[7] In November 20 of that same year, Lil Suzy released a Greatest Hits album that included re-recorded versions of most of her singles.[8]
She toured with Lisette Melendez and Angel Mercado, the original lead singer of the girl group The Cover Girls as a trio, created by Latif Mercado of La' Entertainment called S.A.L. (Suzy, Angel, Lisette) Latif is also the Manager of Lil Suzy and Angel as well as Angel's husband. Lil Suzy has also toured with Amber, and the now disbanded electronic group, Prophecy Collective.
Discography
Studio albums
Year | Album details |
---|---|
1991 | Love Can't Wait
|
1994 | Back to Dance
|
1995 | Life Goes On
|
1997 | Paradise
|
Compilation albums
Year | Album details |
---|---|
1999 | The MegaMix
|
2002 | The Greatest Hits
|
Singles
Year | Single | Peak positions[9] | Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Hot 100 |
US Rhythmic Top 40 |
US Maxi-singles Sales | |||
1988 | "Randy" | - | - | - | 12" single |
1991 | "Take Me in Your Arms" | 67 | - | - | Love Can't Wait |
1992 | "Falling in Love" | - | - | - | |
1993 | "Turn the Beat Around" | - | - | - | Back to Dance |
1994 | "Promise Me" | 62 | 17 | 26 | Life Goes On |
1995 | "Now & Forever" | - | - | - | |
"When I Fall in Love" | - | - | - | ||
1996 | "Just Can't Get Over You" | - | - | - | |
1997 | "Can't Get You Out of My Mind" | 79 | - | 14 | Paradise |
Memories | - | - | - | ||
1998 | "I Still Love You" | 94 | - | 32 | |
1999 | "You're the Only One" | - | - | - | The MegaMix |
2002 | "Don't You Want Me" | - | - | - | CD single |
2009 | "Dance Tonight" | - | - | - | Digital download |
Video clips
Year | Single |
---|---|
1991 | "Take Me in Your Arms" |
1993 | "Turn the Beat Around" |
1995 | "When I Fall in Love" |
Other songs
- 1996 - "Suzanna", Collage with the participation of Lil Suzy, released the compilation Metropolitan Freestyle Extravaganza Volume 7
- 1997 - "Runaway", released on the CD Dance Trip 2000
- 1999 - "He's All I Want for Christmas / Letter to Santa", released on the CD Freestyle X-Mas
- 1999 - "All I Want ", Collage with the participation of Lil Suzy, released on the CD Chapter II: 1999.
- 2001 - "From the Inside", distributed promotionally.
- 2001 - "Just a Freak" Lil Suzy involving Stephanie, unreleased track.
- 2002 - "Treat Me Right", originally recorded in 2001, was released on the CD Euro Freestyle Invasion.
- 2002 - "You'll See", an unreleased track.
- 2003 - "I Still Cry", originally recorded in 2002, was released on the CD Euro Freestyle Invasion II.
- 2004 - "I'm in Love", an unreleased track.
- 2005 - "Walls of Love", an unreleased track.
References
- "Lil Suzy". Last FM. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
- Busk, Celeste (January 9, 1995). "Dreams Coming True for Lil Suzy". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
- "Update: CBB Exclusive: Freestyle singer Lil' Suzy is all grown up – Moms & Babies – Moms & Babies - People.com". Celebritybabies.people.com. 2007-10-25. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- "Lil Suzy's Paradise: The Official Website of Lil Suzy: Lil Suzy's Biography". Lilsuzysparadise.blogspot.com.br. 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- "Lil Suzy Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- "Lil Suzy - Biography". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
- "Lil Suzy". Danceartistinfo.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- "iTunes - Music - Lil Suzy: The Greatest Hits by Lil Suzy". Itunes.apple.com. 2005-09-01. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- Jason Ankeny (1979-03-01). "Lil Suzy | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-09-29.