Alannah Myles

Biography

Alannah Myles (born Alannah Byles on December 25, 1958) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter. She was born in Toronto, Ontario, to broadcasting pioneer William Douglas Byles. Growing up, she learned to play the guitar at age 11 and began writing songs at 15. At 19, she changed her last name to Myles and began performing professionally in Southern Ontario.

Career Breakthrough and "Black Velvet"

After years of performing in clubs and facing rejections from Canadian record labels, Myles, along with her collaborator Christopher Ward, secured a record deal with Atlantic Records in 1988. Her self-titled debut album, Alannah Myles, was released in 1989 and became the best-selling debut album in Canadian history, selling over a million copies. The album featured the blues and rock-infused song "Black Velvet," which became a massive international hit in 1990. The song, a tribute to Elvis Presley, topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and was a top-ten hit in Canada. "Black Velvet" earned Myles a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance in 1991 and a Juno Award for Single of the Year in 1990.

Subsequent Career

Myles's second album, Rockinghorse (1992), achieved double-platinum status in Canada and included the No. 1 hit "Song Instead of a Kiss". The album earned her another Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. She went on to release several more albums, including A-lan-nah (1995) and A Rival (1997). In 2008, she released Black Velvet, which featured a re-recording of her iconic hit along with new material. She later retitled and re-released this album as 85 BPM in 2014.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Alannah Myles (1989)
• Rockinghorse (1992)
• A-lan-nah (1995)
• Arival (1997)
• Black Velvet (2008)
• 85 BPM (2014)

Awards and Recognition

Throughout her career, Alannah Myles has received numerous awards. Her most significant accolades include a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance for "Black Velvet". She has also won several Juno Awards, including Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for her debut, and Single of the Year for "Black Velvet". The song "Black Velvet" also received the SOCAN Classics award in 2004 for exceeding 100,000 plays on Canadian radio.