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All Music Guide:
Donna De Lory is destined for fame. Best known as a background singer and dancer for Madonna, De Lory has continued to make her presence felt as a soloist and a member of Bliss, the duo that she shares with cellist Cameron Stone. Her second solo single, "Just a Dream," written by Madonna who sang harmony vocals, became a Top Ten dance hit. According to Billboard, "De Lory's waifish vocal presence is an absolute delight and she breathes immeasurable depth into lyrics that read like romantic poems and heartfelt confessionals."
De Lory was born to sing. Her great-grandfather was a professor of music, a violinist and a singer. Her grandfather played upright bass and cello for the Warner Brothers Studio Orchestra. Her mother was a singer and dancer. Her father, Al De Lory, played keyboards on recording sessions for Phil Spector and the Beach Boys and produced albums by Glen Campbell and the Lettermen. Her brother, Alan, is a screenwriter and poet.
At the age of eight, De Lory sang on children's albums for the Walt Disney Studios and was heard on the tune "It's a Small World," featured on a ride at Disneyland and Disney World. She also sang on commercials for McDonald's, Mattel and Eastman Kodak. Although she moved with her father and brother to Nashville at the age of fifteen following the death of her mother from breast cancer, she returned to southern California to pursue a career in music. While she helped to form a band, the Danny Peck Collective, De Lory's greatest break came when Madonna's manager, Pat Leonard, heard her demo tape of her song "Open Your Heart" and hired her to sing and dance on Madonna's Who's That Girl tour in 1987. She subsequently appeared on Madonna's Blonde Ambition tour in 1990. She appeared in Madonna's film Truth or Dare filmed during the Blonde Ambition tour. De Lory toured as a background vocalist for Belinda Carlisle, Julian Lennon, Carly Simon, Carole King, Kim Carnes and Ray Parker, Jr. in 1988. De Lory's self-titled debut solo album, released in 1993, led to comparisons with Kate Bush and Tori Amos. The following year, she formed a band, Bliss, with cellist Cameron Stone. The duo's first album, Love Never Dies, was released on their own label, Dirty Bird, and initially sold only at their concerts. Reissued by the Secret Road label, the album was renamed Bliss (2000) and credited solely to De Lory.
De Lory has sung on the soundtracks of such films as The Exorcist, Rocky, Nothing in Common and A League of Their Own. She was featured on the title track of the film, Three Men and a Little Lady.
Wikipedia:
Donna De Lory is an American singer, dancer and songwriter. Part of a musical family, De Lory has been performing since a young age. Her voice can be heard on albums by Carly Simon, Ray Parker, Jr., Kim Carnes, Santana, Martika, Laura Branigan, Belinda Carlisle, Selena, Bette Midler, Mylène Farmer, Alisha on her album Bounce Back, and Madonna. De Lory accompanied Madonna as backing vocalist and dancer on every concert from the Who's That Girl Tour in 1987, up to the Confessions Tour in 2006. Her performance with Madonna at the Live Earth 2007 concert in London, was their final professional collaboration to date. The 2008 Sticky & Sweet Tour was the first time in more than twenty one years that De Lory has not been a member of Madonna's touring company.
Career[edit]
De Lory's 1993 single "Just A Dream" was written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard. The track was originally recorded by Madonna for her 1989 Like a Prayer album. The original version of this song remains an example of unreleased Madonna songs. De Lory's cover version incorporated backing vocals by Madonna. A number of remixes for this single were released on promotional CD and 12" vinyl. De Lory's version did also manage to reach the United States Hot Dance Club Play chart. It peaked at #71 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1993.
She worked in France to sing and dance for the Mylène Farmer's tour in 1996.
After traveling the globe in support of her self-titled MCA debut, De Lory's pop and world influences took root in her collaboration with cellist, Cameron Stone. Together they formed a musical hybrid and began creating albums such as Bliss and In the Glow.
De Lory's 2004 album, The Lover & The Beloved, was a Sanskrit and English CD released on the Ajna Music label.
The De Lory family is well known in the music industry. Donna is the daughter of musician/record producer/arranger Al De Lory, who played piano, electric organ, and harpsichord on The Beach Boys's Pet Sounds album and was responsible, among other things, for producing Glen Campbell's "golden era" on Capitol Records. In addition he co-wrote the 1960 Billboard Hot 100 #1 novelty hit for Larry Verne, "Mr. Custer." Donna's brother, A.D. DeLory, is also a singer and songwriter.
De Lory performed Elise's theme, "My Destiny", in the 2006 game Sonic the Hedgehog. Her song, "In the Sun" was featured at the end of episode 5 of NBC's drama Life. Her version of Madonna's song, "Papa Don't Preach", appeared in the 2010 film, The Switch.
De Lory's 2008 album was called Sanctuary.
In 2013 Donna announced via her Twitter account that she would be releasing a new album titled 'The Unchanging'. It was released worldwide on iTunes and made #2 on the World Music Album chart. It sees Donna combining her melodic vocals and world music influences but predominanltly singing in English. Her former singing partner Niki Haris also features on one track 'Kinder' along with Tina Malia. The album also includes a reinterpretation of her single 'Praying for Love' and her take on 'Amazing Grace'.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
