Suzie McNeil

All Music Guide:

Canadian-born Suzie McNeil had already enjoyed a diverse and successful career as a musician before she rose to fame in North America as a contestant on the musical reality show Rock Star: INXS, in which she was one of 15 vocalists competing for the chance to become the new lead singer for veteran Australian pop/rock band INXS. McNeil was born in 1976 in Mississauga, Ontario, to a musically inclined family, and began singing as a child with her sister and her mom. McNeil was blessed with a voice that was suited to a wide variety of material, and she put her instrument to good use, supporting herself recording commercial jingles and working as a backup singer while sharing stages with a number of leading Canadian musicians, including Garth Hudson, Jeff Healey, Ronnie Hawkins, and Alan Frew of Glass Tiger. NcNeil also sang with several original groups, including Fourstar and Rounder, though she faced some of her biggest audiences singing with a pair of tribute bands -- AbbaMania, in which she handled the vocal parts originated by Agnetha Faltskog, and Sweetleaf, a Black Sabbath cover act where she wailed like Ozzy Osbourne. In 2005, McNeil, eager to launch her career outside Canada, relocated to Los Angeles for the Rock Star: INXS auditions; McNeil became an audience favorite and made it into the competition's Final Four, but ultimately lost out to J.D. Fortune. However, McNeil did made a guest appearance on the album INXS subsequently recorded with Fortune, Switch, and her exposure on the show led to a tour as a backup singer for Pink and a vocal cameo on Clay Aiken's album A Thousand Different Ways, dueting with the American Idol star on the Foreigner chestnut "I Want to Know What Love Is." In the spring of 2007, McNeil released her first solo album, Broken and Beautiful, which appeared in stores as she was appearing in the Toronto production of We Will Rock You, a musical adapted from the songs of the legendary British rock group Queen.

Wikipedia:

Susan Jane "Suzie" McNeil is a Canadian (Toronto-based) pop rock recording artist.

Biography [edit]

Early life [edit]

Suzie McNeil was born Susan Jane McNeil on October 15th, 1976 in Mississauga, Ontario. She has two sisters, Laura Norris and Sarah McNeil, and a brother, Andrew McNeil.

Career [edit]

2006-2009: Career beginnings, Broken & Beautiful and Rock-N-Roller [edit]

In January 2006, McNeil moved to Los Angeles, to develop her music career. On January 26, 2006 she announced plans to record her first CD with Executive Producer John Kalodner and Producer Marti Frederiksen. In the summer of 2006, McNeil performed as a backup singer for Pink on her North American tour.

McNeil's first single, "Believe" was featured on NBC's promo for "The Biggest Loser" reality weight-loss show as well as throughout season four of Beauty and the Geek. The song was exclusively debuted by "King Ben's Injection of Perfection" in Sydney on September 9, 2006, to positive reaction. The single was also used to raise funds for Own the Podium at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Her debut studio album, Broken & Beautiful, was released on April 10, 2007. McNeil also appears on Matt Nathanson's album Some Mad Hope. She sings background vocals on the songs "Sooner Surrender" and "Bulletproof Weeks." She also appears on Clay Aiken's album A Thousand Different Ways as guest vocalist on "I Want to Know What Love Is", a cover of the Foreigner song.

McNeil's single "Hung Up" has gained significant radio airplay, especially in Canada. The music video was released to MuchMoreMusic on the week of February 19, 2007 and was uploaded to YouTube on February 10, 2007.

McNeil appeared as the character Oz in the Canadian production of "We Will Rock You" at the Canon Theater in Toronto until August 1, 2007.

McNeil has sung several versions of Marineland ad jingles.

In May 2008, McNeil released her third music video, "Lonely (Are You Coming Home?)".

McNeil held a contest for all of her fans across Canada to sing her hit single "Believe" and post it on her website and viewers would vote for who shall win.

McNeil was one of the judges on the first four seasons of the children's Canadian reality TV show, The Next Star, on YTV, which premiered on July 18, 2008. She also recorded the theme song for the show, "Let's Go", and performed it on the show's first season finale at Canada's Wonderland in Toronto on September 28, 2008.

It was announced on October 13, 2008 during the Montreal Alouettes and Calgary Stampeders football game, that she would be one of the musical acts to play during 96th Grey Cup halftime show along with Theory Of A Deadman and Andrée Watters. The Grey Cup aired live on November 23, 2008.

On November 4, 2008, McNeil released her second solo album Rock-n-Roller which featured her latest Top 20 hit "Let's Go". Re-released as a deluxe edition in 2009, Rock n Roller: Reloaded spawned two singles, Supergirl and Help Me Out.

On March 28, 2009, McNeil headlined a concert held at Nathan Philips Square in Toronto to celebrate WWF's Earth Hour.

McNeil appears in commercials for Thrive lozenges to help quit smoking.

McNeil's song "Believe" was originally recorded and released on her debut CD, Broken & Beautiful. The Olympic inspired video for "Believe" was recorded with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and released on September 17, 2007. The video stars Canadian Olympians Steve Omischl (freestyle skiing - aerials), Joannie Rochette (figure skating), and Clara Hughes (speed skating).

McNeil appeared on Canadian Idol winner Brian Melo's second album The Truth.

2010-present: Dear Love [edit]

McNeil began the "Dear Love" era in November 2010 releasing the first video "Drama Queen Intervention 1" via. her YouTube account. It was then later, McNeil released the "Drama Queen" lyric video following the iTunes release date in February 2011 and the official music video release on March 17.

Nearly five months later in July 2011, McNeil released the "Merry Go Round" lyric video via. her YouTube account once again following iTunes release and the official music video release on December 2. McNeil has performed in many venues with tracks from the third-coming album, Dear Love.

On June 12, McNeil tweeted a photo of the official tracklisting of the upcoming third studio album Dear Love, released August 7, 2012. The following tracklisting is below. On June 25, McNeil revealed the official release date as well as the official album cover in a video on her YouTube channel. The official release date (for iTunes and in-stores) is August 7, 2012 with pre-sales beginning July 24 along with a promo tour throughout Canada.

During the promo tour, McNeil officially confirmed "Love Can't Save Us Now" as the official third single from the album Dear Love. Official release date for the single and music video are yet to be announced.