LaGaylia Frazier

Official Biography (courtesy of LaGaylia Frazier)

LaGaylia Frazier moved to Sweden as late as 2001. But she has already done most of the things  many Swedish artists only dream about. She has participated in the extremely popular Melodifestivalen (European Song Contest qualification show) twice. She has toured the whole country with Rhapsody in Rock. She has performed at Crown Princess Victoria's official birthday celebration. She has played leading roles in successful musicals. And she has done innumerable TV performances. But that might just be the start. In 2013 LaGaylia Frazier will release new material, returning to the soul and funk music she loves.

LaGaylia's story started in a musical family in Miami, USA. Father Hal Frazier was a great singer and entertainer, from the golden era of tuxedo styled show business. (LaGaylia and Hal has actually performed together, at the 2011 Stockholm Jazz Festival.) From the age of five LaGaylia was learning to play the piano, but as a teenager she decided singing was her thing. Which proved to be a great choice. Her positive energy and dynamic voice has made her a versatile and beloved artist, who is always trying to progress.

With plenty of club gigs and a few local radio hits she slowly built up a reputation in Florida, and   caught the attention of legendary manager Eliot Weisman – who also managed artists like Liza Minelli, Sammy Davis JR and Frank Sinatra. Soon she could be seen on the big screen, as a singer in The Specialist with Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone (1994). A remix of the soundtrack song Shower Me With Love reached #12 on the US Billboard’s Dance Chart.

In 1999 LaGaylia started her journey towards Sweden, when her present manager Marie Shröder  happened to see one of her shows in Fort Lauderdale. And LaGaylia made such an impression that Marie booked her for a gig in Sweden, where the unknown singer stole the show. Performing that night was also Swedish pianist Robert Wells, who booked LaGaylia for his upcoming Rhapsody in Rock tour, which featured some of Swedens biggest artists and toured every part of the country – as well as Norway, Denmark, Finland and The Royal Albert Hall in London.

- It was a tremendous experience.....I had never done a " tour" before, and doing one of that size and magnitude to audiences that sat in the rain for four hours......I didn't really get it until I started seeing my picture in the papers. Sweden is a small country but they love big and strong, LaGaylia describes the experience.

And from that on she was a highly demanded performer in Sweden. In 2002 she performed at the Polar Music Prize where she sang Aretha Franklin’s Respect to Miriam Makeba who was that year’s recipient. In 2003 she debuted as a musical artist  at Malmö Opera- & Musikteater  as  Anita in West Side Story. In 2004 and 2005 she competed in Melodifestivalen.

Her debut album LaGaylia Uncovered was released in 2007 on her own label TBG (That Black Girl). In 2008 she won the annual Baltic Music Festival with her song Over and Over Again.

Since 2010 she's been working alongside jazz pianist Jan Lundgren,  a collaboration gaining international attention.  British jazz magazine Jazz Journal was extatic after a show in 2011: ”…the audience was enchanted by her enormous vocal range, agile phrasing, fearsome soul-jazz power and dynamic physical performance”.

LaGaylia is also very involved in charity, and is an ambassador for swedish charity organization Star of Hope.

2013 is an important year for LaGaylia Frazier, with the release of her That Girl EP, where she returns to the music she loves the most: Raw soul and hard hitting funk.