Alannah Myles

Alannah Myles was born in Toronto, Ontario. She is the daughter of Bill Myles, a pioneer in Canadian broadcasting. Her first album, Eponymous, was released in 1988. The song "Black Velvet," from that album, became a worldwide hit in 1990. She began performing in southern Ontario at the age of 16. It was during this time that she met Christopher Ward, a songwriter who encouraged her to form her own band. After forming her own band, she performed covers of songs by Aretha Franklin, T. Rex, AC/DC, Bob Seger, Anne Peebles, the Rolling Stones, and the Pretenders. She then teamed up with David Tyson to produce her first album, Alannah Myles. She also starred in the television series The Kids of Degrassi Street with David Tyson in 1984. In the series, she played a hopeful singer and single mother. Her album Alannah Myles was released in 1989. Her second album, Rockinghorse, was released in 1992. The songs on her second album earned her a Grammy Award nomination and she also won three Juno Awards for the album.