Kingsbury singer signed to Motown by R&B artist Ne-Yo thanks to Facebook
Sonna Rele with Ne-Yo - Credit: Archant
Sonna Rele was discovered by American artist on social networking site
Sonna Rele has been signed to Motown - Credit: Archant
A musician from Kingsbury has been thrown into the show business limelight overnight after R&B artist Ne-Yo discovered her online and offered her a record deal with Motown live on stage.
Sonna Rele, was noticed by the Grammy award winning artist after he saw uploads to her Facebook page, Music Mondays, where she performs requests for fans.
The 25-year-old says her manager was then called by the man himself, who insisted that she perform at his gig in Chelsea after watching one of the videos.
After performing one of her original tracks Matter of Time, he then offered her a deal live on stage in front of a sell out crowd of screaming fans.
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He will now be taking her to Los Angeles (LA) to start work on an album imminently.
Miss Rele told the Times it was a “priceless moment.”
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She said: “He said I’m not going let you go and offered me deal then and there.
“I thought my performance was over but he pulled me back and announced this in front of everyone- I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”
Miss Rele will also be performing a set on stage at Ne-Yo’s gig at the O2 arena this Friday before heading to LA.
“It just feels so surreal, I’ve seen how someone can instantly have their life turned around and it’s amazing to experience that first hand. It’s all happening so quickly” – she said.
A former student of Fryent Primary School and Kingsbury High School, Miss Rele started singing and making music aged 15 after taking inspiration from her parents and brother.
Her fan page on Facebook increased from a following of around 400 to more than 8,000 following last week’s announcement. She said: “It [Music Mondays] started out as just a weekly thing I did to cheer people up on a Monday but I’m definitely going to keep it going as I want to stay true to where it started.”
Beautiful Monster artist Ne-Yo, is vice-president of Universal Motown, the label Michael Jackson was signed to and he revealed he also wanted to sign Justin Bieber.
Miss Rele added: “He said he wanted to sign him [Bieber] but missed out and that he wouldn’t make the same mistake with me.”
On making the signing, NE-YO said, “There is a quality about Sonna’s voice that lingers in your ears after she performs a song. Her musicianship, which caught my attention via her ‘Music Monday’ videos on Facebook, is refreshing and undeniably authentic.”
To see Sonna’s Facebook page go to www.facebook.com/sonnarelemusic
