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Liz Mitchell |
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Singer, Recording Artist
The Lead Voice of Boney M |
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Born |
Elizabeth Rebecca Mitchell
July 12, 1952
Clarendon, Jamaica |
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Liz Mitchell, the lead singer of 1970's
disco band Boney M, was born in Jamaica and
came to England at the age of eleven. When
asked how she felt about the move from
Jamaica to England she said, 'In my
daydreams I saw beautiful big white houses
with perfect green lawns and trees that were
green and shaded, as it was in Jamaica. But
arriving in England I was deeply
disappointed; everything was grey, foggy and
wet!' |
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Liz eventually adapted to her new life in
England, setting up a vocal group, 'The
Sensational Chandeleers' with school friends
Janet, Velma, Collette and Diana. Their
performances were mainly at parties and
schools. |
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Liz first realized that she got people's
attention with her singing when she
harmonized with Sam Cooke playing on the
juke box in a coffee shop owned by her
parents in North West London. A customer
heard her and asked if she could do some
backing vocals for him at an audition he was
doing. |
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Liz was noticed by the interviewer/agent at
the auditions and was also offered a chance
to audition for the show. Her Mum said she
was too young to perform and wouldn't grant
permission for Liz to go forward with these
plans. So after finishing school, Liz went
to a technical college to study secretarial
work going on to work as a secretary in a
food company in central London. |
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The agent didn't give up on Liz and the
strangest thing happened. In 1970, after
three years, Liz received a call from the
same agent (June Baden-Semper of the Pearl
Conner agency). June rang her at home and
asked if she was ready to sing
professionally. Liz jumped at the offer and
auditioned for a leading role in the musical
'Hair' which was due to tour in both Germany
and England. Liz's talent shone through and
she was offered roles in both productions. A
girl in her neighborhood, Jennifer, with
whom Liz was friendly, was also to perform
in the same show in Berlin. Liz opted to
accompany Jennifer and went on tour with the
Berlin cast. Once in Berlin she took over
Donna Summer's part in 'Hair'. The role was
that of 'Donna'. |
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Shortly after that Liz Mitchell joined The
Les Humphries Singers with huge hits like
"To My Fathers House" "Mama Loo" and
"Mexico". In 1974 Liz and lead
singer/boyfriend Malcolm Magaron left The
Les Humphries Singers to start their own
group Malcolm Locks to record the album
"Caribbean Rock". Unfortunately it was not
very successful, as Germany was not ready
for reggae at that time. |
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Though supported by many of her German
friends, Liz decided to move back to England
and continue with her education. It was in
this period where Liz developed her faith
and belief in God. |
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Then in 1975 Liz Mitchell was offered to
become the lead singer of a new German group
produced by Frank Farian; Boney M. |
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Being the lead singer of Boney M., Liz
Mitchell reached the top of the worlds pop
charts with a string of timeless and
legendary hits like "Daddy Cool", "Sunny",
"Rivers Of Babylon", "Brown Girl In The
Ring", "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord", "El
Lute", "I'm Born Again" and "Hooray!
Hooray!" and golden and platinum albums like
"Take The Heat Off Me"('76), "Love For Sale"
(1977), "Nightflight To Venus" (’78),
"Oceans Of Fantasy" (1979), "The Magic Of
Boney M." (1980), "Boonoonoonoos" (1981) and
the beautiful "Christmas Album" (1981). It
was on Liz's demand that each Boney M. album
included at least one Inspirational song.
With hits like "Mary's Boy Child",
"Motherless Child", "I'm Born Again" and
"Rivers Of Babylon" Liz Mitchell and Boney
M. introduced Inspirational music to a
crossover pop audience. As lead singer of
Boney M., Liz Mitchell was part of one of
the most successful groups in the history of
pop music, which earned them a place in the
Guinness Book Of Records. |
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After 10 record-breaking years with many
hits and successful tours all over the world
Boney M. finally split in 1986. |
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In the late 1980's, shortly after a Boney M.
reunion remix album with Stock, Aitken &
Waterman, Liz Mitchell started her solo
career with her first solo album “No One
Will Force You” which was released in
France, Spain, Benelux, Scandinavia and
South Africa. In the early 1990's Liz
Mitchell was asked as only original member
to promote the Boney M. compilations "Gold"
and "More Gold" (which included 4 brand-new
tracks recorded by Liz Mitchell and Frank
Farian) with a new line up of Boney M. This
made Boney M. being a group being successful
and visible in the music charts during the
1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s. This new line up,
Boney M. feat. Liz Mitchell (Liz Mitchell,
Carol Grey, Patricia Lona Foster and Tony
"Tony Tony" Ashcroft) is still today one of
the worlds most popular live acts with
successful tours all over the world. |
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Several solo Liz Mitchell recordings
followed during the 1990's including the
acclaimed Inspirational album "A Christmas
Rose" in 2000, released on Dove House
Records. This album also included the Liz
Mitchell penned song “I Want To Go To
Heaven”, which gained airplay on Gospel and
Christian radio and TV channels. |
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Religion is a central part of Liz's life,
and she has a strong and true belief in God.
Liz has always expressed these sensitive
beliefs and strongly supported her spiritual
values. It is possible that some may
question the Godly belief that Liz has,
having sung songs like "Love For Sale" and
"Daddy Cool" and one may also question the
very famous sleeve of the second Boney M
album. As it is God that Liz believes in and
not the title of a religion one cannot look
at the surface to judge one’s soul.
Therefore, her trust remains in God. |
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As the singer of "Rivers of Babylon" and
"Mary's Boy Child", Liz is convinced that
the old Jamaican traditionals, with lyrics
straight from the Bible, became so huge
because of the truth that lies in the songs
and because everybody can relate to them. |
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Liz Mitchell's album "Let It Be", released
on Dove House Records, is Liz's most
Inspirational album to date and stands out
because of it's great songs, a wonderful,
warm and open production, a beautiful cover,
and Liz’s powerful voice which sounds better
than ever. |
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In 2005 Liz Mitchell released her 5th solo
album entitled "Liz Mitchell Sings The Hits
Of Boney M." on Dove House Records/Popron
Music. On this brand-new album Liz Mitchell
pays tribute to some of the greatest songs
of the group that made her famous. But the
songs aren’t simply re-recordings of the old
hits; all the songs are recorded with the
Czech Orchestra in new arrangements. |
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Bio by
Casper Janssen |
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Liz Mitchell
Official Web Site :
http://www.lizmitchell.com/ |
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Fan Web Site :
http://www.lizmitchellfanclub.com/ |
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