Alannah Myles

Alannah Myles (née Byles; born December 25, 1958) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has won both a Grammy and a Juno Award for the song "Black Velvet". The song was a top-ten hit in Canada and a number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1990.

Myles was born Alannah Byles on Christmas Day, 1958 in Toronto, Ontario. She is the daughter of William Douglas Byles, a pioneer in the Canadian broadcasting industry who was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1997. She is the second of five children. Raised by her parents in Ontario, Myles spent her childhood composing and learning music. Myles began writing songs around age 9 and performed in a songwriting group for the Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto at age 12.

At the age of 18, she began performing solo gigs in southern Ontario, eventually meeting Christopher Ward, a recording artist and songwriter with Warner Music Group. With Ward's help, she formed her own band and performed cover versions of rock and blues songs while polishing her own material.

Myles changed her surname from Byles at the age of 19 after deciding to pursue a career in entertainment. Appearances in TV commercials paid for music demos that led to numerous rejections in Canada until she recorded masters for three songs; "Who Loves You" and a video demo for "Just One Kiss", directed by photographer Deborah Samuel. With matched financing from her songwriting collaborator, MuchMusic (City TV) and program director Christopher Ward, she signed her first record contract with Atlantic Records in 1987.

Myles was featured in several TV and film productions as a guest host and actor prior to becoming a recording artist. She appeared in a 1984 episode of the television series The Kids of Degrassi Street, in which she played the role of an aspiring singer and single mother. In 1989, she appeared in an episode of War of the Worlds, which aired only three weeks after the release of her self-titled debut album.

Myles was a candidate to be the original host of FashionTelevision, as shared by Jeanne Beker on the Reinvention of the VJ podcast, hosted by Erica Ehm. Beker suggested that Ward was lobbying for Myles to get the role on the new TV program. Beker would eventually become the program's first host.

In late 1987, Warner Music Canada's director of artists and repertoire (A&R), Bob Roper, sent Myles's three-song video package to all of Warner Music Group's US affiliates, which garnered a contract for seven or eight years from Atlantic Records (WMG), given by head of A&R Tunc Erim and Atlantic label founder Ahmet Ertegun. Myles left her acting career and co-wrote and recorded the remainder of her first album with Christopher Ward and producer David Tyson.

In May 1989, Warner Music in Canada released Alannah Myles, which produced four Top 40 hits, including "Love Is", "Lover Of Mine", "Still Got This Thing" and her number-one song, "Black Velvet". It was ineligible for Grammy nominations until the early 1990 US single release "Black Velvet" became a number-one hit, claiming ASCAP's most played song on radio for 1989 and 1990. By 2005, it had received ASCAP Millionaire Award for over four million radio airplays. "Black Velvet" won Myles the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance in 1991 and three Juno Awards. The album was the first debut album from a Canadian artist to be certified Diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association for sales of over one million units, and was reported to have sold more than six million copies internationally.