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Joan Armatrading is credited with being the first black female singer-songwriter to gain prominence on the British music scene. She offered a unique take on folk and reggae that was highly influential to artists like Tasmin Archer and Tracy Chapman.
Armatrading began her life on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, but her family soon moved to Birmingham, England where she taught herself to play the piano and guitar. She began her career playing small sets of her own music at local clubs as a teenager, overcoming a daunting case of stage fright.
While she believed her talents fell mostly in songwriting, her voice was good enough to land her a part in the musical Hair in 1970. Also performing in Hair was Pam Nestor -- another island native -- who paired with Armatrading to write music and, eventually, to record demo tapes.The tapes were so popular that the duo signed with London's Cube label, and soon released a collaboration titled Whatever's For Us in 1972.
The album showcased Armatrading's spectacular vocal range and her fluent and pleasant guitar work, and was well-received by critics and fans.But Nestor and Armatrading soon parted ways and Armatrading did not release another album until 1975, when Back to the Night came out on A&M.. 1976's self-titled release became her first commercial success, and she followed that up with 1977's Show Some Emotion and 1978's To the Limit.Throughout this run of albums, Armatrading was quickly building up a devoted fan base, even as she took on controversial projects, like penning a soundtrack to The Wild Geese, a film about mercenaries in South Africa.
As she entered the 1980s, Armatrading began to experiment with a more traditional rock sound. She used her songwriting talents to release new music on a regular basis, including 1980's Me, Myself and I, 1981's Walk Under Ladders, and 1983's The Key.
By the 1990s, some critics began to notice a certain sameness in Armatrading's work, and 1990's Hearts and Flowers and 1992's Square the Circle, were not as well-received. Her latest album was a 1995 RCA Victor offering called What's Inside.
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