About India.Arie
India Arie Simpson is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Acoustic Soul, was released in 2001, and she has since released six more studio albums. Arie has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide, and has won four Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album.
India was born in Denver, the daughter of Joyce and Ralph Simpson. Her musical skills were encouraged by both parents in her younger years. Her mother is a former singer and is now her stylist. She has an older brother named J'On and younger sister Mary A Martin of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Arie is African-American, and according to a DNA analysis, she descends from the Mende people of Sierra Leone, the Kru people of Liberia and the Fula people of Guinea-Bissau.
After Simpson's parents divorced, her mother moved the family to Atlanta when India was 13. Simpson had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver. But her interest in the guitar, while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing. "When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better. It was a direct result of writing songs", she said at the press release of her debut album, Acoustic Soul.
Co-founding the Atlanta-based independent music collective Government Earthseed , her one-song turn on a locally released compilation led to a second-stage gig at the 1998 Lilith Fair. In 1999, a Universal/Motown music scout signed her and made an introduction to former Motown CEO Kedar Massenburg. Arie resided in New York City for over a decade, before moving back to Atlanta to focus on her career and music. .
Named to Oprah Winfrey's SuperSoul100 list of visionaries and influential leaders, India.Arie performed Songversation during 2017 motivational cruises.
Arie released her debut album Acoustic Soul on March 27, 2001. The album was met with positive reviews and commercial success. Acoustic Soul debuted at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Within months, without the concentrated radio airplay that typically powers pop and rap albums, Acoustic Soul was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America , selling 2,180,000 copies in the U.S. and 3,000,000 copies worldwide. The album was also certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry and platinum by Music Canada. The album was promoted with the release of the lead single "Video". "Video" attained commercial success peaking at 47 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and becoming her highest-charting song in the region to date. The album's second single "Brown Skin" failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but it became her highest-charting single in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 29.
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