About Ledisi
Ledisi Anibade Young , better known simply as Ledisi, is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, author, and actress. Her name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba.
In 1995, Ledisi formed a band after her middle name Anibade. After unsuccessfully trying to get signed to a major label, she formed LeSun Music with musician Sundra Manning. She released her debut album Soulsinger , which featured the single "Take Time", which gained substantial airplay from San Francisco area radio stations. In 2002, Ledisi released her second album, Feeling Orange but Sometimes Blue, which won "Outstanding Jazz Album" at the California Music Awards in 2003. In 2006, Ledisi signed a record deal with Verve Forecast and released her third album, titled Lost & Found . The album earned her two Grammy nominations, including one for Best New Artist. She released six more albums on Verve: It's Christmas , Turn Me Loose , Pieces of Me , The Truth , The Intimate Truth , and Let Love Rule .
In 2020, Ledisi formed her own record label Listen Back Entertainment and released her album The Wild Card. The album's single "Anything for You" won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. She released three more albums on her label including Ledisi Live at The Troubadour , Ledisi Sings Nina , and Good Life .
Aside from music, Ledisi has embarked a career in film and television as an actress. She portrayed gospel icon Mahalia Jackson in the films Selma and Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story . Other roles include a guest appearance as Patti LaBelle in the BET docudrama American Soul, a cameo appearance as a choir member in the FX drama Pose , as well as co-starring as Gladys Knight in the film Spinning Gold . She is also starred in her first Hallmark original movie All Saints Christmas .
Ledisi Anibade Young was born on March 28, 1972, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Nyra Dynese Young, a singer-songwriter in local band Coronava, and Larry Saunders, a 1970s singer and musician. Saunders departed from the family when Ledisi was a baby. Her mother remarried to a drummer named Joseph Pierce III, who adopted Ledisi after the marriage. She has an elder sister Shannon, and a younger sister. Ledisi's biological paternal grandfather, Johnny Ace, was an American blues singer who was known for his single "Pledging My Love".
Ledisi was raised Catholic and attended local churches in New Orleans. Her mother was raised Baptist. At the age of eight, she performed publicly with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. At age thirteen, her family relocated to Oakland, California where she went to Edna Brewer Middle School, formerly McChesney Junior High School. She later enrolled in Skyline High School where she graduated in 1990.
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