About Nikka Costa
Domenica "Nikka" Costa is an American singer whose music combines elements of pop, soul, and blues. She also had a career as a child singer starting in the early 1980s. She is the daughter of music producer Don Costa.
Nikka Costa was born in Tokyo, Japan to Italian-American parents. She was musically-inspired from childhood, often surrounded by famous and talented artists as she traveled the world with her father, the well-known producer and musician Don Costa.
At age five, Nikka recorded a single with Hawaiian singer Don Ho. In early 1981, two Italian producers, Danny B. Besquet and Tony Renis, were working with her father on his album Don Costa Plays the Beatles when they were inspired to record an album featuring Nikka's vocals, with her father accompanying on guitar. The album would go on to be well-received in Europe, and Costa became known as a child star. At age 9, Costa sang with Frank Sinatra in an appearance on the lawn of the White House.
In 1981, Costa's career as a primary recording artist began when she recorded the song " On My Own" , featuring her father Don Costa. The single reached No. 72 in Germany, No. 7 in Switzerland, No. 32 in the Netherlands, No. 13 in the Flanders region of Belgium., and No. 1 in Italy. The album Nikka Costa was released, outside of the U.S., in 1981. Costa would subsequently tour the world. Her second album, Fairy Tales , was released in 1983. Don Costa died of a heart attack shortly after the album was recorded. The pop album Here I Am... Yes, It's Me was released to fulfill a contractual obligation in 1989.
After graduating from high school, Costa decided to move away from pop music and towards R&B, funk and soul, being especially influenced by Motown artists.
In the early 1990s, while already a music business veteran, Costa transitioned away from her childhood of pop music to a more mature soul style. She married Australian producer/songwriter Justin Stanley and moved to his home country; the couple would eventually have a daughter named Sugar McQueen. While in Australia, Costa began writing songs and formed a "happy funk" band called Little Mona & the Shag Daddies, which broke up after four gigs in Sydney.
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