ArtistInfo

Dominique Atkins

voc, GB
Singer of Dance
A.k.a. Dominique Claire Atkins Ursula (4)

Dominique Atkins was born in the Middle East and raised in South London where she cut her musical teeth on the classic jazz she heard from her father, a jazz trumpeter on the London pub scene. She counts among her earliest influences such jazz greats as Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae and Sarah Vaughn, and incorporated much of their rich and resonant styles when she began performing ballads in local niteries at the tender age of 13. It was only when she left home, striking out on her own to pursue her musical dreams, that Grace began to experience, for the first time, the seductive sounds of contempoary rock, soul and dance music. By that time, Grace had begun to write her own material, bringing together her diverse strains of creative inspiration, while working a variety of odd jobs to keep body and soul together. "I've been a dishwasher, waitress, receptionist," she confides, "but I always comforted myself that I was doing research for songs. I couldn't just sit in my bedroom and write." It was in 1995 that she first crossed paths with Oakenfold and Osbourne, who were on the lookout for a fresh young talent to both write and perform on a new dance music project they had in mind. The creative fit was perfect and before long, the trio, now known simply as Grace, rocketed up the charts with Not Over Yet, a tune that earned them both critical and popular raves. "A massive club hit with a stratosphere-cruising melody," enthused one critic, while another spelled out this recipe for success: "Take one sexy singer and sprinkle with golden Oakenfold and Osbourne dust and you have the winning formula of Grace." Grace ceased to exist in 1997; Paul Oakenfold couldn't combine it with his DJ schedule anymore. Dominique went further with jazz music. In 1999 Sasha & John Digweed made a new mix from the anthem Not Over Yet.

Genres

• Dance
• Electronic
• Pop
• Hip-Hop/Rap

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