Stacie Orrico

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Stacie Joy Orrico (born March 3, 1986) is a Grammy-nominated and Dove Award-winning pop singer, songwriter, and occasional actress.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Stacie Orrico was born in Seattle, Washington to Italian-American parents. Orrico is one of five children: her siblings are Jesse, Rachel, Alicia and Joshua.

[edit] Music career

Orrico got her start in 1998 at the age of 12 by attending a Christian music festival Praise in the Rockies, held in her then-home state of Colorado. Orrico inadvertently entered a high-stakes talent competition, and won. A ForeFront Records executive was on hand and approached her for a record deal (she eventually did sign with them).

Since then, she has released two albums. The first was Genuine (see 2000 in music), created at the young age of fourteen. It sold over 13,000 copies in the first week, the highest debut week sales ever for a female Christian artist. The album produced the hit single "Don't Look At Me" which topped Christian charts for ten consecutive weeks. The album had two #1 hits as well as three more Top Ten singles. Genuine eventually sold 500,000 copies, giving the album Gold certification on just word-of-mouth alone. She also recently has come out with a third album, Beautiful Awakening. A popular song on this album is "I'm Not Missing You."

Her next effort, the more mainstream and titled Stacie Orrico, was released in 2003 and charted in the U.S. Billboard Top 200 (debuting at #67), Australian ARIAnet and the United Kingdom albums charts. The first maintream single from this album was "Stuck", which became a worldwide hit making it into the Top 5 or Top 10 of the majority of the world's charts. This was followed by the single "(There's Gotta Be) More To Life", which also charted and went top 20 in Australia and the UK. "(There's Gotta Be) More To Life" failed to do as well as "Stuck" but still became a hit in many countries. This was then followed by "I Promise" (top 30 in the UK), and the final mainstream single "I Could Be The One" (top 40 in the UK on June 2004). Both singles were given limited releases and limited promotion, and predictably they did not fare as well as the first two singles. The last three singles were only released to Christian radio in addition to "Strong Enough", which reached #1 as the CD's very first single. Stacie Orrico sold over 500,000 copies in the U.S., also good for Gold certification. The album also sold 600,000 in Japan and an estimated 3.4 million copies worldwide.

Her new album Beautiful Awakening was set to be released worldwide on August 29, 2006, but because of concerns of competition with new albums from Jessica Simpson, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, and other chart toppers, it was delayed in the U.S. until March 2007. Though a few songs from the new album leaked onto the internet, Beautiful Awakening was still released in Japan, the UK, and other countries. The album features production from Dallas Austin, Dwayne Bastiany, KayGee and The Underdogs and writing duties are performed by notable songwriters like She'kspere, Track & Field, Anthony Dent, newcomer Novel and Orrico herself.

The first single "I'm Not Missing You" went for radio adds on June 20, 2006, but due to little promotion was re-released in October. The song peaked at #19 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. The second single from the album, "So Simple," was released in Asia in October 2006 and was released in Europe on January 27, 2007.

Her music is looked at as an influential part of the now highly profitable Contemporary Christian Music industry, along with bands such as P.O.D.

At the beginning of 2007, American and Canadian fans eagerly anticipated the belated release of Orrico's third studio album "Beautiful Awakening"... which was then later postponed again with a problem at Virgin Records. In March 2007, Orrico announced to fans that Virgin Records was merging with Capitol Records and she had left them and would not be releasing the album with that label.

[edit] Personal life

After the release of Stacie Orrico and the singles from that album, Orrico decided she did not want to pursue her career in music any further. She and her friends went to stay in Malibu in California, where Orrico started work in a small cafe. Throughout her break, however, Orrico continued writing music which then, eventually, led her back to her career. She started recording again and developed a new album Beautiful Awakening.

In February 2007, Orrico left Virgin Records due to its merging with Capitol Records after the first went bankrupt. Stacie Orrico then travelled to South Africa, as a volunteer with Cross-Cultural Solutions, to help children with AIDS. She has now returned from South Africa, as fans now eagerly anticipate Orrico's return to the music industry.

[edit] Trivia

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• Her song "Christmas Wish" was included on the track list for the compilation CD "Now That's What I Call Christmas 3".

• Her single, "Don't Look at Me" held the #1 spot on the Christian Hit Radio charts for a record-breaking eight consecutive weeks.

• Three-and-a-half octave voice.^{[citation needed]}

• Attended King's Elementary and Faith Christian Academy.

• Lived in Seattle until she was 9.

• Has siblings: Jesse - older brother - a filmmaker, Rachel - older sister - student at Pepperdine University, Joshua & Alicia - younger twin siblings.

• Her song "Ride" was recorded by another Christian R&B singer named Lori-El.

• Some of her favorite older musicians are Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, and Billie Holiday.

• She and Rachael Lampa are best friends.^{[citation needed]}

• She has a recording studio in her home.

• Was signed at 12 years old to Forefront Records in 1999 and co-signed to Virgin Records at age 16 in April 2002.

• Her CD, Genuine, sold over 13,000 copies the first week making her the First New Female Christian artist with the highest sales ever! "Genuine" has sold 500,000 copies thus far, the album is certified Gold. Her second album, Stacie Orrico, debuted at #67 on the Billboard 200 and has sold over 500,000 copies so far in the US and is certified Gold. Stacie Orrico has sold 600,000 in Japan and 1.5 million copies worldwide.

• Favorite artists: Lauryn Hill, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, 50 Cent, and Stevie Wonder.

• Has been nominated for 9 Dove Awards throughout her career.

• Her family worked as missionaries in the Ukraine when she was a child.

• Was discovered at a 1998 Christian Artist Seminar winning top honors in the 12-18 age bracket.

• Parents: Dean and Patty Orrico.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums