Corrinne May – the story so far…
Corrinne May
“Gorgeously sung retrospection that chronicles a spiritual revival of mind and spirit” – Yeow Kai Chai (Straits Times, Singapore)
Corrinne May is one of Singapore’s most celebrated singer-songwriters. Her best-selling album, 2007’s ‘Beautiful Seed’ was certified platinum in Singapore and her newest album, 2012’s ‘Crooked Lines’ topped the charts in Singapore and attained gold certification within its first month of release.
She has sold out every concert that she has played in Singapore, from intimate 200-seater shows, to several shows at the Esplanade Concert Hall, including her most recent show in June 2013. In June 2012, she helped to open the Gardens by the Bay in a double-billed concert for the opening festivities where she sang with Jason Mraz at the opening concert for a 15,000 strong crowd and followed that the following night at her own concert for 7000 concert goers.
After debuting the material from her ‘Beautiful Seed’ album at a sold-out concert in Singapore’s 1600-seat University Cultural Center Hall, May embarked on her very first tour of Japan, doing in-store shows to standing room only crowds at Tower Records locations in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka. She also debuted the material for her Los Angeles fans in a full-band concert at the 800-seater Aratani Theatre,
and performed the songs at LA’s Hotel Café, Genghis Cohen and Molly Malones.
Corrinne has built her career on writing “uplifting songs of hope”.
As Straits Times journalist Eddino Abdul Hadi writes : “One walks out of a Corrinne May show with the idea that, no matter what kind of trouble you are in, things will always get better if you have faith, friends and family.”
Carole Bayer Sager (“The Prayer”, “That’s What Friends Are For”) her co-writer on “If You Didn’t Love Me” reflects that “Corrinne’s voice is beautiful and pure but even more, it is comforting and friendly. The listener feels like they are with an old friend.”
Her debut album Corrinne May released in 2001 had Performing Songwriter Magazine enthusing that the album was “stunning” and reflecting that “with her hopeful, fluid lyrics and heavenly voice, this is a touching, enchanting record”.
Her performance of “Same Side of the Moon” and “Fly Away” from the same album at the 2001 Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas also won her the coveted “Kerrville New Folk Award” among 600 contenders and the “Best Contemporary Album” in the 2002 Los Angeles-based Just Plain Folks Music Awards.
The album was subsequently re-titled Fly Away and released in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore and the title track’s music video was featured on MTV Asia. Her song ‘Journey’ was covered by popular Mandarin singers Angela Zhang and Gigi Leung and became a hit after being featured as a theme song in the Taiwanese drama ‘Dolphin Bay Lovers.’
She followed that with Safe in a Crazy World in 2005 and the songs ‘Everything in Its Time’ (co-written with Carole Bayer Sager)
and ‘Save Me’ were featured in the Singapore television series ‘Chase’ which helped to propel the album to the top of the Singapore charts for two weeks.
In recognition of her contributions to the Singapore and regional music scenes, Corrinne earned the rare distinction of receiving both the Young Composer of the Year award and Wings of Excellence award from COMPASS, the performing rights society of Singapore, in 2007. She was honoured by her alumni, the National University of Singapore who presented her with the ‘Outstanding Young Alumni Award’ and she represented Singapore at the MIDEM conference showcase in Cannes, France in 2008.
In 2010, Corrinne was invited to write the National Day song, for Singapore’s 45th National Day. She performed her composition ‘Song For Singapore’ at the Padang in front of 37,000 in attendance and more than a million people watching the live TV broadcast.
In 2011, she penned the theme song “Beautiful Life” for the 10th Anniversary of the Esplanade Theatres by the Bay in Singapore, a song that subsequently became the first single off her latest album “Crooked Lines”, the first album she has released since becoming a mother.
“It’s in the eyes of a child as you hold her in your arms and your heart starts to beat once again, and the world is reborn in the beauty of her song… smile, it’s a beautiful life.” she sings in the song “Beautiful Life”.
“I love being a mother. It’s humbling, it’s grandiose, it’s scary, it’s exhilarating, it’s peaceful, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Corrinne enthuses.
Corrinne travels the world for her music, frequently jetting between her two homes of Singapore and Los Angeles, with her musician husband Kavin and 7-year old daughter, Claire.
She is currently writing songs for her 6th album.
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