Tamar Davis
Támar Davis (b. Ashley Támar Davis in 1980) is an R&B singer who came to prominence through the artist, Prince. She sang the co-lead vocals on his Grammy-nominated song "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed" from his 2006 album, 3121 and on backup vocals throughout the album. Originally, Támar started off her musical career in Destiny's Child, when they were still named Girl's Tyme.
In 1990, 30 girls including Keke Wyatt competed for a spot in Girl's Tyme. The selected members were singers Ashley Davis, Beyoncé Knowles, and Kelly Rowland (aged 12, 10 and 11), and dancers/rappers LaTavia Roberson, Nikki Taylor, and her sister Nina Taylor (aged 10, 13 and 11). In 1992, the group competed but lost on Star Search. Shortly after, Támar (Ashley Davis) left for a solo career and was replaced by childhood friend Letoya Luckett.
Around 1994, Prince heard a demo by Támar and told her that one day when she was older, he wanted to hear her again. A few years later, Prince called her into his Paisley Park studio. Nothing transpired from that visit, nor did she get to meet with Prince, so Támar went about doing her own thing, graduating from Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and then studying music business at the University of Southern California, all while focusing on her musical career. Támar who also speaks French, German and Swahili became part of an all-female jazz/funk band called Angaza (which means "to give light" in Swahili), who released an album called Light. At the time, she went by the name Ashley T'Amar Davis.
In 2004 she auditioned for Star Search once again as a solo artist but did not prevail through the competitions. In the fourth season of American Idol she auditioned but did not make the cut. While living in Los Angeles, she snared an invite to one of Prince's house parties and introduced herself to him. He remembered meeting the saucy singer and asked her to audition for him on the spot, which she did. He then asked her to sing in a video he was working on. Since then, Támar has joined the ranks of female artists Prince has mentored, including Vanity, Sheila E., Sheena Easton, Apollonia Kotero, Carmen Electra and Martika. She signed with Universal Records the same day Prince did in December 2005.
In 2006, Támar toured with Prince, helping to promote his album 3121. She appeared with him on Saturday Night Live (Feb 4, 2006), Good Morning America, the BRIT Awards, as well as his video, "Fury", where she appears alongside fellow female singer/dancers the Twinz, two former Australian Idol contestants.
In March, 2006, Támar was supported by Prince with an ensemble of session musicians and performed a number of small club concerts in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Miami to promote her upcoming album. The concerts included cuts from her Milk & Honey album, as well as cover versions of such artists as Mary J. Blige and Aretha Franklin. Prince fans, who were really there to see him, were also treated to him performing rare tunes during her costume changes, including "Anotherloverholenyohead", "Partyman" and "Calhoun Square" (from Crystal Ball). Also of interest was the full complement doing a cover of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" with Prince playing the synthesizer solo from the original recording on the guitar. The concerts were approx. 90 minutes in length. Bootlegs are currently in circulation of some (if not all) of these concerts.
Támar's debut album, Milk & Honey was originally to be titled Beautiful, Loved and Blessed, but was later renamed after one of the other tracks. The album appeared to feature significant input by Prince: many of the song titles employed his style of abbreviations. Milk & Honey was originally set to be released on May 5, 2006, but was delayed for unrevealed reasons. Several other rumored release dates came and went and the album was eventually canceled except Japan area (and then canceled in Japan after all), even though a few promotional singles had been issued. Kwamé then produced a new debut, "Juz Do It" which was canceled as well. She now has a debut, "My Name is Tamar" set for release in 2010, with its lead single, "Heartbeat" already released with a video.
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