sharon

Artist Information

Biography

SHARON’S BIOGRAPHY

Who is Sharon? As a human being, she’s smart, attractive, and most importantly, she’s not afraid to use her creativity. As an artist, her voice is strong, beautiful, and sultry. Sharon Anyimi was born in New York City to emigrant parents from Ghana, West Africa. She is the last of three children and the only one in the family who’s visually impaired. Being visually impaired makes Sharon different from her older brother, her older sister, and most people in the world. However, despite her visual disability, she enjoys many activities, especially music.

At age 7, Sharon performed on stage for the first time at summer camp. To her surprise, the crowd loved her performance. During high school, she was very involved in extra curricular activities such as being on the track team, cheerleading team, and band (where she was the lead singer), as well as being part of the school choir. She learned a lot about singing in tune, harmonizing, etc. Over the years, she listened to almost all kinds of music, but she always knew that her voice was MADE for R&B. Her musical influences, past and present, include Whitney Houston, Karyn White, Tracie Spencer, Shanice, Mary J. Blige, Aaliyah, Amerie, Beyonce, Monica, Ciara, Alicia Keys, Deborah Cox, Faith Evans, Janet Jackson, Kelly Price, Keyshia Cole, Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, and many more. Sharon had many opportunities to sing at numerous talent shows before graduating from high school in 1999.

What makes Sharon a special individual is the fact that she has an ability to memorize all the lyrics to every song either on a CD or on the radio. Because of her intense passion for music, she’s beyond eager to learn and she learns fast. People around her become amazed by her outstanding abilities.

Sharon’s hunger for performing stayed with her throughout her college years as she continued to sing in various talent shows. She attended the State University of New York at Old Westbury to study Media & Communications. During college, she won 1st place at a talent show on campus singing a cappella. She also participated in a talent show, which took place in the Bronx in front of a live audience. She auditioned for Urban Idol National Talent Search, Showtime at the Apollo Amateur Night Competition, Jive Records, and Take N’ Ova Entertainment., Star Status Entertainment/Management, and Rose Records.

After graduating from college in 2003, Sharon sent her audition CD to the New York International Music Festival (NYIMF) and was selected to sing in a performance which took place in New York City in November 2004. Sharon’s performance impressed the crowd, and received the “Best Female R&B Solo” award. “I would have been just happy with just being on stage again, since that was what I wanted,” Sharon says, “but I had no idea I would win the R&B competition and receive an award. In more ways than one, God has blessed me.”

Annalisa San Juan, coordinator/organizer of NYIMF, says, “Sharon is a very determined person, but she’s sweet at the same time. She really surprised me with her amazing voice. Although she’s a small person, her voice is powerful and she has a truly wonderful sound. She’s a combination of Whitney Houston and Gospel all wrapped up in one. Sharon’s the kind of person you want to see succeed in life. I think that with the right kind of exposure, she has a real future as a professional singer.” Sharon is a singer/songwriter whose goals are to represent urban music by making great songs, giving back to the community, writing for other artists, exploring other opportunities in the entertainment industry, and most importantly, being an overall inspiration to other people who desire to accomplish their dreams.

Instrumentation

Sharon - Singer/Songwriter

Discography

Exotic Dancer
R&B Superstar
We're Just Friends
Get the Party Jumpin'
Someone

Audio

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Sharon: On Her Own [+ Show ]
  

  Sunday, 02 April 2006 Stacey Williams, Editor http://www.urbanpublicity.com When Sharon Any...Sunday, 02 April 2006
  
  Stacey Williams, Editor
  http://www.urbanpublicity.com
  
  
  When Sharon Anyimi talks about music, you can hear the excitement in her voice. When she talks about her music, you hear the passion. Sharon is dedicated to her craft and determined to share her music with the world.
  
  Sharon Anyimi (pronounced Ah-knee-me) has been aggressively pursuing her dream of becoming an R&B singer for several years. But she readily admits that she never thought about music as a career option until a college friend suggested it. "When I first arrived at college, no one knew I could sing until I performed at a talent show," she says. "Then, one day while having lunch with a friend, he asked me if I had ever thought about pursuing music as a career. At that point, I had not thought about any career options," she confesses.
  
  But after receiving encouragement from friends, Sharon, who uses only her first name as her stage name, decided music was a viable career option.
  
  Since graduating from college in 2003, Sharon has won an award for "Best Female R&B Solo" at the New York International Music Festival in 2004. Yet, she quickly admits that trying to reach her goal has been a struggle. "Sometimes I wish I had attended a performing arts program in high school and college because I would have probably benefitted from it," she says. "I would have been more proficient in singing, songwriting and maybe dancing because I cannot dance," she laughs. "But my biggest obstacles have been paying for recording sessions and learning the music business."
  
  Sharon, whose musical influences include Janet Jackson and Beyonce, is currently in the studio recording her demo and writing songs for other indie artists. "This industry will either make or break you," she says. "There are so many talented artists out there. As long as you love music and you're passionate about it, that will get you through."
  

• Blind singer beats 60 competitors [+ Show ]
  

  Michael Horowitz, Staff Writer Sharon Ayimi, a Co-op City woman who is legally blind, won an aw...Michael Horowitz, Staff Writer
  
  
  Sharon Ayimi, a Co-op City woman who is legally blind, won an award as the top vocalist in the R&B category at this year's New York International Music Festival.
  Anyimi, who feels a special bond with Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder because they are both blind, beat 60 competitors in the female R&B category to win her award.
  Annalisa San Juan, director of special events for the recently staged festival in Manhattan, stressed, Wednesday that Anyimi won the competition in her category based on her superior performance, rather than the fact that she is blind.
  
  
  "We take our competition very, very seriously, San Juan stressed. "We had four judges in Sharon's category. They were people on our staff and people in the music industry."
  San Juan added, "Sharon is a very determined person, but she is very sweet at the same time. She really surprised me with her amazing voice. Even though she's a small person, she has a very powerful voice, as well as a truly wonderful sound. She's a combination of Whitney Houston and Gospel all wrapped up into one. She's the kind of person you want to see succeed in life. I think that with the right kind of exposure, she has a real future as a professional singer."
  
  San Juan, who pointed out that her organization aims to give opportunities to emerging recording artists, noted that representatives from the music and recording industries were among those who were impressed with Anyimi's performance at the New York International Music Festival.
  "We had representatives from Warner Brothers, Atlantic Records, and Sonobi Entertainment," the Las Vegas-based promoter said Wednesday. "What we are about is connecting emerging artists with talent with professionals who are always looking for new talent."
  
  
  Anyimi, for her part, said, "I am really speechless that I won the R&B awards for female vocalists at the New York International Music Festival. The competition was quite intense, and this was really quite unexpected. This is a blessing from God. For quite some time, I've known that I was destined to get this award. I feel that this is a big breakthrough in my career."
  For Anyimi, who is a 24-year-old graduate of the State University of New York at Old Westbury, opportunity has finally knocked.
  
  When interviewed in October, Anyimi stressed, "I probably wouldn't be doing this --- aiming for a career as a singer --- if it weren't for the support I have gotten from the special people in my life, my brother and my mother. I really appreciate their encouragement. Even though I am legally blind, I want to be treated the way everyone else is."
  
  The young woman added, "I have a very special relationship with my 33-year-old brother; he is my special inspiration. I don't have any boyfriends right now, but God will bless me if he makes it possible for me to meet a young man who is like my brother."
  
  Anyimi, who found out about the New York International Music Festival on the Internet, noted, "I qualified to be a performer at the festival after sending those who choose the performers a CD that I had made. I try to share a part of myself through my music. I love to write poetry, too. Through my music and my poetry, I want to inspire people who arte going through hard times. When I hear music or sing a song when I'm feeling down, it makes me feel so much better. Nothing in life is easy. I feel challenged to reach my full potential and to inspire other people to reach their full potential, too."
  The young singer, recalling a number of recent visits with her grandmother in Ghana, noted, "She's another person who has been extremely special in my life. She always made me laugh. I could tell that the songs I sang for her touched her."
  
  Anyimi noted, "I would welcome the opportunity, in the future, to perform in Co-op City. I want to give something back to the community where I have lived for the last seven years."
  The young singer added, "For me, singing is about singing and conveying feelings. Singing makes me feel good even when I'm going through the toughest times."
  

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