Sara Bareilles

Birth name : Sara Beth Bareilles
Born : December 7, 1979 (1979-12-07) - Eureka, California, USA
Origin : Los Angeles, California, USA
Genre(s) : Pop, piano pop, pop rock
Occupation(s) : Singer-songwriter, musician
Instrument(s) : Vocals, piano, guitar
Voice type(s) : Contralto
Years active : 2003—present
Label(s) : Epic
Website : http://www.sarabmusic.com/
Sara Beth Bareilles (pronounced /bəˈrɛlɪs/; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single "Love Song", which brought her into the number one spot on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. Bareilles' vocal range registers from contralto to mezzo-soprano.
Biography
Early life
Bareilles was born and raised in Eureka, California. She participated in the high school choir, Limited Edition, and local community theater musical productions, including her high school's production of Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey. She graduated from Eureka Senior High School in June 1998, having been voted "Most Talented" in the senior yearbook of that year.
Bareilles attended UCLA, where she was a member of their a cappella group Awaken A Cappella. The group's rendition of Bareilles' "Gravity" was featured on the Best of College A Cappella 2004 compilation CD. Sara also stated on MTV's TRL that she and the band Maroon 5 go back far to their younger days in California when the band was known as Kara's Flowers. She performed in the annual student concert, UCLA Spring Sing, winning twice.
Career
After graduating from college in 2002, Bareilles performed at local bars and clubs (such as the Hotel Café and Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles), building a following, before performing in larger venues. She issued two demos of mostly live tracks in 2003: The First One in April and The Summer Sessions in October. In 2004, she appeared as a singer in a bar in the indie film Girl Play, performing the song "Undertow".
In January 2004, Bareilles released her first studio album, Careful Confessions. She signed a contract with Epic Records' A&R executive Pete Giberga on April 15, 2005. The remainder of the year and early 2006 were spent writing and reworking songs for her upcoming album. Her song, "Gravity," appears briefly in the 2006 independent film Loving Annabelle. She also toured as the opening act in 2006 for Marc Broussard's "Carencro" tour.
In mid-2004 she opened for Rocco DeLuca and the Burden during their inaugural headline tour, supported Guster on their first UK tour and co-headlined a tour with Jon McLaughlin. In 2007, Bareilles toured as the opening act for Aqualung and Mika, and later that year opened for several shows on both Maroon 5 and Paolo Nutini's U.S. tours. She also opened for James Blunt on his U.S. Tour in association with VH1 You Oughta Know.
In June 2007, iTunes featured Bareilles' single "Love Song" as the free single of the week. The following month, her major-label debut Little Voice shot to #1 on the list of most downloaded albums of the music store in its first week of release, and debuted at #45 on the Billboard 200 chart. After being featured on a Rhapsody commercial in 2007, "Love Song" began climbing the pop charts, jumping from #73 to #16 in one week. As of December 27, 2007, "Love Song" has entered the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bareilles performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday, January 17, 2008, and on the Today show on Thursday, February 21, 2008.
As of February 14, 2008, Little Voice has been certified Gold by the RIAA. The album peaked in the Billboard 200 at #7. Bareilles' single, "Love Song" was certified 2x platinum in April 2008.
She toured with Counting Crows and Maroon 5 between July 22 and August 26, 2008. The first stop was Virginia Beach, Virginia and the last stop Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Bareilles was selected as MTV artist of the week for July 7 - 11 and appeared again on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Wednesday, July 9, 2008; and on December 9, 2008 (with Ingrid Michaelson).
On October 28, 2008, Bareilles released "Live At The Fillmore" on DVD and CD. The package is a recording of her first headlining tour at the famous Fillmore in San Francisco. She concluded the tour in her home town of Eureka, California on December 19, 2008, at the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts.
In December 2008, a single with Ingrid Michaelson titled "Winter Song" was released off the compilation The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs. The two performed it on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and an animated video was released.
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