Dalbello | |
---|---|
Birth name | Lisa Dal Bello |
Born | 22 May 1959 |
Origin | Weston, Toronto, Canada |
Genres |
Early years: Pop Soul Funk Pop-rock Later years: Rock alternative rock metal Progressive rock Art pop |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, record producer |
Instruments | Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Drums, Clavinet, Bass, Keytar, Vocals |
Years active | 1977–present |
Dalbello (born 22 May 1959 as Lisa Dal Bello) is a Canadian recording artist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and voice actress. She released three albums in the pop and pop/rock genre in her late teens, from 1977 through 1981 under her full name. In 1984, she re-emerged as Dalbello, with an edgier brand of alternative rock.
Born to Italian and British parents, Dalbello grew up in Weston, Toronto, and then with her family moved to Vaughan. At age 11, she began playing guitar and writing her own songs, performing at the Mariposa Folk Festival and the Fiddlers' Green club in Toronto. The first song she wrote was reportedly a protest song called "Oh, Why?"
Lying about her age, at 13 she joined a government-sponsored educational music program, Summer Sounds '71, which auditioned students at various southern Ontario middle and high schools, with the objective of selecting 30 singers, songwriters, musicians and performers who would receive the opportunity to spend the first month north of the city of Toronto at a summer camp, collaborating creatively, forming small music groups and bands for which they rehearsed and built a full show that toured and performed at various events throughout Ontario for the second month.
At the age of 14, Lisa Dal Bello (as she was then billed) made her 1974 recording debut with a 4-song EP that was recorded for CBC Radio, Canada's national broadcaster. The record was not commercially available, and airplay was legally restricted to the CBC only.
Signing with MCA Records out of L.A. when she was 17, Dalbello's self-titled debut album in 1977, produced by David Foster, won her a 1978 Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year. Despite her win, however, MCA dropped her from the label because the album's production had been too expensive. She formed her own label, Talisman Records, to release her second album Pretty Girls, and received her second Juno nomination in 1979 in the category of Female Vocalist of the Year.