Wynter Gordon
Encyclopedia
Diana "Wynter" Gordon is an American pop/dance singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

. She began as a writer for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 where she began working on an album while continuing to write songs for other acts and providing vocals on songs. Her debut With The Music I Die
With the Music I Die
-US EP version:*Track listing unveiled by Gordon's official website.-Charts:In Australia the album debuted and peaked at no 25, dropping to one place to no 26 on its second week. The album then however dropped 21 spots to no 47 on its third week, before leaving the top 50 in its fourth...

was released in 2011.

Early life

Gordon was born in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

, New York City and was brought up in a poor and dangerous neighborhood in South Jamaica. She is the middle child of six, they lived in a two bedroom house. She recalled in an interview that many people she knew were deceased at a young age, because they "got into the wrong things". However, she refused to call her childhood difficult, she said that "if things were rough, I didn't feel it," explaining that the familiarity of the environment that she grew up in prevented her from objectively describing it. She attributed her well being to her strict mother who did not allow her to leave the yard and told her to go to the library after school. Her mother remarried when Gordon was 5, but Gordon did not have a close relationship with her step father. Her strict upbringing resulted in a strained relationship with her parents.

Gordon began singing at a young age and she began singing at funerals from the age of 6. She and her siblings would perform together in church and at street corners by her parents. They were strict about the music that Gordon and her siblings sang, only allowing them to listen to and sing gospel. However, Gordon would listen to the radio when her parents were not at home and recorded songs from the radio onto tapes that she smuggled into the house. It was during high school that Gordon decided that she was going to pursue music. She was later accepted to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is a high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Center and the Juilliard School in the Lincoln Center district of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue...

 and interned at a record company. Gordon wrote her first complete song, "Daddy's Song" at age 15.

2005–08: Career beginnings

After high school, Wynter threw herself fully into realizing her music dreams, while also dealing with surviving on her own for the first time. She juggled several jobs while working in the studio at nights and as much as she could. During this time, Wynter met her manager, Keith White who introduced her to Don Pooh at Atlantic Records. Wynter worked closely with producer D'Mile
D'Mile
Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II is an American songwriting music producer from Brooklyn, New York. Sometimes referred to as D. Emile, Dernst Emile II or Dee'Mile is most commonly known and accredited as D'Mile...

 since 2004 where they both came with her first track to fame, "Gonna Breakthrough" written by Wynter Gordon and produced by D'Mile
D'Mile
Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II is an American songwriting music producer from Brooklyn, New York. Sometimes referred to as D. Emile, Dernst Emile II or Dee'Mile is most commonly known and accredited as D'Mile...

 was used as the title track to Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...

's 2005 album The Breakthrough
The Breakthrough
The Breakthrough is the seventh studio album by American R&B recording artist Mary J. Blige, released December 20, 2005, on Geffen Records. The album opened with over 729,000 units in the United States, becoming her highest first week sales of her career, and the second-highest first-week sales by...

. Soon after, Wynter was given an opportunity and signed to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

, through Don Pooh Music Group, where she has been working on her debut album since 2004. Also, in 2008, Wynter penned two tracks for Danity Kane
Danity Kane
Danity Kane was an American female music group signed to Bad Boy Records, first established in 2005. Formed on the third installment of MTV's Making the Band reality television series, the quintet comprised members Aubrey O'Day, Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett, Shannon Bex, Dawn Richard, and Aundrea...

's second album Welcome to the Dollhouse
Welcome to the Dollhouse (album)
Welcome to the Dollhouse is the second and final studio album by American R&B/pop group Danity Kane, released by Bad Boy and Atlantic Records on March 18, 2008 in the United States and March 25, 2008 in Canada...

, "2 of You" and "Do Me Good".

2009–present: With The Music I Die & New Recordings

Wynter co-wrote the single "Sugar
Sugar (Flo Rida song)
"Sugar" is an electro-hop song by American rapper Flo Rida, featuring singer Wynter Gordon. The song was written by Flo Rida and the Jackie Boyz and was produced by DJ Montay for the rapper's second album, R.O.O.T.S....

", a track that she was featured on with Flo Rida
Flo Rida
Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...

 on his album R.O.O.T.S.
R.O.O.T.S.
R.O.O.T.S. is the second studio album by American rapper, Flo Rida. The album was released on March 31, 2009.-Background:...

(2009) after laying down a reference vocal. The track became an international hit and peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. Wynter also co-wrote and sang on the dance track "Toyfriend" from French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

 David Guetta
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...

's album One Love
One Love (David Guetta album)
One Love received generally favourable reviews from most music critics. According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on ten reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews"...

(2009). She worked closely with Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

, writing four tracks including "What Is Love", "What Is Love Part II", "Starting Over" and "Everybody's Girl" for her seventh studio album Love?
Love? (album)
Love? is the seventh studio album by American recording artist and actress Jennifer Lopez. The album was released on April 28, 2011. Produced during the pregnancy of her twins Emme and Max, Love? is Lopez's most personal album to date, taking inspiration from the birth of her twins and her own...

(2011). Wynter is also writing for artists including Adrienne Bailon
Adrienne Bailon
Adrienne Eliza Bailon is an American actress, singer-songwriter, dancer, and television personality. She was a member of former girl groups 3LW and The Cheetah Girls, and is also known for her roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie of the same name and latter sequels which brought the group to...

, Estelle
Estelle (singer)
Estelle Fanta Swaray commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer.-Early Life:Estelle was born 18 January 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England...

 & Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester
Leighton Meester
Leighton Marissa Meester is an American actress and singer. Meester first garnered attention for playing Blair Waldorf in the CW television series Gossip Girl...

.

She released her debut album, With The Music I Die
With the Music I Die
-US EP version:*Track listing unveiled by Gordon's official website.-Charts:In Australia the album debuted and peaked at no 25, dropping to one place to no 26 on its second week. The album then however dropped 21 spots to no 47 on its third week, before leaving the top 50 in its fourth...

, on June 17, 2011 in Australia. The first single from the album, "Dirty Talk
Dirty Talk (song)
"Dirty Talk" is a song by American recording artist Wynter Gordon, taken from her debut studio album, With The Music I Die. It was released in the United States on February 17, 2010. The song was written by Gordon, Michael Caren, Gregory Ferguson, Nicole Morier and Norman White and produced by...

" topped the US (Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

) Hot Dance Club Songs and the Australian Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

, and was certified 3x Platinum, The song was released in the UK and Ireland on 18 February 2011 where it peaked eight in Ireland and 25 in the UK. The song spent a total on eleven weeks inside the Top 40. The second single, "Til Death
Til Death (Wynter Gordon song)
"Til Death" is a song by American singer-songwriter Wynter Gordon. It is the second single to be released from her debut album, With the Music I Die and her With the Music I Die EP exclusively released in the US...

" has currently peaked on the Australian Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

 at 16 and number 3 on the US Dance Chart. She opened for Patrick Stump
Patrick Stump
Patrick Vaughn Stump is an American singer-songwriter, composer, record producer, and music critic. He is the composer, lead singer, and multi-instrumentalist of Fall Out Boy, an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, and is also a solo artist...

's second US tour in August and September. "Buy My Love
Buy My Love
"Buy My Love" is a song by American singer-songwriter Wynter Gordon and the third single to be released from her debut album, With The Music I Die . It was released in the US and Australia on August 22, 2011 while an EP of remixes was released on September 6, 2011 in the US...

" was released as the third single from "With The Music I Die".

It has been stated that Still Getting Younger is to be the fourth single from With The Music I Die and is set for a late 2011 release date

Wynter announced via Twitter that she has already recorded some songs and hinted at her second studio album.

Studio albums

Title Album details AUS
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

US
Dance
With The Music I Die
With the Music I Die
-US EP version:*Track listing unveiled by Gordon's official website.-Charts:In Australia the album debuted and peaked at no 25, dropping to one place to no 26 on its second week. The album then however dropped 21 spots to no 47 on its third week, before leaving the top 50 in its fourth...

  • Released: June 17, 2011
  • Label: Big Beat
  • Format: CD
    Compact Disc
    The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

    , digital download
    Music download
    A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

25 4

Extended plays

Title EP details
The First Dance
  • Released: November 9, 2010
  • Label: Big Beat
  • Format: Digital download
With The Music I Die
With the Music I Die
-US EP version:*Track listing unveiled by Gordon's official website.-Charts:In Australia the album debuted and peaked at no 25, dropping to one place to no 26 on its second week. The album then however dropped 21 spots to no 47 on its third week, before leaving the top 50 in its fourth...

  • Released: June 28, 2011
  • Label: Big Beat
  • Format: Digital download

  • Singles

    Single Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
    US Dance
    AUS
    ARIA Charts
    The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...


    BEL
    (FL)
    Ultratop
    Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...


    BEL
    (WA)
    Ultratop
    Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...


    DEN
    Tracklisten
    Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl...


    FRA
    Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
    The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...


    IRE
    Irish Singles Chart
    The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...


    UK
    UK Singles Chart
    The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...


    "Dirty Talk
    Dirty Talk (song)
    "Dirty Talk" is a song by American recording artist Wynter Gordon, taken from her debut studio album, With The Music I Die. It was released in the United States on February 17, 2010. The song was written by Gordon, Michael Caren, Gregory Ferguson, Nicole Morier and Norman White and produced by...

    "
    2010 1 1 3 13 33 50 8 25
    • AUS
      Australian Recording Industry Association
      The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

      : 3× Platinum
    With the Music I Die
    With the Music I Die
    -US EP version:*Track listing unveiled by Gordon's official website.-Charts:In Australia the album debuted and peaked at no 25, dropping to one place to no 26 on its second week. The album then however dropped 21 spots to no 47 on its third week, before leaving the top 50 in its fourth...

    "Til Death
    Til Death (Wynter Gordon song)
    "Til Death" is a song by American singer-songwriter Wynter Gordon. It is the second single to be released from her debut album, With the Music I Die and her With the Music I Die EP exclusively released in the US...

    "
    2011 3 16
  • AUS: Gold
  • "Buy My Love
    Buy My Love
    "Buy My Love" is a song by American singer-songwriter Wynter Gordon and the third single to be released from her debut album, With The Music I Die . It was released in the US and Australia on August 22, 2011 while an EP of remixes was released on September 6, 2011 in the US...

    "
    7 77
    "—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released

    Promotional singles

    Single Year Album
    "Putting It Out There (Pride)" 2011 Non-album single

    As a featured artist

    Single Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
    US
    Billboard Hot 100
    The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...


    AUS
    ARIA Charts
    The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...


    FRA
    Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
    The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...


    IRE
    Irish Singles Chart
    The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...


    UK
    UK Singles Chart
    The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...


    "Sugar
    Sugar (Flo Rida song)
    "Sugar" is an electro-hop song by American rapper Flo Rida, featuring singer Wynter Gordon. The song was written by Flo Rida and the Jackie Boyz and was produced by DJ Montay for the rapper's second album, R.O.O.T.S....

    "
    (Flo Rida
    Flo Rida
    Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...

     featuring Wynter Gordon)
    2009 5 20 9 14 19
    • US: Platinum
    R.O.O.T.S.
    R.O.O.T.S.
    R.O.O.T.S. is the second studio album by American rapper, Flo Rida. The album was released on March 31, 2009.-Background:...

    "I Feel Love
    I Feel Love
    "I Feel Love" is a song by Donna Summer, taken from her 1977 concept album I Remember Yesterday.The song constituted the "future" segment of the album, which represented a stylistic progress through time...

    "
    (Rhythm Masters
    Rhythm Masters
    Rhythm Masters was a house music duo composed of deejays Robert Chetcuti and Steve Mac, a.k.a. Steve McGuinness. They began mixing together around 1993 after meeting in Malta, doing remixes for, among others, Todd Terry, Michael Jackson, INXS, Junior Vasquez, David Morales, and Roger Sanchez...

     & MYNC featuring Wynter Gordon)
    2010 Non-album singles
    "Believer"
    (Freemasons
    Freemasons (band)
    Freemasons are an English dance band from Brighton, East Sussex, England. The act consists of producers Russell Small and James Wiltshire .-2005-2007: Early Career:Their name is taken from the Brighton pub, Freemasons Tavern, Hove, which they frequently...

     featuring Wynter Gordon)
    113
    "Take Off"
    (Mr. Vegas
    Mr. Vegas
    Mr. Vegas is a Jamaican dancehall star.-Biography:Smith was born in Kingston in 1974. The moniker "Mr. Vegas" was given to Smith by his schoolyard football-mates, who thought that he kicked the ball like a Las Vegas dancer...

     featuring Wynter Gordon)
    2011
    "Take Me Away"
    (Marvin Priest featuring Wynter Gordon)
    32
  • AUS: Gold
  • "—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released

    Other appearances

    Year Song Artist(s) Album
    2008 "Mirrors (Be Myself Again)" Wynter Gordon God Conscious
    "Unify" Wynter Gordon Meet the Browns
    Meet the Browns (film)
    Meet the Browns is a 2008 romantic comedy-drama film released by Lionsgate on March 21, 2008. The film was based on the play of the same name by Tyler Perry.-Plot:...

    Soundtrack
    2009 "Toyfriend" David Guetta
    David Guetta
    Pierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...

    One Love
    One Love (David Guetta album)
    One Love received generally favourable reviews from most music critics. According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on ten reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews"...

    2010 "The Graduation Song" Kinetics & One Love
    Kinetics & One Love
    Jeremy "Kinetics" Dussolliet and Tim "One Love" Sommers are an electronica/hip-hop duo from New York City. In 2010, they signed a publishing deal with Warner Music Group, making their commercial debut as songwriters by penning the chorus to B.o.B.'s platinum selling single "Airplanes" featuring...

    "Sign Language" Kinetics & One Love
    "Airborne" Diggy Simmons
    Diggy Simmons
    Daniel Dwayne Simmons III , better known by his stage name Diggy Simmons or simply as Diggy, is an American rapper and the fourth child of Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons...

    Airborne
    Airborne (band)
    Airborne is an American contemporary jazz / smooth jazz / world fusion band, formed in the late 1980s. Airborne the proclaimed “Musical Peacemakers” of Contemporary Jazz sends out an Inspirational Message of Hope to the World. They are a multi-cultural jazz band from New Haven, Connecticut who has...

    "Next Level" Rohff
    Rohff
    Rohff - « Rimeur Original Hardcore Flow Fluide » is a French rapper from Vitry-sur-Seine, in Val-de-Marne, south of Paris. Rohff was born in Comoros and immigrated to the Parisian suburbs in 1985.A fan of 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., NWA, Game, and others, Rohff began rapping around 1994...

    La Cuenta

    Awards and nominations

    Year Type Award Result
    2011 International Dance Music Awards Best Break-Through Artist (Solo) (Wynter Gordon)
    Best Pop Dance Track ("Dirty Talk")
    NewNowNext Awards
    NewNowNext Awards
    The first NewNowNext-Awards were held in 2008 by the gay and lesbian-themed network Logo.- 2008 :The nominees were announced by Cazwell and Amanda Lepore. Hosts were Candis Cayne and Colman Domingo...

    Brink of Fame: Music Artist (Wynter Gordon)

    External links

    The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
     
    x
    OK