Yuna
Yunalis Mat Zara'ai (born 14 November 1986 in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia), commercially known as Yuna, is a Malaysian singer,songwriter, and businesswoman.
Yunalis
Mat Zara'ai was born on the 14 November 1986 in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia to parents from Perak. Her father, Dato'
Mat Za'raai is the current legal advisor of Pahang and her mother is a high school
teacher.
Yuna
attended SMK USJ 4,
where she completed her secondary education. After
this, Yuna attended Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam,
where she studied law at its Faculty of Law. In 2009, she graduated with a Bachelor
of Legal Studies (Hons.) degree.
During
her tertiary studies, Yuna was involved in the music scene. Yuna is an
independent Malaysian singer-songwriter. She began writing her own songs when
she was 14 years old, and her first performance of her own songs was at the age
of 19, after she learned how to play guitar. She has performed in numerous
acoustic shows and events in many parts of Malaysia since 2006.
Yuna
was eventually discovered in the US by the Indie-Pop record label and
management company. They flew out to Malaysia to convince her to sign with them
and then proceeded to get her a deal with FADER Label,
a record label based in New York, in February 2011. She released her debut US EP, Decorate, in the United States
in March the same year.
One
of the first few people who expressed interest in her music was Farhan
Fadzlishah aka Pa'an (Telephony Delivery), who later became her supporting
guitarist. Along the way, Efry Arwis (Lightcraft) helped her with the bass
while Adib Azfar handled the drums. Adil Ali (Seven Collar T-shirt) replaced
Adib Azfar after the latter quit to concentrate on his drumming role in Oh
Chentaku. Yuna performs with her band when she is not active in acoustic gigs.
On
January 24, 2012, her single "Live Your Life" debuted on iTunes. The
track was produced by Grammy Award-winning producerPharrell
Williams. MTV Iggy
described the track as, "polished until it gleams but instead of burying
Yuna, it lifts her up. The track has hints that a diva is waiting to
shine." On February 16, 2012, the official music video for "Live Your
Life" was released.
On
April 24, 2012, Yuna's U.S. debut self-titled album was released. Debuting at
No.23 on the Pop chart and No.86 on the Top 100 Albums on iTunes, Yuna was also No.23 on Billboard’s
Heatseekers Chart. Accolades from fans and critics alike, such as Billboard,
NPR, Elle, NY Times, Vibe Claire and National Geographic, who raves that her
sound is “as fresh, honest and deeply personal as anything by Bon Iver or
tUnEyArDs," have been rolling in.
She
performed "Live Your Life" on late-night TV shows Conan and Last Call with Carson Daly. She was
featured on the CBS Evening News in a featured profile piece and toured with
Graffiti6 with stops at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. She also contributed to the Savages soundtrack
on the track, Here Comes the Sun.
Yuna
started out as a solo MySpace artist in 2006, singing in both
English and Malay.
Yuna's
meteoric rise in the Malaysian indie music scene is largely due to the strong
following she gained via Myspace. Having played at many gigs since the release
of her Demo, EP and then two local albums, she is now focusing on promoting and
performing music on her debut US Album. Yuna also will be a part of
Lollapalooza 2012 line up.
In
2008, she released her self-titled EP which become a massive hit in Malaysia
most notably the single 'Deeper Conversation'.
Yuna
was the first runner-up of MTV Iggy's Best New Bands in the World. She
performed at the historic MTV Studios in Times Square New York singing
"Decorate", "Come As You Are", "Lullabies" which
is produced by Chris Braide and her new single "Live Your
Life", which is produced by Pharrell
Williams of N.E.R.D.
Yuna
recently signed with Verve Music
Group. Multiple
Grammy-winning producer David Foster,
who heads the creative operations of Verve, tweeted: "I'm really excited
about the next hot artist to join Verve Music. Stay tuned and keep an eye out
for Yuna in 2013".
Charted
in Heatseekers Album on Billboard "Live Your Life".
In
2012, Yuna was recognized with a National Youth Icon Award, awarded by the
Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak,
for her exceptional achievements in arts.
Source: Wikipedia
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