Barry, Claudja
Websites:
https://www.theclaudjabarry.com/bio
Origin:
Jamaica - Scarborough, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:
In the high turnover world of the music industry, Claudja Barry has displayed the staying power of a true star. Her debut hit on the Donna Jean Label “I will stand” reached number one on the Billboard Dance Charts in 2006. With her latest hit “Good Time Girl” (Indaba Records) Claudja is back and burning up the dance floors across the globe adding to the latest chapter in her long and illustrious international career. Her first single was “Sweet Dynamite”(Salsoul), her most recent Billboard chart hit “I will stand” (Donna Jean).
Glamorous , multilingual, and highly travelled, Claudja Barry has sung in some of the world’s best venues – among them, Studio 54,The Saint (NYC), The Palace (Paris),Budakan Hall where she won the Silver Prize at the Tokyo Music Festival(Coming in second only to Dionne Warwick). The Verona Arena (Italy) Backstreet (Atlanta) and the Rainbow in London. She is an artiste whose stage presence, longevity, and performances have been noted and appreciated not only in the arena of pop/club music, but also in theatre –Claudja Barry is also an accomplished actress.
With a role in the Mario Van Peebles movie “Rappin”, Claudja’s acting talent surfaced. “Paper People” and Murderland”, are some of the productions on her resume, but her first love was the theatre.
While still in high school, she used summer holidays to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York City. Her appearance in the Off Broadway production of “A Murder at the Church” and “When the Rattlesnakes Sounds” in the leading role of Harriett Tubman sharpened her skills as an actor. She joined the Michael Moriarity Acting Studio with a heightened awareness of the importance of the theatre.
In Toronto, Claudja had roles in regional productions such as Jean Genet’s “The Blacks”
It was off to London where she landed the lead role in the prestigious Royal Court Theatre’s production of “AC/DC” which won the Evening Standard Critic’s Award for best Play. While in England, Claudja also starred in that award winning production at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and the Cambridge Theatre in Cambridge. Her appearance in “AC/DC” led to a starring role in the German production of “Catch my Soul” (A musical adaption of Shakespeare’s”Othello”) at Theatre Des Westerns in Berlin. She has also given performances in various top venues such as Friedrichstadt Palast, and Frankfurter Opera. She studied classical voice with the noted coach. Professor Garies in Berlin and Professor Hoffman de Boer in Munich.
In Munich she met successful music producer Jurgen Korduletsch. Together they formed a creative partnership writing a producing with Jurgen producing and Claudja co-writing and performing.
Claudja’s initial success as in Europe and Canada earning Juno awards and became the first inductee to THE BLACK MUSIC HALL OF FAME, together with Oscar Peterson. In the United States she was nominated for an American Music Award for Best Female Artist and appeared on NBC’s Seventh Annual Rhythm & Blues Awards.
Recently Claudja Barry has been the co-host of the wildly successful Dance Mix USA music infomercial.
With renewed interest in her music and with the success of “I will stand” and “Goodtime Girl”, there have been appearances in Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Toronto. Her collaboration with various international artists has brought new artistic achievements. Covering dance music, reggae and opera, Claudja is on a mission.
The recent Amazon books bestseller: ”The First Ladies of Disco” written by Jim Arena, features a generous chapter on Claudja as well as the forward being written by her.
As a guest artist with the reggae band “Mainbase” there are a number of new songs coming including a reggae version of the Joe Cocker, Jennifer Warnes hit “Up where we belong”.
As the writer director and producer of “Losing Paradise and Music”, Claudja has moved behind the camera to take a in-depth look at the effects of dancehall music on society in Jamaica and internationally. The film was aired in Canada on the country’s premiere television venue OMNI 1 as part of the prestigious Signature series.
Claudja is in the process of recording a new cd including the smash tune “You make me feel mighty Real” by the amazing Sylvester.
Look for the dance to continue
Born in Jamaica and raised in Toronto, Canada Claudja Barry became a member of the diso super-group Boney M best known for their hit "Rivers Of Babylon". Boney M was formed in the mid 70's in Germany by producer Frank Farian who also sang all the male vocals, Farian had just scored a top hit in Europe with "Baby Do You Wanna Bump?" and needed a backup band to support the song on tour. In the first lineup of 1975 Boney M's members included Claudja Barry, Jamaican singer Marcia Barrett would later join the group after Barry’s departure.
After leaving Boney M, Barry would gain huge success as a solo artists with parts in the musical Hair and several hit records including her greatest hit to date the Disco anthem “Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes" in 1979. In 1985 she appeared in the movie “Rappin” starring Mario Van Peeples. She continues to record and tour.
