DENI HINES

Dohnyale "Deni" Sharon Hines (born 4 September 1970 in Sydney, New South Wales) was inspired by her mother's success as a singer to follow a career in show business. She was discovered by a friend when she was singing to the radio and then was encouraged to pursue singing as a career. Her earliest employment was as a backing vocalist for such artists as Kylie Minogue (her Rhythm of Love Tour, Australia and Far East 1991), Jimmy Barnes, Wa Wa Nee and Peter Blakeley before she was approached by the band Rockmelons to provide vocals for several of their songs.

The first song that Hines released with the Rockmelons collaboration was a cover version of the Bill Withers 70's hit "Ain't No Sunshine" in 1991. The song proved to be a success charting at #5 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. With the success of the first single, the reggae inspired "That Word (L.O.V.E.)" was the second song released with the collaboration and became another top five single, charting at #4 in Australia. The third and final song Hines released with the band was the ballad "It's Not Over". The song was also a success but was not as big as the previous two, charting at #15 in Australia. With the success with the Rockmelons, Hines became one of the most well-known faces, and voices, in Australia.

In 1992, entrepreneur Harry M. Miller signed Hines for the role of Mary Magdalene in a revival of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Miller had discovered and signed her mother Marcia twenty years earlier, and the role of Mary Magdalene had also been one of Marcia's early successes. Deni Hines was well received in the role but left the production the following year. In 1992, Hines recorded ''Not Enough Time'' with INXS and it peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100, a year later she married the band's guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly.

After three hit singles with the Rockmelons, Hines was signed to Mushroom Records and released her first solo single "It's Alright" in 1995. It was a contemporary dance track that contrasted sharply with her earlier Rockmelons performances, and it became a moderate success in Australia, charting at #4 on the Australian ARIA Singles Charts and winning an ARIA Award for "Breakthrough Artist – Single". "Imagination", the second song released solo by Hines was released at the beginning of 1996 and was not as successful as "It's Alright" only peaking at #37.

With two songs released from the album, Hines released her debut album 'Imagination' on 25 May 1996 and became a fizzer, charting at #15 on the Australia ARIA Albums Chart and was nominated for two ARIA Awards; neither of which it won. "I Like the Way" and "I'm Not in Love" (a cover version of a 10cc' song) were the album's third and fourth singles but both failed to chart in to top fifty in Australia. Even though "I'm Not in Love" failed to make an impact on the charts, it nominated Hines for two ARIA Awards for "Best Pop Release" and "Best Female Artist". Imagination was also released in Japan on 24 July 1996.

In order to properly promote her album, Hines moved to the UK in 1997 and re-issued her album under the title 'Pay Attention' and toured with Lighthouse Family and Earth, Wind & Fire. "It's Alright" was released in the United Kingdom in 1997 and was received well peaking at #35 on the singles chart. The track also managed to peak at #22 in France. Further hits such as "I Like the Way", "Joy" and "Delicious" followed, however, her career quickly lost its impetus after her album 'Pay Attention' failed to impact the charts. In 1998, Hines cracked the U.S. market on the dance charts with "Joy" and "I Like the Way" both peaking in the top twenty of the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts. Hines released an album of remixed songs from her 'Imagination' and 'Pay Attention' albums on 14 July 1998, titled 'Remix Your Imagination'. This album failed to break into any charts around the world but the song "Dream Your Dream" from the album managed to chart in Japan.

In 2000, Hines did a cover version of the Grace Jones song "Pull Up to the Bumper" for the soundtrack for 2000 Australian film The Wog Boy. 2002 saw Hines released a "Greatest Hits" album ("A Delicious Collection") based on contractual commitments with her then record company Festival Mushroom. In 2003 she spent time in France working with Hip Hop artist I:AM writing and recording for his album in addition to co-writing a track "Welcome" of which Beyoncé Knowles vocalled for I:AM's release.

In 2004 and 2005, Hines spent most of the time overseas with her then-fiancé Ben Steel. Hines was writing for her brand-new album in the US with the likes of The Family Stand and Whole 9 and back in Australia with Jarrad Rogers, Vince Pizzinga and many others. In early 2006, Hines played the part of Reno (a composite character representing a number of Dusty Springfield's lesbian lovers) in the stage musical Dusty, that premiered in Melbourne, before touring Australia until September 2006. Dusty: The Original Pop Diva grossed $20M at the Australian Box Office.

Hines' single "Water for Chocolate", written by the Family Stand, was released in Australia on 8 July 2006 and just missed the top 100 peaking at #28 on the Australian Urban Singles Chart. The song was followed up by an album of the same name released on 19 August 2006. Two further singles "Son of a Preacher Man" (A Dusty Springfield cover) and "5 Days Of Rain" were released throughout 2007. 2007 she collaborated with trumpeter James Morrison on an album of Jazz standards, 'The Other Woman'. Hines and Morrison performed an Australian National Theatre tour to near sell out audiences and received an ARIA nomination for "Best Jazz Album". They also performed at marquee festivals such as Christchurch Jazz Festival and the Darling Harbour Jazz Festival.

In 2008 she teamed up with Christine Anu for the charity single "Takin' it to the Streets" (a cover of the Doobie Brothers' song). In February 2009 a live DVD with bonus audio disk was released, taken for their two national tours. In mid 2008 Hines received a call from renowned Oscar nominated Film Director Bruce Beresford and agreed to play a small role in Mao's Last Dancer. The film was released on 1 October 2009. On 9 October Hines became the ambassador for the humanitarian charity Oasis Africa Australia where she visited the foundation's village and school in Kibera, Kenya in January 2010. While there, Hines commenced recording a world music style album featuring some of the local musicians and the kids' choir from the Oasis Africa School.

July 2010 saw Hines reunite with Tamsin Carroll from Dusty: the Original Pop Diva, to perform a series of shows, "Dusty the Concert", that featured over 20 hits. There were 16 shows. On 9 July 2011, Hines released a new single "Finger on the Trigger", a Donna Summer classic. Produced by Rob Taylor and DJ Alex Taylor, its uptempo funky feel failed to get dancefloors moving and bombed on the charts. From October 2011 Hines featured in the The Celebrity Apprentice Australia. She was fired after task 3, in which her team raised $47,400 for Oasis Africa Australia, but returned for the final episodes on Team Unity.

On 31 July 2012, Hines became engaged to Daniel Moses, a Sydney based Financier. This was exclusively reported in Issue 35 of New Idea magazine. They were married on 23 December 2012 in Sydney. Throughout 2013 and 2014, Hines performed the 'Café Soul Sessions' tour around Australia, and the idea for a soul-inspired album was born. 'The Soul Sessions' was available for download only from her website from December 2014. On 18 November 2016, the new album 'The Soul Sessions' will be released digitally and physically worldwide, with the lead single "What About Love", an original track co-written by Hines & Edward Said. The album also includes two other Hines co-writes, with "I Got Your Back" and "Runnin'". The album also features Hines tributes to artists including Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, Jill Scott, Ertha Franklin, Stevie Wonder & Brea.

SINGLES

Ain't No Sunshine

Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines

3 NOV '91

#5

That Word (L.O.V.E.)

Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines

26 APR '92

#4

It's Not Over

Rockmelons feat. Deni Hines

16 AUG '92

#15

Imagination

3 MAR '96

#37

I Like the Way

30 JUN '96

#67

I'm Not in Love

3 NOV '96

#90

Joy

29 JUN '98

#94

Pull Up to the Bumper

14 FEB '00

#36

Frenzy

5 NOV '01

#53

Stomp!

Marcia Hines & Deni Hines

11 DEC '06

#43

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deni_Hines

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/