Lisa Stansfield (born on April 11, 1966) is a British soul singer from Rochdale, Lancashire, England, the former frontwoman for Blue Zone. After releasing several unsuccessful singles in her mid-teens (she also co-hosted a Children's TV pop show at this time, Razzamattazz), she became a major international star beginning with her guest vocal stint on Coldcut's UK classic, "People Hold On". She is probably best known for her first solo single, "All Around the World", which reached the Top Ten in the United States and No. 1 in the United Kingdom. Other worldwide hits from her solo debut Affection include "This is the Right Time", "Live Together", "What Did I Do To You" and "You Can't Deny It". Both "Been Around the World" and "You Can't Deny It" hit No. 1 on Billboard's R&B charts. Affection went platinum in the US, and sold a total of 5 million copies worldwide. In 1992, Stansfield won a Brit award as best British female solo artist. However, her second album Real Love could not live up to the success of Affection. However, it did spawn four Top 40 singles on the European charts: "Change", "All Woman", "Time to Make You Mine" and "Set Your Loving Free". "All Woman" became Stansfield's third No. 1 single on Billboard's R&B charts, and due to the success of that song, the album went gold in the US. "All Woman" is classic kitchen sink soul, full of pathos and emotion. Like "All Around the World", many critics did not initially believe that it hadn't been performed by a black singer.
She continued recording disco-influenced soul throughout the 1990s. Her third album So Natural (1993) spawned three Top 40 European singles in the title track, "In All the Right Places," and "Little Bit of Heaven," but the album was never released in the US. She had continued success throughout Europe although, unfortunately, her popularity in America has diminished. Her self-titled fourth album Lisa Stansfield (1997) was a hit in Europe with two top ten singles - "People Hold On" (re-released as a dance mix by the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and "The Real Thing," and the Top 40 track "Never Never Gonna Give You Up" (a remake of Barry White's 1973 hit); upon being released in the US the album did not receive much attention outside the dance clubs where remixes were very successful. Her 2001 album Face Up featured the singles "Let's Just Call It Love" and "8-3-1" and found her experimenting with newer styles of R&B such as 2-step while continuing with her trademark sound. Unfortunately, it again was not released in the US. After leaving her record company a greatest hits collection called Biography was released and sold moderately, However Lisa needed to find a new record label if her career was to continue like her hits collection said. Her 2004 release The Moment (with a new label) was produced by Trevor Horn, well-known for his work with Seal among others. Featuring the singles "Treat Me Like A Woman" and "If I Hadn't Got You" the album found Lisa exploring more pop-oriented material. Musician Shaun Ryder has said that "she makes me look posh." Despite this, the album was another failure for Lisa and once again she was dropped by a record company and is currently without a deal.
Stansfield also starred in the 1999 film "Swing" with actor Hugo Speer, recording covers of swing classics for the soundtrack.
Despite having the same name and coming from Rochdale, Lisa Stansfield is not related to the famous singer of the 1930s and 1940s, Gracie Fields (her real name was Grace Stansfield). However, she does own a recording studio called 'Gracielands'.
