Oleta Adams

Friday, May 17, 2019 at 8PM at SOPAC

Since the runaway success of her 1990 debut album Circle of One (which went Platinum), and the impassioned hit single “Get Here” (which became an unofficial anthem of the 1991 Gulf War) Oleta Adams has inspired a growing legion of fans around the world with journeys of the heart via songs that draw deeply from her roots in Gospel, while crossing effortlessly into the realms of Soul, R&B, Urban, and popular music. Her success was first nurtured by worldwide tours with Tears for Fears, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton and Luther Vandross and was solidified by four Grammy Award nominations and more than two and a half million records sold.

A long-time resident of Kansas City, Kansas, where she has found sanctuary from the turmoil of the entertainment industry, Oleta Adams also remains anchored by her upbringing in the Pacific Northwest where she spent her formative years in Seattle and Yakima, Washington. This is also where she first demonstrated her budding vocal gifts in the church where her father was minister. After high school, Oleta eventually landed in Kansas City where she became a local institution with a regular gig at the Hyatt Regency where many national and international touring artists came to hear Oleta Adams sing.

In 1989, serendipity came in the form of the British band Tears for Fears, whose front men Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith asked her to appear on the The Seeds of Love album, video and European tour. Proving that good things come to those who wait, upon her return to the U.S. Oleta signed a record deal for her first solo album which Roland Orzabel produced.

Though the years she has recorded duets with the likes of Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Toots Thielmans, Shirley Ceasar and of course the infamous songs she recorded with Tears for Fears. Oleta Adams music is featured in Hollywood movies Corrina, Corrina,  Sleeping With the Enemy,  Jason’s Lyric, and her vocals were instrumental in setting the tone in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Her stunning vocals can be heard singing “Feeling Good” in the 2008 Buick Enclave commercial.

Oleta’s musical odyssey continues with her ninth album release in 2017, Third Set.