Star File

Yola

Yola is a six-time Grammy nominated artist, songwriter, and actor who has achieved critical acclaim, breakout success, and has been proclaimed as one of the most exciting and innovative artists in music today. NPR called her latest album, Stand For Myself (2021), the “best soul record of the past 20 years”, while Rolling Stone championed her as “one of contemporary pop’s greatest singers, who just so happens to also be one of its sharpest songwriters.” Yola made her acting debut as the founder of rock and roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, in Baz Luhrmann’s musical drama, Elvis, and earned a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture. She made her awards show performance debut at the American Music Awards in November 2022, as their featured “Song Of The Soul” performer. That same evening the Elvis movie soundtrack won the "Favorite Soundtrack" award. Yola is a member of The Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective, and to celebrate Yola’s impact and influence on music, her guitar was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Right Here, Right Now exhibit. Yola is currently working on a R&B/Soul project that will surely add another gem to her genre-fluid catalog.