Profile by Paddy McCarthy
Now that you have women taking huge steps in all walks of life, in music, politics, theatre, arts, business and right across the spectrum I am happy to introduce some fabulous female entertainers all of whom are Irish or Irish American singers who have great talent. I am going to start off with someone with not a usual Irish name, but who is very much Irish and her name is Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba and she is an Irish singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, fashion model and TV presenter.
In 2000, at the age of 17, she shot to fame with the release of her debut single, “Gotta Tell You”, which reached the top five in Ireland, United Kingdom and the United States. It has since been listed in Billboard’s 100 Greatest Choruses of the 21st Century. Her album of the same name was released later that year and reached number four in Ireland and number nine in the UK. She has had seven top five hits in Ireland and six top ten hits in the United Kingdom.
Mumba has also pursued an acting career, making her film debut in the 2002 film “The Time Machine”, as well as appearing in a number of Irish independent films. She returned to music in 2013 and announced plans to release a second album in 2019.
Mumba was born in Dublin, Ireland. She was the first child of Dubliner Barbara Bishop, an air hostess who met Zambian aircraft engineer Peter Mumba in the 1970s and married him in a Raheny church, Dublin in 1980.Mumba attended Dublin’s Billie Barry Stage School from the age of three to fifteen.
When Mumba was 15 she was discovered on a RTÉ TV talent show “Let Me Entertain You” by Irish music executive Louis Walsh (manager of Boyzone and Westlife). Walsh was impressed by her talent and she was signed to Polydor Records. She subsequently spent several months moving between Denmark, Sweden, UK, and Ireland, where she co-wrote and recorded her debut album, “Gotta Tell You”. She eventually dropped out of school to focus on her music career, explaining that it was becoming difficult to stay in school and work on her music.
In 2001, Mumba contributed to the track “You Raise Me Up” by the Celtic Tenors. An EP titled “Samantha Sings Christmas” was released at Christmas 2001, which included covers of “White Christmas” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You”. “Samantha Sings Christmas” was also included as a bonus disc on some editions of “Gotta Tell You”.
On 27 November 2020, Mumba released the single “Cool”, the lead single from her upcoming album, which Mumba has described as “sexy”, “different” and “more adult”. This girl is oozing with talent and she is not stopping yet, only getting started.
Shortly after the success of “Gotta Tell You”, Mumba became the face of Reebok, appearing in print advertising in the UK and Ireland for the Quest range. Around the same time, Mumba was also seen as the face of the fashion designer Louise Kennedy’s spring/summer collection. In 2004, she was chosen to model the World’s Most Expensive Dress, a £5m diamond cobweb dress, created by Scott Henshall, which was showcased at the London premier for “Spider-Man 2”.
Shortly after, she became the face of Dior ambassador and launched the Dior Watch Collection in Ireland. In 2005, Mumba modelled for the Ultimo Per Amore range, available exclusively at the Irish main-street chain Dunnes Stores.
Mumba became engaged to policeman Torray Scales in June 2011. The couple married in Los Angeles on 24 February, 2012. In September 2014, she announced that she was pregnant with her first child. In February 2015, Samantha escaped uninjured from a three-car pile-up in Los Angeles just weeks before her due date. On 3 March 2015, she gave birth to a baby daugh- ter, whom Mumba and her husband named Sage.
As I mentioned there will be no stopping her when this Covid-19 is cured once and for all, you will be seeing Samantha Mumba performing live again soon as she is so talented. You heard it here.