Cheryline Ernestine Lim (born 10 March 1983), known by her stage name Che'Nelle, is a Malaysian-Australian singer-songwriter. She gained popularity in Japan with the release of her debut studio album, Things Happen for a Reason (2007).

Che'Nelle
Che'Nelle in 2016
Che'Nelle in 2016
Background information
Birth nameCheryline Ernestine Lim
Born (1983-03-10) 10 March 1983 (age 41)
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Genres
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Years active2006–present
Labels
Websitechenelleworld.com

Early life

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Cheryline Ernestine Lim was born on 10 March 1982, to a Chinese father, and a mother of Indian and Dutch heritage. Born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Lim and her family moved to Perth, Australia when she was 10 years old.[1] As a child she gained the attention of her father after singing in his karaoke lounge, seeing her talent.[1] She later started writing and producing her own music in her home studio.[2] Sir Charles Dixon discovered her talents,[1] after she uploaded some of her music onto Myspace.[2] Dixon took her material to Virgin Records and Virgin flew Che'nelle to New York City at the end of 2005 to meet with representatives from the label. The chairman of the label and longtime music business baron, Jason Flom, signed her immediately. Within two days, she had completed the deal and was marketed as a world-class artist. Che'nelle worked as a promotions assistant before moving to New York in January after signing a six-album deal with Virgin Records America.[3] In Australia, she is represented by EMI.

Career

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2006–2008: Things Happen for a Reason

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She performed as the opening act on American rapper Kanye West's Australian tour in March 2006.

Her debut album Things Happen for a Reason was released[4] on 25 September 2007 in Japan and 29 October 2007 in Australia. The first single from this album was "I Fell in Love with the DJ" featuring reggae artist Cham. The song was also produced in Bahasa Malaysia with the title of "DJ yang Ku Puja".

She also co-wrote American singer and former Pussycat Dolls member Carmit Bachar's song "Fierce", Australian singer Ricki-Lee Coulter's debut single "Hell No!" and English singer Leona Lewis's song "Can't Breathe".

2009–present

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Artwork for "You & I" by Shifta and Che'Nelle (2016)

Her second album was later confirmed and given the working title Feel Good, named after the first single from the album.

The first single "Feel Good" from this album is strongly influenced by reggae and dancehall music just like her first single "I Fell in Love with the DJ" from her debut album (Things Happen for a Reason, 2007) which features Jamaican dancehall artist "Cham". The music video for "Feel Good"[5] premiered online on 11 January 2010.[6]

The album Feel Good was released on 10 February 2010 in Japan via EMI Japan.

The album garnered the singles "Feel Good" and "Missing".

Her third album and first cover album, called Luv Songs was released on 20 July 2011 in Japan only, which featured covers of songs by American R&B singers such as Ne-Yo, Minnie Ripperton and Whitney Houston and also songs in Japanese.

In 2015, Che'Nelle was invited to the touring ice show Fantasy on Ice, where she performed live with figure skater and two-time Olympic champion, Yuzuru Hanyu, to the song "Believe" amongst others.[7]

In 2017, Che’Nelle completed her contract with Universal Music Japan sublabel Virgin Music.

In 2023, Che’Nelle announced she signed with Avex Trax. Her first single under the label, "I Am", was released in December.[8]

Discography

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Filmography

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Title Year Role Notes
"The Waste" 2010 Alien Harlot Short movie
"Multifarious" Maria
"A Hollywood Zone" 2011 Alicia
"Ava" 2013 herself
"Bond: Kizuna" 2019 Mew Movie

Awards and nominations

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List of awards received by Che'Nelle
Award Year Nomination Nominated work Result
Japan Gold Disc Award 2008 Top New Artist Che'Nelle Won
2012 Concept Album of the Year Luv Songs Won
MTV Video Music Awards Japan Best Karaokee! Song "Baby I Love U" Nominated
Japan Gold Disc Awards 2013 Western Artist of the Year Che'Nelle Won
Western Album of the Year "Believe" Won
Song of the Year by Download Won
Best 3 Western Albums Won

References

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  1. ^ a b c Air Bourne (13 February 2010). "Malaysian-born singer Che'Nelle is back with her second disk, "Feel Good"". The Bajan Reporter. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Che'Nelle Music News & Info". Billboard. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  3. ^ Chandran, Sheela (25 July 2007). "Virgin deal for Malaysian-born singer Che'nelle". The Star Bhd. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  4. ^ "Amazon – Music – Things Happen for a Reason". Amazon ((Music)). 25 September 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  5. ^ "New Music | TheNext2Shine:Exclusive RNB Music Downloads". Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  6. ^ "Artist – Che'Nelle". EMI Music Japan. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  7. ^ Oriyama, Toshimi (1 June 2015). 羽生結弦はなぜ、アイスショーで4回転ループに3回も挑戦したのか [Why Yuzuru Hanyu tried the quadruple loop jump three times at the ice show] (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Shueisha. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022.
  8. ^ "シェネル、6年ぶりとなる日本語詞シングルのリリースが決定". Barks (in Japanese). 17 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
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