Oleta Adams is a multiple Grammy-nominated contralto singer/songwriter, Stellar Award and Dove Award nominated American soul and jazz singer. She has been able to capture the hearts of the listeners with her low-pitched, melodious voice.

Oleta Adams was born on 4 May 1962, in Seattle, Washington in a preacher's family. Her father was a preacher and a lot of gospel music used to be played in her house. She was bought up with a healthy dose of gospel music. Eventually when she was quite young, her family shifted to Yakima, Washington. She had an inclination towards music right from childhood, and she decided to pursue music as her career. She entered the music world with her melodic voice, and two self financed albums in the early 1980s. The albums did not do well; it was not able to help her find a place in the highly competitive world of music. She did not lose hope and continued performing, finally she was noticed by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, founders of the English pop band, Tears for Fears. Impressed by her vocals, they invited her to be a part of their band as a singer on their next album The Seeds of Love. In 1989 the single "Woman In Chains" - sung, as a duet by Adams and Orzabal, with Phil Collins on drums became her first major hit. Adams embarked on her actual solo career in 1990, and a year later she issued her maiden album, Circle of One, produced by Orzabal to critical acclaim. The album is considered to be one of her biggest hits. The album also had the cover of Brenda Russell's "Get Here", which got for her a Grammy nomination. She was part of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin tribute album, Two Rooms, in which she sang her version of John's 1974 hit "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me". Her album, Evolution, too became a huge commercial success. In 1995 she issued Moving On, which saw the shift of focus towards R&B. After two years she issued the Christian themed album, Come Walk With Me. She hit the road with Phil Collins's Big Band Jazz Tour, as a guest vocalist in 1998. Adams' smooth opulent low-pitched voice has become the forefront in an R&B jazz segment that was largely empty during Anita Baker's hiatus. Adams has issued her maiden Christmas album, Christmas Time with Oleta on October 3, 2006.

Discography Albums • October 3, 2006,Christmas Time with Oleta. • 2004,Ultimate Collection. • 2001,All the Love. • 1997, Come Walk With Me. • 1996, The Very Best of Oleta Adams. • 1995,Moving On. • 1993, Evolution. • 1990,Circle of One. • 1983,Going on Record.