Samantha Mumba was born in Dublin, Ireland, where she has become known as quite a pop/R&B sensation at 18. A student at Dublin's renowned Billie Barry Stage School from the age of 3 to 15, Samantha was always very studious about school. That is why when she decided to leave school by the time she was 17, she knew she was immersing herself into concentrating solely on her intensifying music career, especially a record contract. The ball got rolling for Samantha when she was cast as the lead in The Hot Mikado, a jazzy 1998 production based on Gilbert and Sullivan's opera. Her performance received many accolades, and ensured that Ireland -- and the world -- would soon know who Samantha Mumba was. She was then invited to perform on several Irish television shows, singing live, even when they specified that she mime. The Irish television tour helped Samantha gain both recognition and experience, but it was her particular aggressiveness and persuasive attitude that made her professional career take off.
Samantha got herself into a Dublin nightclub by convincing the bouncer that she was an R&B singer from New York, in town to produce her debut album. Once in the club, her friend introduced her to the manager of boy bands Boyzone and Westlife. He saw Samantha's talent, knew she had pop star potential, and immediately singed her to his record label, Polydor. After six months of intense performing and studio work while studying at school, 17-year-old Samantha decided to leave and focus on her career. Juggling school and performing was a difficult task, and she plans to return to her studies if -- and when -- everything cools down. (Ironically, her and Brian from Westlife were the two that were considered least likely to succeed in the stage school.) But it's doubtful that Samantha's career will be cooling off anytime soon, especially not with her debut single, "Gotta Tell You" burning up the charts. Released in 2000, the first track off her debut album of the same name rose to number one in her native Ireland in a record breaking 4 days, has been a number one hit in the US, and number 3 on the UK charts. Her second single, Body II Body, will surely become a staple on the music charts, as its already creating body heat in Ireland and the UK. Gotta Tell You was released in 2000, and is steadily climbing up the international charts. Although Samantha is constantly touring and taking her act worldwide, the loyal Kylie Minogue fan calls Drumcondra, Dublin, home.
