Table of Biography
Samara Joy McLendon is a well-known jazz singer from the United States. As a singer, Samara Joy McLendon won the Grammy award for Best New Artist at this year’s 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
Early Life
Samara Joy McLendon was born on the 11th of November 1999, in the Bronx, New York, the United States of America. She holds American nationality and is currently 23 years old. In addition, she has a birth sign of Scorpio while her ethnic background and religious beliefs are still unknown. Meanwhile, she is also nicknamed Samara Joy.
Caption: Samara Joy McLendon’s old photo with her father (Source: Instagram)
She was born to her father Antonio McLendon while her mother’s identity is not available at the moment. Her father is a well-known vocalist and bassist who has traveled with prominent gospel performer, Andraé Crouch.
She has never mentioned her siblings, thus, she might be the only child of her parents. Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, her paternal grandparents, founded the Philadelphia gospel group The Savettes.
Samara Joy McLendon – Education
McLendon went to Fordham High School for the Arts and performed in its jazz band. During this period, she took home the Best Vocalist prize at the Jazz at Lincoln Center-hosted Essentially Ellington festival for high school students.
When she participated in the jazz program at the State University of New York Purchase College as a vocal student and was selected as an Ella Fitzgerald Scholar, she experienced jazz for the first time in a meaningful way. The legendary jazz vocalists Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, as well as instrumentalists Kenny Washington, Jon Faddis (with whom she studied), and Ingrid Jensen, were all introduced to her by friends there.
Professional Career
Samara Joy McLendon collaborated with producer and future manager Matt Pierson while still in college, where they created her self-titled debut album. She released the album on Whirlwind Recordings on July 9th, 2021. Moreover, she was selected the Best New Artist for 2021 by Jazz Times. She also appeared in the Women of Color on Broadway, Inc. music video for the Porgy and Bess song “Summertime” in February 2021.
She also released several popular viral video performances, one of which had millions of views. On TikTok, these videos attracted 200,000 followers as of November 2022. Following her breakthrough, she went on a tour of Europe that featured several sold-out performances in Italy and Austria.
Caption: Samara Joy McLendon singing in a program (Source: Instagram)
In 2021 and 2022, she made a tour of the US and Europe; among the festivals, she performed at were the 2022 Monterey Jazz Festival, the Winter Jazzfest, the Jazz Underground series at Lincoln Center, etc. Samara and guitarist Pasquale Grasso performed on Today on February 15, 2022. In September 2022, she gave another performance.
Additionally, on June 15, 2022, she performed at Carnegie Hall’s 16th Annual Notable Occasion. She also performed at the Newport Jazz Festival and was a featured artist on the Let Sound Tell All jazz piano CD by Julius Rodriguez, released in 2022.
Samara’s second album, “Linger Awhile,” was made available on Verve Records on September 16, 2022. Bassist David Wong, guitarist Pasquale Grasso, pianist Ben Paterson, and drummer Kenny Washington all appear on the record. She sang with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra during their winter 2022 Big Band Holidays tour.
Awards
Caption: Samara Joy with her two Grammy awards (Source: CNN)
Till now, this singer has won five awards and one nomination. In 20219, this singer won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. She las was named 2021 Best New Artist by JazzTimes. In 2022, she won the Jazz Music Awards for Best New Jazz Artist. She won two Grammy Awards; one for Best New Artist and another for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2023. Similarly, this same year, she was nominated for NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Jazz Album – Vocal.
Samara Joy McLendon – Net Worth 2023
This popular singer earns mostly from endorsement deals, best-selling music albums, concerts, and other business ventures. As of now, her net worth is estimated at around $4 million while her exact earnings and income are still under review.
Relationship Status
Talking about her personal life, Samara Joy McLendon has not shared anything regarding her personal life in public. She might be probably single and unmarried. Moreover, she has not been married or engaged in the past. Like most celebs, she also prefers to keep her personal life secret from the media and the public. In the future, she might find a perfect match with whom she would spend her entire life.
As of now, this American singer is not a part of controversy or rumors. Since she is focused on her career at the moment and avoid such thing which can affect her career.
Body Measurements
Caption: Samara Joy McLendon attending an award function (Source: Instagram)This young beautiful singer stands 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs around 50-55kg. Moreover, she has a pair of brown eyes with black hair color, and her other body measurements are still yet to be disclosed.
Samara Joy McLendon – Social Media
On her Instagram page ‘@samarajoysings’ there are over 367k followers. Likewise, there are over 14.5k followers on her Twitter page ‘@SamaraJoy99’ and she is not active on Facebook at the moment.
She has a self-titled YouTube channel, where she usually posts her new songs and music videos. There are over 78.4k subscribers on her YouTube channel In addition, she has a TikTok account named ‘@samarajoysings’ there are over 585.3k followers.