We need a TAMAR FAQ on this site, so in the meantime, can we start a little bit of information flowing on this thread? There was a profile on her that someone posted on here a while back, with her history and whatnot - anyone have that?

thanks for making this a sticky. i am the one who posted the info on tamar awhile back, but for some reason, the thread got deleted. i tried going to it a few days back, and it was deleted...didnt get to see why

Ashley has been singing, acting and dancing since the age of 3 in her hometown of Houston, Texas. She is the 2004 NAACP Nominee in the category for Best Lead Female Actress and former Miss Black Texas Teen 1997-98. Besides singing with ANGAZA, she has been the featured vocalist on Lee Ritenour's "Twist of Motown" tour. She has also performed with Gerald Albright and Phil Perry at 94.7 The Wave jazz concerts. As a background vocalist she has performed with Celine Dion, Yolanda Adams, Rev. Donnie McClurkin and CeCe Winans, to name a few. Ashley is also an accomplished actress and has performed in numerous plays, musicals, on television and in motion pictures.

Birthplace:
Houston, Texas.

Siblings:
I have one older (Nolan Jay), one younger (Sean) brother and 2 older half-sisters (Shell and Chaquita). My 2 brothers live in LA.

Pets:
No, but well, I have to say that my baby brother Sean is my pet! He keeps me laughing all the time.

Did you grow up playing music?
I started singing in public at age 3; I started when I was a baby. My first performance was at the Baby Singing Contest at age 3. I sang, "Believe in yourself" from WIZ.

First concert you attended:
I was 14 years old; I went to see Boyz to Men, Babyface and En Vogue.

First album you bought:
"My way" by Usher. How hot is he!
And now he is back with a hot album when people said that he couldn't do it. Usher to me has no gimmick: He can sing and at the end of the day, that's what will keep him going. He sings from his heart and when he takes the stage he captures you from beginning to end. I look forward to doing a duet with him.

Musical influences:
Growing up I loved Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Babyface, Yolanda Adams, Celine Dion, Lauryn Hill, Roberta Flack and Chaka Khan, Sting

Favorite instrument:
My favorite instrument is the guitar. I've taken a few lessons and I'm learning how to play. I like the sound that the guitar adds to music because it takes you away to far places and it makes you groove. You don't need a pianist or a drummer to get the vibe of any song led by a guitar.

Favorite song/album:
My favorite songs are "Almost Doesn't Count " by Brandy and "When You Believe' from the Prince of Egypt soundtrack by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

Musical guilty pleasure:
I like Sting and one of my favorite songs for me to get wild and crazy is Prince's "Kiss."

Favorite movie:
Sound of Music - I love the melodies on the sound track.
Little Rascals - because they are cute and bad, and they act so grown up.

Favorite kind of food:
French fries, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, Chicken Caesar Salad - I eat it almost every day.

If you weren't a musician, what would you be?
I would say it would be either a WNBA Coach because after playing basketball with my little brother, I've learned that it really challenges your workout skills. I would also like to be a Ballerina because I've taken ballet all of my life and I would like to be in The Nutcracker at least once.

thanks red, yes, i posted it here, HQ and npgmc...i dont know if i posted the chron article on hq, but i am pretty sure i did on here as well as at npgmc.

Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: TUE 08/18/1992
Section: Houston
Page: 1
Edition: 2 STAR

GIRLS TYME/OK guys, step aside. Six Houston preteens figure it's their turn for success in the music business

By CHERYL LAIRD
Staff

THE way these kids figure it, we've seen enough teen-age boys who can hit the high notes and grind their hips in unison.

So, farewell New Edition and New Kids on the Block. So long Kriss Kross, Another Bad Creation and Hi-Five. "Hasta la vista" Boyz II Men and Jodeci.

Meet Girls Tyme. These six Houston preteens can blend soaring harmonies, deliver gritty rap solos and pump out grooving dance moves. And they're not boys.

"We hope to be the No. 1 girls group and send positive messages and bring people to see what we're talking about and make this world a better place," singer Ashley Davis, 12, explains in one breath.

It's an expansive goal, considering Ashley and her friends have yet to make a record. And, since they're girls, the road to success is likely to be all the more tough.

With notable exceptions such as En Vogue and TLC, today's popular sing-and-dance groups are dominated by guys.

"Most of the big groups are guy groups. I don't know if it's because they have more opportunities or if they have more appeal," says Greg Head, music director for contemporary-hits radio KBXX (97.9-FM).

But the time may be right for girl groups. Three weeks ago KBXX began playing a song called "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!" by Voices, a group of 12-year-old girls. Head says the phone has been ringing with requests from young listeners.

Girls Tyme's producer and songwriter, Alonzo Jackson, says pop superstar Prince has called twice about wanting to record the group on his Paisley Park record label. (Prince's publicist says nothing is official.)

"They are very talented, I mean, extremely talented. They seem to be on their way up," says Howard Harris, founder of the People's Workshop of Houston, a non-profit educational organization that promotes the local performing arts.

But the six members of Girls Tyme aren't spending time dwelling on business opportunities. They stay busy juggling school and social schedules with up to six hours of dance-and-song practice per day.

In addition to Ashley, group members are singers Beyonce Knowles, 10, and Kelly Rowland, 11, and dancers/rappers Latavia Roberson, 10, Nikki Taylor, 13, and her sister Nina Taylor, 11.

They go to five different Houston-area schools. All are honor-roll students from middle-class families.

Until a year ago, most of them didn't know each other. They were selected from more than 30 girls who auditioned in July 1991 for a group of women, including present manager Ann Tillman, who thought there was a market for a girls' group.

Since then, the girls -- now best friends -- have performed at the Black Expo, the Miss Black Houston Metroplex pageant, AstroWorld and a Dallas high school, opening for rapper Yo-Yo. Their biggest gig to date was the 1992 Sammy Davis Jr. Awards Saturday night at the Wortham Center.

Their songs, written by Jackson and Tony Moore, combine rhythm and blues, rap and pop. Most are innocent ditties about boys and world unity.

The girls design most of their own choreography, which combines tough, aggressive, hip-pumping dance moves in unison with soulful solos to the audience. Beyonce, who isn't yet allowed to date, once pulled a preteen boy onstage for an eye-to-eye serenade before releasing him, embarrassed but grinning, to his seat.

They are cool-headed for young girls, responding to questions with complete sentences, lots of smiles and only a few giggles. They count as among their favorite performers En Vogue, Michael Jackson and Hammer, but, in classic professional form, hesitate to catalog themselves.

"We have our own style," lead rapper Latavia explains.

FYI, if you are excited about Tamar and are tired of all the Tamar bashing that goes on at Prince fan boards, Tamar has her own forum now connected to her official website that can be accessed directly at this link:

http://www.tamaronline.co.../index.php

redflag said:

Thanks so much for the link. I am definitely sick of the unwarranted Tamar bashing.

I am having trouble getting onto the main site. I downloaded the lastest version of Flash, but I still can't get in, other than the forum page.

PurpleCharm said:

Ditto for me. What operating system do you have? It might be a Mac OS 9 issue.

redflag said:

Windows XP

PurpleCharm said:

Interesting. I'm so used to thinking when I have a problem with a site that it's because I have a Mac! Obviously something else is going on.

redflag said:

I was finally able to get in. I think it was do to me rebooting my computer. The site looks very nice.

Prince wanted to sign the group she was in, Girls Tyme (which also included future Destiny's Child members Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Latavia Roberson) to Paisley Park Records in 1992 as the below link to an archived article at the Houston Chronicle website describes:

http://www.chron.com/CDA/...92_1074953

Tamar is likeable, she could do an album. If she got her HAIR done like Brandy braided and maybe mixed-dyed(?) like Christina Aguilera and hanging LONG like Naomi Campbell she’d be more stunning to look at, do y’all get my idea? She doesn’t need any dance routine. she doesn’t need the ‘bling’ either. she doesn’t have to play an instrument, puke her life story or do like other ego-trippy celebs who have something to say about everything and so-and-so… Prince chose her clothes (NPG?), direct her musical message and style, that’s fine… hmmm, I don’t want her confused with Mani, tho? I trust Prince 110%; if HE believes in her, so do i! I can’t wait for the WORLD TOUR, don’t keep us waiting too long. Anyways, lucky her! I hope she has fun and takes the fame easy peasy. I just prefer the music, the singer/performer and the songs, WITHOUT publicity, hype, I don’t want music to get lost in melo-drama ANYMORE! especially females in the industry; no-more baggage! we’ve had enough already! Keep it simple, clean, liberated, fair and honest. Is that too much to ask for these days?

Just pure curiosity...

How famous is this chick in the States?

I have only heard of her in this website...
[Edited 3/1/06 7:35am]

I have a few questions. Hopefully someone can answer them.

What does being a Prince protege mean?
In addition to writing and producing Tamar's album, is he also her manager?
Did he help her get her deal with Universal?

PurpleCharm said:

People have different definitions for a "Prince protege". My personal definition is an artist or act where either Prince produced the entire album (as opposed to merely contributing a track or two) or whose projects were released on one of Prince's record labels (Paisley Park or NPG Records). Some people include artists like Sheena Easton or Martika as proteges because Prince gave them hit songs and would exclude artists who recorded for Paisley Park and NPG Records that had projects with no Prince involvement like Tony LeMans or Good Question. It depends on who you ask.

The second question I don't know the answer to. For the early "Jamie Starr"/Starr Company productions Prince did for acts like The Time, Vanity/Apollonia 6 and Sheila E. they had the same management Prince had at the time (Cavallo, Ruffalo and Fargnoli). During the Paisley Park/NPG Records era the management of the various associated acts varied. I've heard Tamar's mother might be managing her, but I don't know for sure.

I can only presume that Prince helped Tamar get her deal with Universal as she wasn't signed by anyone before he started working with her, but once again I don't know for sure. Hope that helps.
[Edited 3/1/06 22:34pm]