Meleana

Hawaii's Meleana Brown, aka Meleana, is an emotive pop, jazz, gospel, and R&B-influenced vocalist who first came to the public's attention as a contestant on the first season of ABC's singing competition Duets. Raised in Hawaii and Japan, where her family spent several years, Meleana grew up in a multicultural household with a father who is African-American, Portuguese, and Hawaiian and a mother who is Filipino and Spanish. Interested in music from a young age, she first began singing with her family at church in Oahu. While in Japan, she joined her family's Hawaiian musical group and began performing at local venues. After returning to Hawaii with her family, Meleana continued to perform and gained early exposure in her teens as one of the top 12 finalists on the locally televised singing competition Hawaii Stars in 2003. From there, she earned high-profile gigs including opening for <a href="spotify:artist:0du5cEVh5yTK9QJze8zA0C">Bruno Mars</a> and appearing on such shows as North Shore and Lost. After moving to Los Angeles, Meleana successfully auditioned for the debut season of ABC's singing competition Duets in 2012. During her time on the show, she performed with Grammy-winning artist <a href="spotify:artist:5y2Xq6xcjJb2jVM54GHK3t">John Legend</a> and ultimately finished in seventh place. In 2016, Meleana released her debut solo album, White Walls, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dream+Records%22">Dream Records</a>. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi