MYNIPPON Celebrity Gossip

Britney Christian is a singing sensation at 16. Darryl Worley is rocking with his country music. Mastodon is touring the world promoting metal music. Brooke Hogan is on the roll. Well, let me add another name to the list of rising stars: R&B singer and songwriter Shayna Steele.

In just two years on the New York soul scene, she has created a category of her own. A great vocalist, Shayna was an original cast member of the Broadway hit musical RENT. She has also appeared on the Grammy Awards, Late Night with David Letterman, the Today Show, Conan O'Brien, and the Tony Awards. As a writer, her love and life experiences are woven into songs that move your body and your mind. Add to that an 11-piece band with musicians from the bands of Beyonce to Justin Timberlake to Dr. Dre to the Lincoln Center Jazz and Latin Jazz Orchestras - and you have an eclectic combination.

The demand for her voice has led to recordings this year with MOBY and David Liang (Carl Thomas). Her current songwriting collaboration with David Cook, keyboardist/musical director/writer-arranger for NSYNC, American Idol, Becky Baeling and JC Chasez, has resulted in her self-titled EP, with songs about being done right and done wrong. "This music comes from every part of my being, from my soul," says Steele. I can't fake this music. I'm not trying to be who anybody else wants me to be...this is who I am."