Empress Adara releases Late Night Fights with the help of grandfather Leroy Sibbles
AFTER writing songs for many years, Empress Adara saw the release of her first single in September with Late Night Fights.
The lovers’ rock ballad is produced by her grandfather, rocksteady legend Leroy Sibbles, and was released by his Bright Beam Music label.
The Toronto, Canada, native is happy to get off the mark but points out she is not the typical up-and-coming artiste.
“I’ve only been recording for a couple of years but I’ve been writing since I was seven. One of my biggest influences is, of course, my grandfather but I have so many more [that] I can’t even count them. Some are Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Ashley Cole, Stevie Wonder…the list goes on,” she said.
Empress Adara is the second of Sibbles’ grandchildren to get into music. Kid Kwazii, a rapper and her older brother, launched his recording career in 2016.
Sibbles was lead singer and chief songwriter for The Heptones, one of the top acts at Studio One in the late 1960s. He was also that label’s top bass player, a role he reprises on Late Night Fights.
Empress Adara is familiar with his legacy, which also includes helping to establish reggae in Canada where he lived for over 20 years.
“Every time that a song he’s in is on the radio, I’m told. I’m extremely lucky to have him as a grandfather,” she said.