Gioia Bruno
Template:Infobox musical artist 2
Gioia Bruno (born Carmen Gioia Bruno June 11, 1963, sometimes professionally credited as just Gioia) is a popular music singer, most noted as a member of the vocal group Exposé.
Early life and career
Bruno was born in Bari, Italy. She was raised in New Jersey. At the age of 16, she started singing in night clubs with bands, after being encouraged by her friend David Fields to make serious efforts with her musical career. After high school, she moved to Manhattan. In 1986 she auditioned for a group in Florida and relocated there. When performing at the Gee Wiz nightclub in Miami, Florida, she was approached by Frank Diaz, of Pantera Group Enterprises, who offered her a role in Exposé. After over nine months of recruitment attempts, Bruno finally accepted the offer and ended up joining the group.
Bruno sang lead on the Exposé singles Let Me Be The One, What You Don't Know, and Tell Me Why. She toured with the group between 1986 and 1990, except for a short period where she was replaced by Julie Albers, while on maternity leave.
In 1990, a benign throat tumor ended up putting her singing career on hiatus. An operation was considered but rejected by Bruno since it could permanently damage her vocal cords. She was forced to cut short the "What You Don't Know" tour in August 1990, just before Exposé was slated to perform at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, Massachusetts. She left Exposé in 1991, though fans in the Exposé fan club were not told until mid-1992, shortly before the release of the next album. She was replaced by Kelly Moneymaker.
Bruno co-founded the West Broward Performing Arts Academy in Florida. She was unable to sing for a few years and even had to keep regular talking to a minimum. Finally, after about 4-5 years of healing, vocal retraining and development, she fully regained her voice, resumed her singing career. When Exposé reformed in 2006, she returned to the group for the first time in fifteen years.
Solo Projects
Bruno's return to the charts was a release by Mayday Records. She did a demo track for them called Make That Move, which was released to dance clubs under the pseudonym G-Spot and was sold via the Exposé Fan Club, marketed directly to members in 1995. The single ended up reaching 21 on the Top Dance-Club Play charts of Billboard. A remix version was released and sold via the fan-club as well.
For a few years, Bruno worked in the band Wet, with her friend John Thomas, performing lead vocals and co-writing several songs with the group. This group performed in local venues in Florida. She performed in the band for a few years, then left to work on a solo career. She worked on writing songs with Ritchie Supa. She then worked with Richie Sambora, performing both background vocals and percussion for his solo tour.
Bruno's first solo single was "Free To Be", which topped charts across the U.S. and Canada. Her second single, "From The Inside", was prominently featured on the prime time cable series Queer as Folk. Her third solo single, "Wrecking My Nerves", produced by Chris Cox, saw similar success in the dance music community. In 2004, her first album, Expose This, was released on Koch Records. The album's two singles, "Be Mine" and "Incredible" , made the Top 50 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts.
Bruno has also done projects with others. Bruno also co-produced and sang lead vocals on Will To Power's 2005 remake of "Dreamin' (again)" which hit the #1 position on most US dance charts and dance radio stations, including WMPH where it remained #1 for many months.[citation needed] She has also worked on solo music projects independently, including "Why Did You Call Me Again", co-produced by original Exposé producer Lewis Martineé, and a remake of the Kenny Loggins song "This Is It", produced by Anila R. Monterrey and Eric Nunez.
In September 2006, Bruno temporarily stopped touring as a solo artist[1] and reunited with Exposé with members Curless and Jurado after a 15 year hiatus. In the fall of 2007, she began devoting time to her solo career again while still touring with Exposé. A remake of Jackie Wilson's 1967 hit Higher and Higher on Harlequin Records has been released and is being marketed to dance clubs.
In the summer of 2008, Gioia went into the studio to begin working on her second solo album. A couple of collaboration efforts were promoted - "Kiss & Tell" with Win Marcinak and "Obama - Yes We Can" with Andy Fraser.
Drug Trafficking and Arrests
It was reported on June 23, 2010 by several media sources including Radaronline.com and Perezhilton.com that Bruno was charged with trafficking methamphetamines in Broward County, Florida. According to a police report obtained and posted online exclusively by RadarOnline.com, Gioia -- whose real name is allegedly “Carmen Bruna” per the arrest reports and court documents -- was arrested on April 14, 2009 and charged with one felony count of trafficking methamphetamines in the amount of 28 grams to 200 grams.
The felony case is currently closed. A Broward County Central Courthouse spokesperson told RadarOnline.com that Bruno has received 5 years probation for the felony conviction. RadarOnline.com has also reported that the singer’s rap sheet spans back to a 2000 charge of “Disturbance Noise” and a 2002 charge of “Disorderly Conduct.” Reports also indicate that Bruno has been contacted by Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab in 2009 and in 2010 to appear on the program. .[2]
Relationships
Bruno has been married and divorced two times. She has a daughter from her first marriage to Joseph Pastore, Brianna Pastore, who was born in 1988. In January 2006, Gioia acknowledged she is bisexual on the Q Television Network show Brunch.[3][4]
Discography
Albums
- Shelter (Lead Vocals, by the group Wet) 1996
- Expose This 2004
Singles
| Year | Song | U.S. Club/Dance | U.S. Dance Airplay | U.S. Dance Singles Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "Make That Move" (as G-Spot) | 21 | - | - |
| 2001 | "Free to Be" | 1 | - | - |
| 2003 | "From the Inside" | 1 | 1 | - |
| 2004 | "Wrecking My Nerves" | 3 | 8 | - |
| "Be Mine" | 34 | - | - | |
| 2005 | "Dreamin'(again)" | 1 | 1 | - |
References
- ^ http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Cu&article_code=2613 Innewsweekly.com Retrieved on 05-12-07
- ^ [1] Retrieved on 07-01-10
- ^ http://www.planetout.com/video/article.html?id=1791&navpath=/topics/video/ Planetout.com Retrieved on 05-12-07
- ^ http://afterellen.com/People/2006/10/bruno.html Afterellen.com Retrieved on 05-12-07
External links
- Gioia's Official Web Site
- Gioia's MySpace Entry
- Official Press Release Stating Return of Exposé -- Includes downloadable Podcast featuring Bruno
- Part one of Gioia Bruno Interview with Lydia Marcus of AfterEllen
- Part two of Gioia Bruno Interview with Lydia Marcus of AfterEllen
- Part one of Gioia Bruno Interview with John R. Troy of Exposé Epistle
- Part two of Gioia Bruno Interview with John R. Troy of Exposé Epistle
- Kiss & Tell - WIN featuring Gioia Bruno Press Release
- Radaronline.com EXCLUSIVE: 80's 'Expose' Singer Gioia Bruno Caught Trafficking MethamphetaminesEXCLUSIVE: 80's 'Expose' Singer Gioia Bruno Caught Trafficking Methamphetamines
- Perezhilton.com Lead Singer Of Expose Charged With Trafficking Meth!