Nona Gaye

Nona Aisha Gaye[2][3] (sources differ) (born September 4, 1974)[4][5][6] is an American singer, former fashion model, and actress. The daughter of singer Marvin Gaye and granddaughter of jazz musician Slim Gaillard, Gaye began her career as a vocalist in the early 1990s. As an actress, Gaye is best known for her portrayal of Zee in the 2003 science fiction films, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Her only animated film role is that of the unnamed Hero Girl in 2004's The Polar Express.

Nona Gaye
Born
Nona Aisha Gaye

(1974-09-04) September 4, 1974
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation
  • Singer
  • fashion model
  • actress
Years active1992–present
Known forZee in The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
Parent(s)
RelativesSlim Gaillard (maternal grandfather)
Marvin Gay Sr. (paternal grandfather)
Alberta Gay (paternal grandmother)
Frankie Gaye (paternal uncle)
Musical career
Genres
Labels
Associated actsPrince

Early life and career

Gaye released her first album, Love for the Future,[7] on Atlantic Records in October 1992, a month after her eighteenth birthday. The album featured the top 20 hit "I'm Overjoyed" as well as "The Things That We All Do For Love". The following year, Gaye was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. She signed to Ford Modeling Agency in 1994, and became the new face of Armani.

For three years, Gaye both collaborated with and dated singer-songwriter Prince. During this time, she recorded at least four songs with him. A duet, "1000 Hugs and Kisses" and solo track, "Snowman" are currently unreleased, but have made their way into circulation amongst fans. Another duet, "Love Sign", was released on the 1-800-NEW-FUNK compilation album in 1994, along with another track with no Prince contribution, "A Woman's Gotta Have It". Gaye provided backing vocals on "We March" for Prince's 1995 album, The Gold Experience, and on the title track to the Girl 6 soundtrack, released in 1996. Gaye has candidly admitted that during this time she had a long personal battle with drug abuse, which she successfully overcame in 1996.[8] In addition to these projects, she starred in a Prince-produced European TV special called The Beautiful Experience, consisting of a loose storyline to promote new material from Prince (most of which would be released at some point over the next few years).

Later work

Gaye appeared alongside other artists to re-record and release her father's single "What's Going On" for AIDS research in 2001. That same year, she began her acting career, debuting in Michael Mann's Ali. In 2002, she replaced Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash shortly after the filming of The Matrix sequels began, for the role of Zee, the wife of Harold Perrineau's character Link.

At one point, she worked with R. Kelly on two as-yet-released singles, "Work It" & "Just Because", which interpolates the Gap Band's "Oops Up Side Your Head". In July 2006, Gaye was added to the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent as a replacement for Courtney B. Vance as the new Assistant District Attorney. However, just as the series began production for its sixth season, she left the show, citing "creative differences". Gaye was replaced by Theresa Randle, who left after filming only two episodes.

In 2008, three previously recorded tracks by Gaye appeared for sale at AmieStreet.com in EP form. The EP was entitled Language of Love and contains the tracks "Quarter To Three" and "Midas Lover", along with the title track.

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1989 Harlem Nights Patron
2001 Ali Belinda Ali
2003 The Matrix Reloaded Zee
2003 The Matrix Revolutions
2004 Crash Karen
2004 The Polar Express Hero Girl (voice) Also motion-capture
2005 XXX: State of the Union Lola Jackson
2005 The Gospel Charlene Taylor Frank
2009 Blood and Bone Tamara Direct-to-video
Bomberman Fever Carmen Bomber, Tomboy Bomber (voice)

Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2004 The Polar Express Hero Girl
2005 The Matrix Online Zee
2005 The Matrix: Path of Neo Archive footage only

Awards/nominations

Discography

Albums

Singles
  • "I'm Overjoyed" (Third Stone/Atlantic, 1992)
  • "The Things That We All Do for Love" (Third Stone/Atlantic, 1993)
  • "Love Sign" (duet with Prince) (NPG, 1994)
  • "A Woman has to have it" (1-800-NEW-FUNK) (NPG, 1994)

References
  1. "Nona Gaye | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  2. Michael Eric Dyson. Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye. Hachette. ISBN 9780786722471. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  3. Frankie Gaye, Fred E. Basten, Frankie Gaye. Marvin Gaye, My Brother. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781617744983. Retrieved January 8, 2018.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-10-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Nona Gaye". Discogs.com.
  6. "Nona Gaye - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  7. "Love for the Future - Nona Gaye | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  8. Ely, Suzanne (April 24, 2005). "Nona Gaye: What's going on". USA Weekend.
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