What Happened to Shontelle? 4 Facts About the ‘Impossible’ Singer
Shontelle Layne, who is professionally known as “Shontelle,” is a singer/songwriter from Barbados.
If you need memory jogger, she’s the R&B singer who rose to success in the 2000s with her hit singles “Impossible,” and “T-Shirt.” Her style of music has been characterized as a mix of Ne-Yo and Ashanti.
But what ever happened to Shontelle?
This is what we found out about Shontelle’s projects.
1 SHONTELLE IS BEST KNOWN FOR HER ALBUM “NO GRAVITY.”
From its catchy chorus to its emotional lyrics, Shontelle’s song “Impossible” is one of the best songs to listen to during a heartbreak.
And that’s exactly why she wrote it.
Shontelle told Digital Sky, “I knew that there was no song out there for heartbroken people. I just wanted to put a song out that gave people hope – things may not work out the way you want them to, but you can move past it and everything is gonna be okay.”
“No Gravity,” the album that contained “Impossible,” was released in 2010, and after the first week of its release it placed number eighty-one on the Billboard 200. And, as you may have guessed, “Impossible” did pretty well itself. It reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it her most successful single to date.
However, between 2010 and 2012, the Barbadian singer and songwriter was very quiet. Then boom! At the end of 2012, the Season 9 winner of the UK’s X Factor, James Arthur released his version of Impossible and gave the track new legs.
Die-hard fans were hoping that Shontelle's hiatus would end again at the two-year mark but it's 2019 now and she hasn't dropped new material since.
2 SHE’S ONLY RELEASED TWO ALBUMS THROUGHOUT HER CAREER.
Out of all the years Shontelle has been in the music industry, she’s only released two albums.
In 2008, she released her debut album “Shontelligence,” which marked the official beginning of her music career.
She wrote on her website bio, “‘Shontelligence’ merely defines the knowledge that I have acquired throughout my life, the knowledge yet to be absorbed and ultimately the product of all my experiences which I then translate into my music.”
The album’s single, “T-Shirt,” reached number 36 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Although it wasn’t a big hit in the U.S., it did reach the top ten of the music charts in Belgium and the United Kingdom.
But even if the album didn’t climb the charts in the U.S., Shontelle still became known for her work. She gave her fans a second album, “No Gravity,” which, as previously discussed, did much better than the first.
3. SHE USED TO BE RIHANNA’S DRILL SERGEANT.
Shontelle and Rihanna have a past. Other than the fact they’re both from Barbados, they were in Cadets Corp together in Barbados.
But not only were they in the cadets together, Shontelle was actually the one giving Rihanna orders.
Shontelle told ELLE in 2011, “It was fun … I’ve actually made her ‘drop and give me ten’! Cadets is almost like R.O.T.C. but it’s voluntary and for both males and females. Can you imagine Rihanna dressed in camouflage fatigues and boots?”
Aside from being cadets together, Shontelle and Rihanna have also worked together. In fact, she co-wrote Rihanna’s song “Man Down” from her fifth studio album, “Loud.”
4 WHAT IS SHONTELLE UP TO NOW?
It’s been nine years since since we’ve had a new album from Shontelle. A big reason for her disappearance from the music industry can be attributed to the fact that she was moving from one label company to another.
In January 2018, Shontelle posted a photo of herself with DJ Khaled in the studio. We were expecting new music, but nothing has been released. Shontelle is still active on Instagram, with shots of the studio. Hopefully in 2019, she’s able to grace us with new music.