Introduction
Cheryline Ernestine Lim (born 10 March 1983), known by her stage name Che'Nelle, is a Malaysian Australian singer-songwriter signed to Universal Music Japan.
Early life
Cheryline Ernestine Lim was born on 10 March 1983, to a Chinese father, and a mother of a mixed of Indian and Dutch heritage. Born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Lim and her family moved to Perth, Australia when she was 10 years old. As a child she gained the attention of her father after singing in his karaoke lounge, seeing her talent. She later started writing and producing her own music in her home studio. Sir Charles Dixon discovered her talents, after she uploaded some of her music onto Myspace. Dixon took her material to Virgin Records and Virgin flew Che'nelle to New York City at the end of 2005 to meet with representatives from the label. The chairman of the label and longtime music business baron, Jason Flom, signed her immediately. Within two days, she had completed the deal and was marketed as a world-class artist. Che'nelle worked as a promotions assistant before moving to New York in January after signing a six-album deal with Virgin Records America. In Australia, she is represented by EMI.
2006–2008: Things Happen for a Reason
She performed as the opening act on American rapper Kanye West's Australian tour in March 2006.
Her debut album Things Happen for a Reason was released on 25 September 2007 in Japan and 29 October 2007 in Australia. The first single from this album was "I Fell in Love with the DJ" featuring reggae artist Cham. The song was also produced in Bahasa Malaysia with the title of "DJ yang Ku Puja".
She also co-wrote American singer and former Pussycat Dolls member Carmit Bachar's song "Fierce", Australian singer Ricki-Lee Coulter's debut single "Hell No!" and English singer Leona Lewis's song "Can't Breathe".
2009–present
Her second album was later confirmed and given the working title Feel Good, named after the first single from the album.
The first single "Feel Good" from this album is strongly influenced by reggae and dancehall music just like her first single "I Fell in Love with the DJ" from her debut album (Things Happen for a Reason, 2007) which features Jamaican dancehall artist "Cham". The music video for "Feel Good" premiered online on 11 January 2010.
The album Feel Good was released on 10 February 2010 in Japan via EMI Japan.
The album garnered the singles "Feel Good" and "Missing".
Her third album and first cover album, called Luv Songs was released on 20 July 2011 in Japan only, which featured covers of songs by American R&B singers such as Ne-Yo, Minnie Ripperton and Whitney Houston and also songs in Japanese.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Peak position | Sales | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||||
| 2007 | Things Happen for a Reason
|
12 |
|
| ||
| 2010 | Feel Good
|
41 |
|
|||
| 2017 | Metamorphosis
|
93 |
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|||
| Bilingual | ||||||
| 2011 | Luv Songs (ラブ・ソングス)
|
3
231 |
|
| ||
| 2012 | Believe (ビリーヴ)
|
2 |
|
| ||
| 2013 | Aishiteru (アイシテル; I Love You)
|
2 |
|
| ||
Best Songs (ベスト・ソングス)
|
4 |
|
| |||
| 2014 | Luv Songs 2 (ラブ・ソングス 2)
|
12 |
|
|||
| 2015 | @chenelleworld (シェネル・ワールド)
|
6 |
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|||
| 2017 | Destiny
|
10 |
|
|||
10th Anniversary ALL TIME BEST
|
21 | |||||
Extended plays
| Year | Album | Peak position | Sales | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilingual | ||||||
| 2012 | Touch (Close to You)
|
— |
|
|||
| 2016 | YOU & I
|
USA – 6 |
|
|||
| 2017 | Calm Before the Storm
|
— |
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|||
| 2018 | Holiday Party
|
— |
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Mixtapes
| Year | Album | Peak position | Sales | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||||
| 2014 | REVOLuTion
|
— |
|
|||
Singles
As lead artist
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "I Fell in Love with the DJ" | – | – | – | Things Happen for a Reason | |
| "Hurry Up" | – | – | – | |||
| 2008 | "First Love" feat. Lecca | – | – | 51 | Feel Good | |
| 2010 | "Feel Good" | – | – | 23 | ||
| "Missing" | – | – | – | Feel Good / Luv Songs | ||
| 2011 | "SAKURA" | – | – | 84 | Luv Songs | |
| "So Sick" | – | – | – | |||
| "Baby I Love U" | 32 | – | 21 |
| ||
| 2012 | "Story" | – | 15 | 30 |
|
Believe |
| "Believe" | – | – | 5 |
| ||
| "Fall in Love" | – | – | 77 | Touch (Close To You) EP | ||
| "Touch (Close To You)" | – | – | 79 | Touch (Close To You) EP / Aishiteru | ||
| 2013 | "I WILL" | – | – | 36 | Aishiteru | |
| "It's Happening Again" | – | – | – | REVOLuTion | ||
| "BURNING LOVE" | – | – | 9 | Aishiteru | ||
| "Aishiteru" | – | – | 13 | |||
| 2014 | "Zutto" | – | – | 12 | Luv Songs 2 | |
| "Happiness" | – | 25 | 2 |
|
@chenelleworld | |
| "Always Love U" | – | – | 87 | |||
| 2015 | "Fierce" | – | – | – | ||
| "Hello" | – | – | – | Non-album single | ||
| 2016 | "Strut" | – | – | – | ||
| 2017 | "Destiny" | – | 36 | 4 |
|
Destiny |
| "Love You Like Me" | – | – | – | Metamorphosis / Calm Before the Storm | ||
| 2018 | "Kiseki" | – | – | 26 | 10th Anniversary All Time Best | |
As featured artist
| Year | Title | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Young Boy" | Messiahbolical | Throwaway Rhymes Pt. II (Mixtape) |
| "Before" | |||
| 2007 | "Somebody's Gotta" | Various Artists | Powerful Music, Vol. 2 |
| "I'm Still Here" | Powerful Music, Vol. 3 | ||
| 2008 | "Sugar" | Hydro | Crucial |
| "Scrambalen" | |||
| 2009 | "Hold on Me" | Israel | The Legacy |
| "Wish You Were Here" | Mýa | Sugar & Spice | |
| "Tight" | Peter Ram | ||
| "III Woman" | The III Ones | ||
| "Soul Life" | |||
| "Hands On" | Casely feat. Vein | ||
| "Postcard" | Lil' Eddie | City of My Heart | |
| 2010 | "Ohh Yeah (Reggae)" | Jaicko | |
| "Streets" | Akon feat. L.A. | ||
| 2011 | "Here on Earth" | Chrishan | Heart of a Lion |
| "Sunadokei" | SEEDA | In The Moment | |
| "Girls" | SEEDA feat. Hayashi Taka | ||
| 2012 | "No Tears Left" | Davion Farris | |
| "The Last Word" | Jimmy Burney | ||
| "Spend a Little Time" | Knowledge Bones | Eyes on the Prize | |
| "Till It's Done" | Bizoh | ||
| 2013 | "Thank You" | Vein | |
| "Titanium" | David Guetta | Nothing But the Beat 2.0 (Japanese Edition) | |
| "After the Storm" | AI | Moriagaro | |
| "Be Right There" | Dandee | Building Bridges | |
| "Fun Fun Christmas" | TEE feat. LEO | Francfranc presents Fun Fun Christmas / Best Songs | |
| 2014 | "Happy Tears" | SPICY CHOCOLATE feat. MACO | Shibuya Shunai Monogatari |
| "Do You Wanna" | Shifta | ||
| 2015 | "Last Forever" | Matt Cab | Shunkashuto |
| 2018 | "Numb" | Fwlr |
Non-album tracks
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Hooked Up" | Dear Summer, Vol. 2 |
| 2011 | "Somethin' 'Bout A Saturday" | Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale Soundtrack |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Nomination | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Japan Gold Disc Award | Top New Artist | Che'Nelle | Won |
| 2012 | Concept Album of the Year | Luv Songs | Won | |
| MTV Video Music Awards Japan | Best Karaokee! Song | Baby I Love U | Nominated | |
| 2013 | Japan Gold Disc Award | Western Artist of the Year | Che'Nelle | Won |
| Western Album of the Year | Believe | Won | ||
| Song of the Year by Download | Believe | Won | ||
| Best 3 Western Albums | Believe | Won |