Alannah Myles, born December 25, 1958 in Toronto, Ontario, is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of Canadian broadcast pioneer William Douglas Byles (1914-1988), who was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Hall of Fame in 1997. After deciding to pursue a career in entertainment at the age of 19 she changed her last name to Myles. After more than a decade of modelling and acting in TV commercials to pay for music demos, she weathered countless rejections in her home country of Canada before recording masters for three songs which included "Who Loves You" accompanied by a video of "Just One Kiss" directed by photographer, Deborah Samuel and matched financing from songwriting collaborator and Much Music (City TV), DJ and program director, Christopher Ward (songwriter) and FACTOR. They were no longer an item prior to their search for major label support, signing her first record contract with Atlantic Records in 1987.
In the early fall of 1987 Warner Music Canada's director of A&R Bob Roper sent the three song video package to all the U.S. affiliates under the Warner Music Group and sight unseen, was offered a coveted seven year contract (option for eight) from one of America's oldest and wealthiest rock and R&B labels, Atlantic Record's (WMG) by head of A&R, Tunc Erim and Atlantic label founder, Ahmet Ertegun opting out of a lucrative acting career by co-writing and recording the remainder of her first album with collaborator, Christopher Ward and producer, David Tyson. In 1989, she released her self titled debut album touring internationally for eighteen months. Her first album was awarded the Diamond Award for sales of over one million units. She is the only Canadian debut artist to attain that title. Her first album was reported to have sold upwards of six million internationally and it remains a classic selling album to date.
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