212.108.234.137 at 06:19, 1 July 2021

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{{Multiple issues|
{{peacock|date=October 2018}}
{{Lead rewrite|date=January 2020}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Deva Premal
| image = Deva Premal 07-9.jpg
| caption = Mantra singer Deva, from October 2006
| landscape =
| birth_name = Jolantha Fries
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1970|4|2}}
| birth_place = [[Nürnberg]], Germany
}}
{{Infobox person
| spouse = [[Andy Desmond]] (Miten)
}}
'''Deva Premal''' (born 2 April 1970 in [[Nuremberg|Nürnberg]], Germany, as Jolantha Fries<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.nordbayern.de/kultur/die-heilsame-kraft-der-klange-1.6783200 | title=Die heilsame Kraft der Klänge |publisher=nordbayern.de | language=de | date=2017-10-23 | access-date=2019-10-15}}</ref>) is a singer known for introducing [[Sanskrit]] [[mantra]]s into the mainstream.<ref name="ABC" /> Her meditative, spiritual music — composed and produced with Prabhu Music — puts ancient Tibetan and Sanskrit mantras into contemporary settings. Her album '''''[[Deva (album)|Deva]]''''' (2018) received a [[Grammy Award]] nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best New Age Album|Best New Age Album]] for the [[62nd Annual Grammy Awards]].

== Biography ==

Premal met her partner in life and music, [[Andy Desmond|Miten]], at the Osho International Meditation Resort in [[Pune]], India in 1990, where she was studying reflexology, shiatsu, cranio-sacral therapy, and massage.<ref name="Brachfeld">{{cite news|last=Brachfeld|first=Aaron|title=An Interview with Deva Primel|url=http://meadowlarkherald.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-interview-with-deva-primel.html|accessdate=8 June 2013|newspaper=the Meadowlark Herald|date=2 June 2013}}</ref> They have been touring together since 1992, offering concerts and chant workshops worldwide.<ref>Dubrovsky, Anna. [http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/yi/Article.aspx?id=3095 ''Yoga Rock Stars''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021043517/http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/YI/Article.aspx?id=3095 |date=21 October 2010 }}, ''Yoga International'', September 2008.</ref>

Best known for her top-selling chant CDs,<ref>Widran, Jonathan. [http://www.allmusic.com/album/dakshina-r733905 ''Review: Dakshina''] ''AllMusic''.</ref> Premal is a classically trained musician who grew up singing mantras in a German home permeated with Eastern spirituality. Her albums have topped New Age charts throughout the world since her first release, ''The Essence'' (1998), which features the "Gayatri Mantra." Premal and Miten's record company, Prabhu Music, reports sales of over 900,000 albums.

Premal says she began her journey with mantra in her mother's womb, as her father chanted the "Gayatri Mantra"—one of the most sacred mantras of [[Sanatana dharma|Sanatana Dharma]]—to her daily. The mantra continued to be her bedtime lullaby after she was born. Many years later, she heard a friend singing the Gayatri and was inspired to put together an album. Premal and Miten recorded ''The Essence'' (1998) in her mother's apartment in Germany, where she was born and where she first heard the Gayatri Mantra.<ref name="ABC">Spirit of Things. [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/spiritofthings/stories/2008/2160547.htm ''Mantras Go Mainstream''], ''Interview with Rachel Kohn on ABC Radio'', Feb 2008.</ref>

Premal brought this journey with the [[Gayatri Mantra]] full circle in July 2005, when she and Miten chanted it for her father as he was dying; "We kept singing for what must have been over half an hour, when suddenly the monitor showed that he was about to leave. I continued to sing, and the last sound he heard as he passed on was his beloved "Gayatri Mantra." Finally we ended with the mantra Om and the circle was complete. He had welcomed me onto this planet with the "Gayatri," and I accompanied him out of this physical existence with it. What a blessing this was for me! It was the first time that I was present at a death, and to be at my father's is a memory I will cherish all my life."<ref>Deva Premal. [http://www.devapremalmiten.com/articles/wolfgang-a-the-gayatri-mantra ''Wolfgang And The Gayatri Mantra''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528061651/http://www.devapremalmiten.com/articles/wolfgang-a-the-gayatri-mantra |date=28 May 2010 }}, ''Article, DevaPremalMiten.com''.</ref>

In an interview with Sam Slovik of LA Yoga Magazine,<ref>Slovik, Sam. [http://layogamagazine.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=544&Itemid=1 ''Soul Balancing: Path of the Sacred Road Dog''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229010651/http://layogamagazine.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=544&Itemid=1 |date=29 December 2010 }}, ''LA Yoga Magazine'', March 2010.</ref> Premal discussed the potent effect many notice when chanting mantras:<ref>Shapiro, Ed & Deb. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-and-deb-shapiro/do-mantras-really-work_b_324820.html ''Do Mantras Really Work''], ''Huffington Post'', 20 October 2009.</ref>

“The meaning is secondary. The word table is not the table...with Sanskrit, the word ananda is the sound vibration of bliss. In sound the energy of bliss. We have to say bliss; we have to make it smaller by putting it into an English word. Just the sound; ananda, If we were sensitive enough, we'd just feel the entire scope of that energy that's contained in this sound... It's working on a cellular level. It's much deeper than the mind. It's not a language that you need to understand the meaning of before you use it. It's a deep universal sound code that connects us all.”

Premal's chants have been used in a variety of settings. [[Cher]] featured Premal's version of the "Gayatri Mantra" on her Farewell Tour<ref>Tsering, Lisa. [http://www.hvk.org/articles/0903/116.html "Cher Chants Gayatri Mantra At Her Concerts"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214154045/http://www.hvk.org/articles/0903/116.html |date=14 February 2012 }}, ''Times of London'', 5 September 2003.</ref> and Russian prima ballerina [[Diana Vishneva]] danced to Premal's "Gayatri" in Moses Pendleton's F.L.O.W. series.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h2fdZ6XpR8 "Beauty In Motion-F.L.O.W. Part III"], ''YouTube''.</ref> Actor/director [[Edward James Olmos]] is said to have handed out copies of Premal's "Gayatri Mantra" to the cast and crew of [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]],<ref>Stailey, M. [http://www.dvdverdict.com/newsblog/mstailey/post/1500 ''Battlestar Galactica: All Access''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701161700/http://www.dvdverdict.com/newsblog/mstailey/post/1500 |date=1 July 2011 }}, ''DVD Verdict Legal Briefs'', 8 June 2007.</ref> as well as citing her music as an inspiration in preparing his role as Commander Adama in the series.<ref>Ruby, Jamie. [http://www.battlestararies-bsr26.net/apps/blog/show/prev?from_id=1569151 "Edward James Olmos: Exclusive Interview With MediaBlvd"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104224625/http://www.battlestararies-bsr26.net/apps/blog/show/prev?from_id=1569151 |date=4 January 2011 }}, ''Battlestar Aries'', 5 August 2009.</ref> Olmos also used "Om Hraum Mitraya" from Premal's album ''Dakshina'' (2005) to close his HBO movie ''Walkout,''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nznayolWjLY ''Educate Your Thinking''], ''YouTube''.</ref>

Premal and Miten performed for [[The Dalai Lama]] during a 2002 Conference in Munich, [[Germany]] on "Unity in Duality," which brought top figures from the scientific community together with members of the Buddhist community.<ref>Tarab Institute. [http://www.tarab-institute.org/gb/congress4.htm ''Unity In Duality-Tendrel Congress''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319185611/http://www.tarab-institute.org/gb/congress4.htm |date=19 March 2012 }}, ''Tarab Institute'', 10–13 Oct 2002.</ref> They gave a concert for the full conference, and were also invited to sing for the Dalai Lama at a small pre-conference gathering.<ref>Attwood, Janet Bray [http://www.healthywealthynwise.com/article.aspx?author=Janet%20Bray%20Attwood&title=Songs%20of%20the%20Divine:%0D%0AAn%20interview%20from%20the%20Dialogues%20with%20the%20Masters%20Series&Article=5394 ''Songs of the Divine: An interview from the Dialogues with the Masters Series''], ''Healthy Wealthy nWise'', Feb 2008.</ref> They had heard that the Dalai Lama's favorite mantra was the Tara Mantra, dedicated to the Green Tara of Compassion, and that he had asked for it be chanted recently when he was ill, so they chanted it for him.

Premal's ''Tibetan Mantras for Precarious Times'' (2010) was recorded with the Gyuto Monks of Tibet, known for their tradition of overtone singing, also described as "chordal chanting". It was created as a support for mantra meditation practice, featuring eight mantras chanted 108 times each. It is a benefit CD, with proceeds going to the [[Gyuto Order|Gyuto Monastery]] in [[Dharmsala]], [[India]], the Phowa Project, and Veggiyana.

== Music & information ==

Premal and Miten say they use a process of "natural selection" to choose the mantras on their albums. Premal has said she gravitates toward Sanskrit mantras, rather than mantras from other languages. She says that, for her, removing her ego from her understanding of the mantra allows the creative process to express the true meaning of the mantra.<ref name="Brachfeld"/>

She explains that the purpose of their work "is to be open to the Goddess of music – to be true to ourselves, as musicians, as 'teachers;' as partners, and ultimately, as individuals – fellow travellers. We accomplish this by not 'trying' to accomplish anything. We take very little credit for what is happening around our so-called success (we have sold over a million albums now) – we see ourselves as messengers of a 5,000-year-old tradition...so, our part in the process is simply to show up and chant."<ref name="Brachfeld"/>
Her vocal range is [[contralto]]. {{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

== Discography ==
* ''1997 – Trusting the Silence'' (with Miten)
* ''1998 – The Essence''
* ''1998 – Strength of a Rose'' (with Miten)
* ''2000 – Love Is Space''
* ''2002 – Embrace''
* ''2002 – Satsang'' (with Miten)
* ''2003 – Songs for the Inner Lover'' (with Miten)
* ''2004 – More Than Music'' (with Miten)
* ''2005 – Dakshina''
* ''2005 – Live in Byron Bay'' (with Miten)
* ''2007 – Sings the Moola Mantra''
* ''2007 – Soul in Wonder'' (with Miten and [[Manose Singh|Manose]])
* ''2008 – Into Silence''
* ''2009 – In Concert – The Yoga of Sacred Song and Chant'' (with Miten and Manose)
* ''2009 – Mantras for Precarious Times''
* ''2009 – DevaSonic Vol 1''
* ''2009 – DevaSonic Vol 2''
* ''2009 – Download Singles'' (with Miten)
* ''2010 – Into Light''
* ''2010 – Tibetan Mantras for Turbulent Times''
* ''2011 – Password''
* ''2013 – 21-Day Mantra Meditation Journey'' (with Miten)
* ''2013 – A Deeper Light'' (with Miten and Manose)
* ''2013 – MantraLove'' (with Miten)
* ''2014 – Mantras for Life'' (with Miten and Manose)
* ''2014 – The Spirit of Mantra (21-Day Mantra Meditation Journey, Vol. II)'' (with Miten)
* ''2015 – Songs for the Sangha'' (with Miten and Manose)
* ''2016 – Cosmic Connections Live'' (with Miten and Manose)
* ''2018 – [[Deva (album)|Deva]]''

== Notes ==
<references />

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.devapremalmiten.com/}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Premal, Deva}}
[[Category:New-age musicians]]
[[Category:Performers of Hindu music]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:Musicians from Nuremberg]]
[[Category:Performers of Buddhist music]]
[[Category:21st-century German singers]]
[[Category:21st-century German women singers]]

Deva Premal - Revision history

212.108.234.137 at 06:19, 1 July 2021