PROFILE:
Mercy's first musical influence was Gospel music and the inspiration and encouragement to perform came from her talented musical family.
In 1994, while studying in college, Mercy made her first professional appearances at some private nightclubs in the centre of Nairobi (East Africa) called LUKES and later at GALLILEOS.
In 1996 she performed the first time in a group called CALABASH who became very popular and toured successfully throughout Kenya; they were not given the opportunity to record and later in the year Mercy left the group to join the Rn'B group called Destinee. In 1997 she joined Bruce Odhiambo, ..board, and guitarist Gido Kibukosya, in a band called Black Ice. Mercy then recorded a song, produced by Bruce Odhiambo - AFRICAN WOMAN which was chosen as the theme song for the first M-MET Face of Africa Model competition.
After this first success on her own, she joined forces at the end of the year with Samawati Studio, one of the leading studios in Nairobi, Kenya.
After a lot of work Mercy released her first single “SITAKI” at the end of the year 1998, to radio stations only, where it enjoyed the number one position on METRO FM's chart show and was also number one on the PEPSI EAST AFRICAN CHART SHOW, on CAPITAL FM.
Working on her first album and performing in the East Africa Region throughout the years 2000 and 2001, finally her first complete album “TABA SAMU” was ready to be released. Two singles “MANENO” and “LIFE” of the album not only received loads of airplay in East Africa, but also in South Africa, where “MANENO” became a number one and “LIFE” a Top 10 Hit.
After the success of her first album, Mercy also engaged herself in the fight against HIV/ AIDS and is currently a representative of the VCT campaign in Eastern and Southern Africa.
MERCY attributes her success so far to the many people who have guided, inspired and encouraged her to keep going and never to give up. Her ambitions are to keep recording, performing and to travel the world, so that she can create Awareness in the world that also the less privileged people in her country receive support in their struggle against the social challenges.
With her immense talent, excellent stage presence and her driving ambition, MERCY MYRA will succeed and become an internationally recognized artist in the music world.
MERCY MYRA, now in her twenties and already established as one of the leading female vocalist in East Africa, has just released her second album “NYISRI MALONG'O”. With “NYISRI MALONG'O” MERCY has recorded a worthy successor of her first album. “NYISRI MALONG'O” means “show yourself” and Mercy will definitely show herself on the African music scene. MERCY is performing live on a regular basis in Kenya with an 8 piece band and every single person who has watched her was dazzled by her performance, talent and charm. It is now time for the rest of the world to be dazzled by MERCY MYRA.
1996: