Alecia chakour husband
- •
- •
Born in the small town of Amherst, MA, home to five colleges and a quirky musical community, Alecia grew her musical roots within an intellectual and nurturing environment. Her father, Joe Cocker’s former musical director, and an influential soul and blues musician in his own right, opened Alecia’s world to the soul greats. Alecia spent time with her father at sessions and shows taking in powerhouses such as Ray Charles, BB King, Matt “Guitar” Murphy and Bonnie Raitt. At home, Alecia found comfort listening to artists like Candi Staton and Otis Redding on her family’s record player. “In soul, you never feel like folks are trying to be too slick or sexy or too anything. They are just singing to let it out,” says Alecia.
Deemed a vocal wunderkind, Alecia was nearly signed to a major label at age 16. When asked to sing gimmicky pop songs instead of the gritty soul she loved, Alecia realized their intentions were more rooted in sales than music. With her big dreams dangling seemingly within her reach, Alecia made the difficult decision to forgo a major label relationship and instead
- •
Behind the Beat: An Osrah Affair
Whenever musician Alecia Chakour returns to our Happy Valley, there are always two things on her to-do list: catching up with The Golden Girls and grabbing a Dr. Chang’s Schizandra Berry juice from Amherst Chinese Food.
Chakour grew up in Amherst, immersed in a musical community that included father Mitch Chakour, Joe Cocker’s former musical director and a renowned soul and blues musician. She’s spent the last five years living, working and performing in Brooklyn, both as a backup singer and with her own projects, including Alecia Chakour and the Osrah (“family” in Arabic). She recently took some time out to talk in advance about that group’s March 19 Iron Horse show.
Valley Advocate: Thanks in part to your father, you grew up with music. Do you think you were destined to be in the music world?
Alecia Chakour: I do feel lucky that I was surrounded by music in the way I was. Listening to my parents’ monster record collections, being backstage at my pop’s shows and going along with him to h
Copyright ©backaid.pages.dev 2025