Samantha Jade Gibbs was born on 18 April 1987 and grew up with two younger brothers Thomas and Alex in Perth, Western Australia. She began modelling at the of age four and at nine-years-old, she won a talent show after singing “Amazing Grace”. Jade retired from modelling. She attended Hampton Senior High School. In 2003 the Gibbs family moved to Los Angeles in order for Jade to pursue her singing career. That year, a song she co-wrote, “Secret Love”, was recorded by JoJo for the soundtrack of the 2004 film Shark Tale. In 2004 Jade signed a multiple album recording contract with US record label Jive Records.
2006–2012: Jive Records and Affinity West Entertainment
In 2006 Jade recorded the title track “Step Up” for the 2006 Universal Pictures Dance Drama film Step Up which was produced by Rapper and Music Producer Wyclef Jean. The single which had little promotion appeared for one week on the Billboard Pop 100 peaking at #92. In 2007 Jade released her follow-up single “Turn Around” which failed to chart. Jade began recording her debut album My Name Is Samantha Jade with Music Producers Darkchild, Timbaland, Max Martin and Stargate. The album suffered numerous set-backs and was not released. In 2007 Jade co-wrote and sang back-up vocals on the track “Positivity” on Ashley Tisdale’s debut album Headstrong.
Jade parted ways with Jive Records and continued to work on music independently with Australian record label Affinity West Entertainment. That same year Jade made her acting debut in the film Beneath the Blue a sequel to Eye of the Dolphin. The film was released in 2009. Jade notably recorded a track the following year with David Guetta and Laidback Luke for David Guetta’s fourth studio album One Love which was released in August. The track did not make the final track-listing but is featured as a bonus track on certain international releases. In July 2009 Jade released her third single “Secret” in Australia which failed to chart. The official music video for the single was directed by Valerie Babayan. In August 2009 Jade performed on Kerri-Anne to promote the single. In November 2011, Jade relocated to Perth and began working at her father’s mining factory canning stock.
2012–present: X-Factor Australia
In an attempt to return to the music industry Jade successfully auditioned for the fourth season of The X Factor (Australia) in 2012. She sang “Breakeven” by The Script, during which judge Guy Sebastian notably teared up. Jade eventually made it to the Top 12 of the live shows and became part of the Over 25s category.
