Goapele started as a very successful independent artist who emerged in a big way from the SF Bay area and achieved world renowned success with her debut album and ep, “Closer” and “Even Closer”, both of which featured the now classic world wide sensation, “Closer To My Dreams.”  Goapele’s new album, the critically acclaimed “Break of Dawn” was released in Fall of 2011 and features the hit single “Play“, which has been a staple at radio since it’s release. That single has been followed up by her new hit, “Tears On My Pillow” which has taken off like a rocket. The video was released late March and reached over 300,000 views in its first week. OkayPlayer.com called it “Simple, classic and heartbreakingly beautiful”. Vogue Italy featured her as the “look of the day”.

From Yoshi’s in San Francisco to Essence Festival in New Orleans, and onto  Summer Stage in New York, Goapele will continue her frenetic touring pace in advance of her film debut in the highly anticipated film, Sparkle starring the great Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks. Goapele is prominently featured in the films new trailer released by The Today Show in early April. All this comes on the heels of her performances in BET Centric’s Eye on Black Awards celebrating Martin Lawrence and Debbie Allen; at Sundance, where she sang “Play” as featured in Middle of Nowhere; and at special engagements for Lexus’s Verses and Flow television series and for Grey Goose’s Rising Icon monthly jam session.  

The spirit of Closer lives on, and Goapele continues to inspire young people and up-and-coming artists through Pepsi’s 2012 Grammy Campaign 5 Questions.  Her dedication to philanthropic work never ceases. During the pre-grammy celebrations, she performed at Garth Trinidad’s (KCRW) Mojamoja event benefiting Darfuri Women and is working with the Asomugha Foundation, a nonprofit providing educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth in the US and underprivileged orphans and widows in Africa.  For her work, she has been honored with an Inspiration Award in Community Leadership by Oakland Digital.