Difference between revisions of "Amelia Piroette"

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Amelia Piroette (born YC 27, died YC 109) was a notable Gallente folksinger and political activist. While her albums rarely topped the Egonics charts, she was well-known throughout New Eden for her efforts in improving the conditions of slaves in the Amarr Empire, and organized a concert called Slave-Aid in YC 106 to those ends.^[1]

Early Life

Amelia Piroette was born in YC 27 in the system of Caille. She displayed an interest in music from an early age and was classically trained in the piano and violin. As a teenager, she began to focus on singing and won several local competitions. These competitions garnered her the attention of several talent scouts from the musical industry, who all wished to recruit her and develop her image. Her parents, however, were insistent that she finish her education first.

She attended the University of Caille on an arts scholarship. It was here she was introduced to Gallente folk music and met several of her future backing musicians, including her longtime collaborator and frequently-rumored romantic partner Jocelin Riccard. Here, Amelia began playing the acoustic guitar as well as singing, applying her classical training to create an inventive, unusual fusion of Gallente pop, folk, and classical music.

Musical Career

By the time she graduated in YC 50, Amelia had been forgotten by the talent scouts previously so interested in her, claiming that as an adult, she was no longer marketable to a pre-teen demographic. Undeterred, she began performing at local open mic nights, often times joined by her friends from university. She developed a loyal local following and, encouraged by fans, released an album over GalNet.

She quickly became a hit with the university crowd, with her album being downloaded nearly a million times within its first six months. This got her the attention of an independent label, which signed her to a three-record deal. The label took her GalNet releases, professionally rerecorded them, and released it into stores. The album was a moderate success, selling just over five million copies in its first year. Piroette toured extensively in support of the album, selling out the majority of her appearances in mostly small clubs.

Her second album followed in YC 53 and was her major success, reaching #1 on the Federation's folk charts and #15 on its popular music charts. The album also drew her fans outside of the Federation, particularly in the Amarr Empire, where she proved popular among youths in the Tash-Murkon region. The unexpected success in the Empire prompted her label to schedule a tour in the region, which was highly popular with locals.

However, it was during this tour that Amelia was exposed to slavery for the first time. Horrified by what she saw, even among the relatively liberal Tash-Murkon, she vowed to enact some change. Initially, she looked into purchasing slaves and setting them free using the proceeds from her tour, but found this impossible given restrictions on slave purchasing in the Empire. Instead, she began to infuse her music with political messages.

This ultimately proved unpopular with her listeners, and her third album was a major disappointment commercially. While it received rave reviews, it did not crack a million in sales, and her label did not renew her contract.

Activist

Undaunted by the failed album, Amelia returned to her roots and began releasing her songs through GalNet, often for free. She founded “Musicians Against Slavery”, a non-profit organization which worked with musicians to expand awareness of slavery in the Federation and to actively work against it. Several prominent musicians signed on to the charity and for several years, it was one of the more prominent anti-slavery organizations in the Federation.

Her open stance against slavery earned her a permanent ban from the Empire, to which she never personally returned. It did win her some popularity within the Minmatar Republic, though more for her message than her music, which tended to be dismissed as “wishy-washy” by Minmatar critics.

Controversy struck when her charity was found to be negligently managed, with a large amount of donations being embezzled by Clovis Cheville, the charity's chief financier. Cheville was prosecuted and jailed for his actions, but Amelia's reputation took a hit, and the charity never recovered and eventually folded. Piorette continued her activism, throwing her hat in with other charities.

Later in life, in YC 106, she organized Slave Aid in response to conditions in the Inis-Ilix I sulfur mines in the Amarr Empire.^[1] The concert gathered popular musicians from a variety of genres in the Federation, with performers ranging from the teen-pop of Midna Lyre to the guitar-driven noise-thrash of Starved Fedo. The concert itself was a huge success and raised millions of ISK, though it ultimately had little effect on the conditions on Inis-Ilix I.

Death

Piorette's failing health was becoming apparent even as she organized Slave Aid. In her set, she was notably sluggish and had trouble moving around the stage. Shortly after the concert, she announced she was retiring from touring, though she promised to continue creating music. However, she only released one more song, with several others not leaving the composition stage.

In YC 109, it was reported she passed away in her home, with her long-time partner Jocelin Riccard and other musical collaborators at her side. The official cause of death was heart failure.

See Also

• Gallente people
• Deceased Gallente Entertainers and Cultural Figures

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