Lutricia McNeal was born and raised in Oklahoma City, USA. She comes from a large family - Lutricia is the seventh of nine children. Her father was a preacher, her mother a missionary. The family was low income bracket; there wasn't an abundance of money, but still they didn't lack for anything. Although her upbringing could be considered strict, there was a great deal of love within the family.
Lutricia's first contact with music came from singing in the church gospel choir. Her father, who brought in extra money by working at the Union Bus Station, met artists such as Tina Turner and James Brown passing through. The stories he brought home fascinated the young Lutricia, and fueled her dreams for the future. Later on, she won a music scholarship to Grambling State University, Louisiana.
In 1989, she took off for Europe with a college friend. She had no definite plans other than to travel and see the sights, but she did have a distinct feeling that something was bound to happen. The trip was like an attempt to make her dream come true. She took every opportunity she had to sing, hoping that someone would hear her and offer her a break.
After spending time in Germany, singing with local bands, Lutricia and her friend went for a holiday in Sweden. After a week, the friend went back home, and Lutricia stayed on. The break came when she met up with producer-team Rob'N'Raz and became lead-singer for their new project, Rob'N'Raz DLC.
Lutricia recorded two albums with the group and had a number of hits, including songs like "Clubhopping", "Bite the Beat" and "In Command" (No 1 in Sweden).
During the winter of 1996/97, she recorded her first solo album, entitled "My Side of Town". The first single off the album, "Ain't That Just The Way" became an instant No. 1 hit in Sweden. Shortly thereafter, she was elected Newcomer of the Year at the Swedish Dance Music Awards.
It didn't take long until "Ain't That Just The Way" was released throughout Europe and became a Top 5 single everywhere. It later became a Top 3 single in Japan and New Zealand and finally cracked the British Top 5 in November 1997.
While "Ain't That Just The Way" stormed the international charts, the song "My Side Of Town" was released as a follow-up single from her debut album in Sweden, Germany and New Zealand, where it was a No. 1 hit and went Platinum.
In the meantime Lutricia had recorded new songs, so that her debut album was re-issed for the British and American market. The album was simply titled "Lutricia McNeal" in the UK and "My Side Of Town (The U.S. Version)" in the rest of the world. The next single taken off the album was the soulful midtempo song "Stranded," which became a No. 1 hit on the British airplay charts and a No. 3 single on the sales charts. This song also went Platinum in New Zealand and was a Top 10 single all over Europe.
The following singles from that album - "Someone Loves You Honey" and "The Greatest Love You'll Ever Know" - made it onto the British Top Ten charts and became hit singles all over the place. A special Christmas single was released in winter 1998.
During that time Lutricia already recorded her second album and presented her new single "365 Days" in September 1999. The video for that single was a high-budget video that was shot at the same location where the Hollywood blockbuster movie "Identity" was later filmed. This song became another huge hit for Lutricia and two months later, her second album "Whatcha Been Doing" was released. Together, both albums sold over 2 million copies worldwide (with the single "Ain't That Just The Way" selling another 2 million copies on its own).
Another single, "Fly Away," was taken off the album before Lutricia took some time out in 2000 / 2001. She gave birth to her second son Dallas. In the meantime, she is a mom of two kids: Dean (13) and Dallas (4).
It took more than two years until she returned with a new album. Lutricia used the time to be there for her family and she also started to work on her third studio album. She returned with a new album, entitled "Metroplex," in May 2002. The first single off the album was "Perfect Love," which reached the TOP 10 on the sales charts and TOP 5 on the radio charts in Sweden. It was also successful on the always-difficult German and Austrian market and became one of the biggest radio hits in 2002.
The following singles - "Wrong Or Right," "You Showed Me" and "Power Of Music" - became huge radio hits and re-inforced her old nickname "Queen of Radio." Three singles off the Metroplex album reached the TOP 10 of the single sales charts in Poland.
For the next one and a half year Lutricia worked on her next album "Soulsister Ambassador," which was released in October 2004. A Japanese edition, entitled "Rise" (including several bobus tracks) was released one year later.
The first single off the album was "Promise Me." It became one of Lutricia's biggest radio hits in Germany. It went straight to No 1 on several German radio stations and was was the most played mainstream song on German radio for two consecutive weeks (making it No1 on the German Format Charts).
At the same time, her fans were really surprised to see Lutricia on the cover of the German Playboy Magazine. In fact, she had decided to pose for the prestigious magazine and could be seen in a 10-page-pictorial in November 2004.
In late 2005 Lutricia released two brand new singles: "It's Not Easy" and "Best Of Times," which both shot straight into the Swedish Top 10 single charts. Actually, "It's Not Easy" was Lutricia's most successful hit single in Sweden since "Ain't That Just The Way" in 1996.
