Sunshine

### Producer (s)

Lynne Parr , Stevie J , Walter Afanassief , Steve Anderson , BabyFace , Darkchild , Dave Hall , Zachery South

## Singles Chronology

### 2.

"Blue Skies" / "Far Away"Released August 10 1998

### 3.

"Livin it Up Tonight"Released March 25, 1999

## Albums Chronology

### Next

MTV Unplugged (1999)

Sunshine is Lynne Parr's Third Studio Album Released on June 20, 1998 and incorporates genres of Pop , R&B and Dance with some elements of Funk , Soul , Hip Hop and Quiet Storm music. it was Lynne's first venture into Hip Hop a genre she wanted to push into so much in the past. with her new experimentation of music came a new look which was less modest and child like and more sexual. much of this record talks about themes of Verbal Abuse, Self Confidence , Love , Sex and Breakups and is considerably lighter than the dark and political Eden

## Background

As Lynne's Second Tour came to a Close she began writing music for her third album. initally going for a pop - R&B Based sound as done before as of force by Lynne's label virgin, however in September 1997, Mariah Carey released Honey. Her first Hip Hop Crossover and it performs very well. Virgin seeing the success a more Urban sound has finally agree for a more R&B Based album. Lynne is allowed to work with many notable hip hop and R&B producers for the first time in addition to some of her old favorites like Walter Afanassief and Steve Anderson. Much of the Album was also inspired by her blossoming romance with Rock singer Zachery South with Lynne Citing "Sunshine" and "When We Kissed" as being about him. Recording of the album began in September 1997 with lynne working primarily with Stevie J, Rodney Jerkins (Darkchild) And Walter Afanassief on the album. the latter only on ballads. Longtime collaborators Steve Anderson and Babyface also had a hand in the record. for the first time Lynne was able to produce every track. In the beginning, lynne and Darkchild failed to write what they felt was a strong hit. they spent the Fall writing Deleting U from my mind. Lynne compiled Tracks like Frozen , Memories and Hopelessly Devoted to you around this time as well. by 1998, lynne had half the album done with no big hit and virgin execs got nervous. they commissioned sweedish songwriter Kristan Lundin so work on a song with her and together they wrote Blue Skies. still needing more songs lynne had Darkchild come to her New York City apartment on new years eve 1997. Lynne was on the floor with a Casio Keyboard playing random cords and singing simple melodies when the concept for Irresistible. a few days later lynne and Rodney met again at the studio and came up with demos for Sunshine and Livin it Up Tonight within 2 hours. other songs were written and recorded between then and Late March 1998. the final song written was Far Away. Lynne came up with a Verse while singing in the bathtub and quickly recorded it on her cassete tape player. she met with Walter Afanassief and they wrote the rest of the song together in 1 hour and recorded the final version of the song in Late March. also in turn completing the album, Ahead of schedule.

## Release and Promotion

Sunshine was planned for a Release on July 27, 1998 but after the Lead Single Sunshine performed stronger than anticipated a decision was made to release sunshine 4 weeks early. despite the surprise early release Sunshine became Lynne's first album to Debut at #1 on the Billboard 200. critics praised the album for its direction. However, The album did see less significant Success in Europe due to lesser marketing oversees. in 1999, lynne did embark on her first world tour with the Sunshine Tour which had shows across the globe. it proved to drive sales in markets lynne had not tapped into like Russia and Korea where she grew in popularity from her performances there. 5 Singles were issued from the album all peaking in the top 30, 2 of which topped the hot 100 with Sunshine in 1998 and Irresistible in 1999. the Second single Blue Skies came close to reaching #1 but reached the #2 position instead. since 1998 Sunshine has sold 17 million copies worldwide and is Lynne's Third best selling album to date and has been certified Diamond in 2 countries as of 2002. it is considered a classic 90s R&B record.

## Track Listing

Platinum Edition Fall 1999 Re-Release