Alyssa Bonagura is from
Franklin, Tennessee. She is the daughter of singers Michael Bonagura and Kathie Baillie of
Baillie & the Boys. She has been singing since the age of 2 and is a multi-instrumentalist. At the age of 10, she was asked by
Kenny Rogers to sing a duet with him on his Christmas album
Christmas From The Heart. She was awarded the
Sennheiser Scholarship which allowed her to graduate from
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts with a degree in sound technology in 2009. She performed back up vocals in "That Old Glass Case" on her mother's 2006 album ''
Love's Funny That Way''. While studying in England from 2006 to 2009, she became a temporary member of
Pete Wylie and The Mighty Wah! and played at such events as the
2007 Queens Variety Show in Liverpool, England at the
Empire Theatre, and
Knowsley Hall Music Festival alongside acts such as
The Who,
The Coral, and
The Thrills. She performed at the 2008 European Capital of Culture event, Liverpool: the Musical – the event which inaugurated Liverpool's new
Echo Arena with
Ringo Starr. In 2010, Bonagura signed with Rondor Music International (A division of
Universal Music) as a songwriter and has successfully written songs for
Raquel Castro's debut single "Diary". In 2011,
Sarah Jarosz released a single that she co-wrote with Bonagura called "Run Away." She's also co-written the song "Keeping Secrets" with
Tyler Ward on his 2012 album
Hello. Love. Heartbreak. and "Like U" for
Kaya Jones. She has produced artists including
Jo Dee Messina and
Jessie James Decker. Bonagura co-wrote, produced, and was featured on the song "Unbreakable", the first song Messina has released since her split from a major label. Jessie James' version of Bonagura's song "Nothing More To Say" was featured on
Perez Hilton's blog site in 2010. In 2012, her song "I Make My Own Sunshine" was used in a
Lowe's commercial. Her debut album
Love Hard was released on October 30, 2012. Penned by Bonagura, her father Michael, and Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, the single, "This Christmas", is the title-track of
Nelson's album and marks their first return on a
Billboard chart in more than 20 years. "This Christmas" debuted at #22 on the
Adult Contemporary chart on December 12, 2015. On March 13, 2016, Bonagura performed with bandmate
Ruby Stewart at the CMC Rocks festival in Queensland, Australia. Billing themselves as
The Sisterhood, the two had been working together for a year after
Rod Stewart told them, "you two should start a band, your voices are good together." The two performed a one-hour set with backing by the
Morgan Evans band. ==Discography==