1990s and 2000s: Early career Sammy is a graduate of the
London College of Music, and is a classically trained pianist. Her classical training led her to coach charting acts from the United Kingdom, including
Charlotte Church,
S Club 7 and
S Club Juniors,
Will Young touring with the likes of
Diana Ross and
Julio Iglesias. She was also a member of the United Colours of Sound with vocal coach partner John Modi and celebrity vocal coaches
David and
Carrie Grant. She has sung at the
Commonwealth Games and
Buckingham Palace, as well as recording several theme tunes for
ITV,
Channel 4 and
Sky Sports, including the official
Rugby World Cup song "Swing Low" with
UB40, before going on to become a
vocal coach to a roster of celebrity clients, such as
Sting and
One Direction. Sammy appeared on the television series
Pop Idol as a vocal coach, She appeared in the
BBC TV documentary
Be My Baby - The Girl Group Story which aired in August 2006. The show covered the history of girl groups, focusing specifically on
The Supremes,
The Three Degrees,
Sister Sledge,
Bananarama,
The Bangles and the
Spice Girls. In 2007 Sammy was a judge on
BBC Radio 3's Choir of the Year competition. She made a guest appearance on ITV's
Dancing on Ice in early 2009, where she was seen helping one of the groups that were selected to skate and sing at the same time. She has also appeared as a guest on television and in documentaries, including
The Wright Stuff,
GMTV,
BBC Breakfast,
Let Me Entertain You, and
The Xtra Factor.
2010s: Celebrity vocal coach, American Idol and ''America's Got Talent'' In 2010, Sammy founded an artist development and music management company with artist manager
Frank DiLeo. CCA Entertainment operates between London and Los Angeles. In 2014 and 2015, Sammy appeared as head
vocal coach and judge on the second and third seasons of
Endemol's
Your Face Sounds Familiar Georgia. She reprised the role as vocal judge for a select number of episodes during the fourth season, which started in May 2015. In 2015, Sammy worked as a vocal coach on the new
ITV series
Get Your Act Together. She has been a regular talent consultant for
American Idol and
America's Got Talent. She also was the official vocal coach for 2015
Dubai Music Week. In 2017, Sammy worked with manufacturer
VTech to launch the Kidi Super Star, a
karaoke microphone and stand which reduces the vocals on any song. The system features coaching from Sammy. In 2018, she worked as a vocal coach on two films, the
Idris Elba-directed
Yardie and
Gurinder Chadha's
Blinded by the Light. In February 2019, Sammy released her debut book,
If You Can Speak You Can Sing, through Eyewear Publishing. Also in 2019, BBC launched the "Bring the Noise" campaign, for which Sammy was a BBC Ambassador and gave her top tips for teaching singing to primary school children and teachers.
2020s: Masterclass In February 2022, Sammy launched and created a short, free Masterclass series online called "Hack Your Voice" to support interviews, during which she shares some of the key lessons she learned as a professional vocal coach. == Personal life ==