Thalia Bennett

Thalia Jade Bennett better known by her first name Thalia (Born June 19th 1985) is an American born singer, rising to fame as one third of girl group SHY .

Early Life
Thalia was born in Queens, New York to parents Dennis Bennett and mother Jackie (née Turner) her father is Mexican-American while her mother is Indian-African-American. She has two older sisters Tania Bennett, 31 and Taryn Short (née Bennett), 29 who was also an original member of SHY and two younger brothers Elvis Bennett, 23 and Elias Bennett, 19.

Thalia attended Jamaica highschool with her sisters and friends Aisha La'Verne who ultimately would end up in SHY also. While there Taryn, Aisha and herself would enter talent quests and often won, once being runners up. This gained the girls a lot of respect and attention in their district and soon were talking out statewide competitions.

Thalia has admitted in the past that her childhood was rough, dealing with gangsters, drugs and alcohol. She also made note that her parents worked endlessly to make sure their children were fed.

SHY
In early 2003, while out scoping for new talent, music producer MoneyBaggz (famous for the Dalisay smash hit "Push It" and "I Lost My Mind") discovered the girls, while they were showcasing in Houston. The girls were signed with an American label.

Thalia along with sister Taryn and friend Aisha signed the deal and immediatly went in to record their first album. Line ups would constantly change in SHY, the current count of former and current members stands at 7.

While in SHY they racked up 3 top ten hits, 8 top 20 hits and a top ten album. While SHY weren't all successful mainstream, they were well respected in the underground unit.

In 2009 Aisha La'Verne walked out of the group, due to unhappiness. Thalia continued on in SHY through early to mid 2010, while herself and former member Laya Richards auditioned for a new member to replace Aisha, however Thalia called an end to SHY in May 2010, stating she felt it would be wrong to continue the group without Aisha. Both Thalia and Aisha no longer speak.

You Got Me & Hiatus
With SHY falling apart, Thalia signed with the now defunct Wired Records and began recording for a solo record. By mid 2010 her first single was ready for release, however half way through promotion the singer flew back to the U.S. The song did quite well, coming in the U.K charts at number ten and numerous other countries (New Zealand, Australia, Canada, U.S.A). Many were disappointed in the singer and just before 2011, Thalia left Wired Records with no plans to return to her music career.

In a 2012 interview the singer admitted that her album had been half recorded before being shelved when she took her 2 year hiatus and has spent a lot of time re-recording the material for release in 2012

Time's Never Right - Present
In late January Thalia was spotted back in the U.K. Speculation told of Thalia recording new material, however the singer denied all these rumours via Twitter, stating that she was merely helping other artists record.

During the middle of March Thalia's website had it's first update in two years, announcing the title of her comeback single "Time's Never Right" a week later the song premièred on Radio 1. The song came with great critial acclaim, stating this could be the comeback Thalia needed to get her career back on the right track. With the release pencilled in for April 30, Thalia began a gruelling promotional schedule to work on the single. The single went on to become the second highest charting single of her week, coming in at number 2, behind Kleo.

Once again Thalia took a lengthy hiatus for 2 years, returning in May 2014.

Personal Life
Thalia's personal life has featured heavily in the media, due to her infidelities, drug problems and alcohol abuse.

Children
July 23rd, 2005 Thalia gave birth to Daughter Shayla Bennett-Case fathered by Fifth Element member Cody Case

In 2008, during the promotion of SHY's 5th single, rumours spread that a member of SHY was pregnant. While the press released reports stating it was Laya, it was in fact Thalia, who announced she was expecting again. Controversy surrounded the pregancy as rumours began to circulate about who the father was. It was later revealed R&B star Matt Jones was the father. Jones was at the time married to Kelly Jones. Thalia gave birth to a baby boy in September 2008.

Relationships
Thalia entered the music world in 2003 engaged to her boyfriend of 5 years, Fifth Element singer Cody Case. The pair eventually broke up in late 2004, after they apparently fell out of love. In 2007 it was discovered that Cody had fathered a child by Bennett in 2005.

After all the chaos surrounding Thalia's second pregnancy, she became involved with R&B star Matt Jones, after he called off his marriage to Kelly Brown. The pair split in 2011, after Matt had become involved with another woman.

Prison
In early 2007, Thalia was sentenced to spend 6 months in a correctional facility, after a string of assaults (including one on former sheep shagger Autumn White). Thalia only spent 4 months of her time in jail, completing the rest on home detention.

Singles
See also; SHY