Amerie stopped by NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., for a nostalgic Tiny Desk concert.
The D.C. native, joined by legendary go-go band Backyard Band, opened her seven-song set with “Talkin’ to Me,” the second single from her beloved 2002 debut album, All I Have. Sticking to that era for a bit, she went into her summer-ready hit “Why Don’t We Fall in Love.”
After warming up the audience with familiar songs, she delivered a live rendition of her latest single “Mine,” produced by Troy Taylor. The mesmerizing track was released in March and will appear on her upcoming album (more on that later).
The latter half of the set was dedicated to her sophomore album, Touch, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in April. After performing the deep cut “Rolling Down My Face,” Amerie went into horn-filled “Talkin’ About.” She closed out the show with her go-go-driven hit “1 Thing,” which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Amerie’s Tiny Desk Concert is part of NPR’s campaign for Black Music Month, where they will celebrate milestone anniversaries for landmark albums from artists such as Keyshia Cole, Beenie Man, E-40, Cece Winans and more.
Circling back to Touch, the album was released April 26, 2005, via Columbia Records. The Rich Harrison-produced album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 124,000 copies sold in the first week. By August of the same year, Touch was certified gold by the RIAA for selling over 500,000 copies.
After releasing Touch, Amerie returned in 2009 with her fourth album, In Love & War. Since then, the singer and author has released a few EPs, including Drive (2016), 4AM Mulholland and After 4AM. The latter two projects dropped on the same day in 2018.
As noted above, Amerie is gearing up to release her next album independently, which will mark her first full-length project in over 15 years. She confirmed that she was back in the studio in November 2024, where she went live on Instagram to show her recording new tunes.
While we await the new album, Amerie is gearing up to publish her first novel, This Is Not A Ghost Story, on June 10 via William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers.
“My novel is about a ghost—a Black man who is the first person to come back from the Other Side—but it isn’t really a ghost story. It’s an exploration of identity, race, celebrity culture, how we see the world and the people around us, and, perhaps most importantly, how we see ourselves,” she explained.
Watch Amerie’s Tiny Desk performance below.
