16th Anniversary of Stacie Orrico’s ‘Beautiful Awakening’

On this day in 2006, Stacie Orrico released her third studio album, ‘Beautiful Awakening’.

Following the success of her self-titled album in 2003, Stacie decided she needed more normality in her life away from the music industry, as she had been working and performing non-stop since being discovered at age 12. She moved to Seattle and worked as a waitress at her uncle’s Fish and Chips restaurant for minimum wage, and went on dates with boys to experience the childhood she missed while being in the spotlight. During this period, Stacie found the inspiration she needed to write over 50 songs, including those which ended up on the ‘Beautiful Awakening’ album.

Stacie co-wrote ten out of twelve tracks on ‘Beautiful Awakening’, and its soulful sound was significantly different to her previous two albums. Stacie has said she is most inspired by R&B, soul, gospel and jazz, and this was the first album where she had the freedom to create the kind of album she wanted to, and work with producers of her choice.

There were two singles released; ‘I’m Not Missing You’ and ‘So Simple’.

The album didn’t receive a proper release in the US due to her label going through a merger at the time. Copies which were sent to stores were quickly withdrawn and promotion came to a halt. The album saw most success in Japan, where it peaked at #8.

Following ‘Beautiful Awakening’, Stacie made the decision to leave her label and step away from the public eye again, and it remains the last album she released. These days, Stacie is focused on working with a creative healing organisation she co-founded called ‘The Nile Project‘.