Brandy (entertainer)
Brandy Rayana Norwood (born
February 11 1979), known professionally as
Brandy, is an
American actress and
Grammy Award-winning
R&B and
pop singer. She is best known for her starring role in the sitcom
Moesha and her hit songs such as "Sittin' Up in My Room", "Have You Ever", and "
The Boy Is Mine". To date Brandy has sold over 30 million albums and singles worldwide.
Norwood was born in
McComb,
Mississippi and raised in
Carson,
California. Her father, Willie Ray Norwood, was a
pastor and choir director, and by the age of two, she was singing at his church. Her mother, Sonja Bates, is a cousin of legendary blues singer
Bo Diddley. Brandy became a fan of
Whitney Houston, and she told her father that she wanted to be a singer, like Houston. At the age of nine, Brandy moved to
California with her family, where she began her artistic career singing at talent shows in
1990. At 11, she met a record producer who took her to various record companies and led her to backup singing jobs with two groups: Norment and the more successful
Immature.
Early career
When Brandy was 14, she was able to land a record deal with
Atlantic Records, and in
1994 her first album,
Brandy, was released, reaching gold status in less than two months, and Quadruple
Platinum status soon after. The album contained the gold certified singles "I Wanna Be Down," and Brokenhearted, as well as the platinum certified single "Baby," and made her an
MTV star throughout
1995 and into early
1996. Awards started to come soon after. In the fall of
1995 she attended the
Billboard Music Awards taking home the awards for "Best New R&B Artist" and "Best R&B Female". At the
1996 MTV Movie Awards she eclipsed a category that comprised U2, Whitney Houston and Seal to win the "Best Song From A Movie" award for "Sittin' Up In My Room". She was nominated for a 1996 "Best New Artist" Grammy and "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance"
Grammy Award, also for her smash hit "Baby". Between 1995 and 1996, she won a total of seven
Soul Train and
Soul Train 'Lady of Soul' Music Awards, including categories like "Best New Artist," "Best R&B/Soul Artist, Female," "Best R&B/Soul Song of The Year,". At the 2nd annual Lady of Soul Awards, Brandy was also honored with the Aretha Franklin Award for Entertainer of the Year in 1996. Also at the 1996 Japan Music Awards, Brandy brought home the award for "Best International New Arists"!
In
1996, she recorded a duet with rock star
Lenny Kravitz for the
Batman Forever soundtrack, penned and produced by
Kravitz. Also that year, a remix of her fourth single, "Brokenhearted" with
Wanya Morris of
Boyz II Men, stormed into the top 10 of the Billboard singles charts. Towards the end of that year, she contributed a song to the
Waiting To Exhale soundtrack, which yielded "Sittin' Up in My Room," a platinum selling smash hit single that inhabited the top of the Pop charts throughout early
1996.
Later in 1996, Brandy teamed up with
Tamia,
Chaka Khan, and
Gladys Knight, for the single "Missing You," released from the
Set It Off soundtrack. Even with the superstar lineup, it was Brandy's least successful single yet, but was still a moderate hit, and peaked in the top 30 on the
Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. The song won a Grammy nomination in the "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" category. In 1997 Brandy was also featured along with her idol Whitney Houston staring in the re-released made for tv film Cinderella which was presented by Disney.
Never Say Never (1998)
In
1998, Brandy followed-up with the release of her sophomore album,
Never Say Never. Rising R&B producer
Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and his team were hired for the job of executive production and had a hand in 12 of 15 of its tracks, including the singles: "Top Of The World", "U Don't Know Me" and the No.1 smash, "
The Boy Is Mine", a duet with singer
Monica. The song was released in spring
1998 and in the course of the months it managed to rise to one of the most successful records of year, staying on top of the
Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. In Europe and Asia it also went ahead the single charts, expanding the prominence of both singers on an increasing international clientel. In the end the song was nominated for an
American Music Award, and a total of four
Grammys, eventually winning the "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group".
The second single from
Never Say Never, "Top Of The World", featuring rapper
Ma$e charted at #2 in the UK; a remixed version of the song with
Fat Joe and
Big Pun became the #3 Most Played song on American Radio. "Have You Ever?", the album's third single, was the first #1-single of
1999 as it hit the top of the Billboard
Hot 100 and dominated US
Hot 100 Airplay chart for nine weeks. With "Almost Doesn't Count", a guitar-laden acoustic ballad with two different music videos, and "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)" (featuring
Da Brat and Shaunta),
Never Say Never spawned its latest minor hits in fall
1999 and through
2000. Never say Never went on to sell over 5 million copies.
For the next three years, Brandy completed the remaining three seasons of her sitcom
Moesha and starred in a number of widely successful and critically acclaimed television specials and movies. She also landed a multitude of endorsement deals with CoverGirl cosmetics, which she represented for several years. Brandy was the subject of a major advertisement campaign for DKNY Jeans for three seasons, and modeled Candies shoes in an eye-catching ad campaign photographed by
David LaChapelle.
After a lengthy hiatus that saw the end of her
Moesha television series, and a flurry of tabloid headlines discussing her bout with "dehydration", the singer quietly "married" Rodney Jerkins' cousin, record producer Robert Smith, in the summer of 2001. The union did not become known until February of 2002 as the singer was preparing for her impending album release. A four-part reality series surrounding the birth of their daughter, Sy'rai Iman Smith, aired on MTV in the summer of 2002. Shortly after the birth of their child, Brandy "divorced" Smith. The "marriage" itself was later exposed as not of legal status. It is speculated that the "marriage" was made up as an attempt to keep Brandy's "wholesome" image rather than having her be known as an out of wedlock mother. Brandy stated it was a Non Traditional Spiritual Marriage, and that at the time it was her firm belief that they were married.
Full Moon (2002)
In 2001, Brandy and her brother,
Ray J, were chosen to remake
Phil Collins' 1980s hit "Another Day in Paradise" for
Urban Renewal: A Tribute to Phil Collins. The song was released internationally and became an instant hit going Multi-Platinum, topping the charts in over Thirteen countries worldwide and taking the #1 spot in
Germany, and #4 on the UK charts. Also in
2001, Brandy provided the backing vocals for
Michael Jackson's song "Unbreakable" off Jackson's
Invincible album.
Brandy's third album,
Full Moon, was released in March of
2002, and spawned the hits "What About Us", produced by Rodney Jerkins, and "Full Moon," produced by
Mike City. 'What About Us' became one of the fastest rising singles of Recent Chart History and entered the Top Ten Charts. The song was streamed on AOL a record 1.6 million times, a first for the internet outlet. The "Full Moon" video disguised the fact that Brandy was now five months pregnant; the song's lyrics explained how Brandy felt when she first locked eyes with her husband Robert Smith at a party."He Is" became a third single, this one produced by Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell, was chosen from the album in fall
2002. The Album and Singles had little promtion as a heavily pregnant Brandy was unable to perform. The album was a total re-collaboration with now super-producer
Rodney Jerkins who Brandy had previously hooked up with to produce her 1998 album "Never Say Never". Brandy Co-Wrote 5 songs from the album and was heavily involved in Production, especially Vocal Production. Jerkins again, Co-Produced and Co-Wrote on almost the entire album with his mega-successful writing team. After the most successful single from the album "What About Us?" however, no more collaborations with Jerkins were released. The album is however a unanimous favourite among both Brandy and Rodney Jerkins fans.
Full Moon sold 1.7 million copies in the US and 3.5 million copies Worldwide, and received lukewarm reviews[
1].
Rolling Stone Magazine rated the album two out of five stars, stating that, "... this interminable (seventeen-track) product is frantic, faceless, fake-sexy R&B." Still, the album was rather quietly and cautiously declared as a flop by the media. Brandy ignored the rumblings and settled further into motherhood. The more she retreated from public life, the more she was hounded by gossip hounds and paparazzi. Brandy entered the studio to record new material with Smith in December of 2002.
Afrodisiac (2004)
Returning from yet another hiatus, Brandy's fourth album
Afrodisiac was released on
June 29 2004, amidst both her weakest promotional blitz ever and the well-publicized termination of her short-lived business relationship with entertainment manager
Benny Medina. Brandy ended her relationship with Medina's
Los Angeles-based Handprint Entertainment after less than a year of representation.
Controversy surrounded Medina's handling of the lead single "Talk About Our Love", produced by
Kanye West, a puzzling
VIBE magazine cover in which the singer appeared prostrated with headlines: "What's Behind Brandy?," and failed talks of a purported co-headlining tour with R&B singer
Usher Raymond that was instead handed to Kanye West, another Medina client, as an opening gig.
Despite the negative blitz, Afrodisiac became Brandy's most critically-acclaimed album to date.
Afrodisiac featured tracks primarily produced by producer
Timbaland, in place of Jerkins or Smith, and Brandy worked with the producer to create a new sound. Both
People and
Rolling Stone rated the album four stars, with Rolling Stone comparing it to "
Janet Jackson at her best..".
The album debut at number 3 on the Billboard Top 200 Album charts, and number 4 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Album charts. The singles, however, did not perform as well: "Talk About Our Love" became a moderate hit peaking at #36 on the Billboard Top 100 charts and #16 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Single & Tracks charts, while the follow-up "Who Is She 2 U" was a minor hit, never making it out of the lower half of the
Billboard Hot 100. The title track "Afrodisiac", released overseas as a single, was a Top 20 hit in the
United Kingdom. At the end of 2004, Brandy asked for and received a release from Atlantic Records. As a direct consequence she brought a collection of all of her singles,
The Best of Brandy, on the market, before starting shopping for a new record deal under Knockout Entertainment. Afrodisiac has sold 1.2 million copies worldwide.
New Album (2007)
Currently, Brandy's working on her fifth studio album which is scheduled for a early 2007 release. It involves producers Rodney "
Darkchild" Jerkins,
The Neptunes,
Bryce Wilson, Tim & Bob, Wyldcard, and executive producer
Bryan Michael Cox.[
2] [
3] [
4] [
5] [
6] Brandy recently also recorded songs for both
Diddy's new album
Press Play and
Snoop Dogg's upcoming album
Blue Carpet Treatment. [
7] [
8]
For more information about her singles, albums certifications, and music video, see
Brandy discographyAlbums
Career Stats*Career wins: 1
*Career nominations: 12
| Year | Category | Genre | Title | Result | | 1996 | Best New Artist | General | Best New Artist | Nominated |
| 1996 | Best Female R&B Performance | R&B | "Baby" | Nominated |
| 1997 | Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals | Pop | "Missing You" | Nominated |
| 1997 | Best Female R&B Performance | R&B | "Sittin' Up In My Room" | Nominated |
| 1997 | Best R&B Song | R&B | "Sittin' Up In My Room" | Nominated |
| 1999 | Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group | R&B | "The Boy Is Mine" | Won |
| 1999 | Best R&B Album | R&B | "Never Say Never" | Nominated |
| 1999 | Record Of The Year | General | "The Boy Is Mine" | Nominated |
| 1999 | Best R&B Song | R&B | "The Boy Is Mine" | Nominated |
| 2000 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | "Almost Doesn't Count" | Nominated |
| 2003 | Best R&B Contemporary Album | R&B | "Full Moon" | Nominated |
| 2005 | Best R&B Contemporary Album | R&B | "Afrodisiac" | Nominated |
|
Brandy starred from
1996 until
2001 in the popular television
sitcom Moesha, in which she played the lead character, a teenager. (This was not her first TV role; she had previously appeared in the short-lived
1993-
1994 sitcom
Thea, starring
Thea Vidale).
In
1997, she played the title character in
Rodgers and Hammerstein's television version of
Cinderella featuring a multi-cultural cast that also included
Whitney Houston,
Jason Alexander,
Whoopi Goldberg, and
Bernadette Peters. The TV-movie garnered over 66 million viewers and won an
Emmy award.
Other roles include a
television movie she co-produced and starred in with
Diana Ross entitled
Double Platinum; and a role in the franchise-flick
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer where she portrayed the sassy Karla, best friend to
Jennifer Love Hewitt's lead character. Brandy was said to be the considered lead in a
Diana Ross biopic planned by the legendary singer. There has been no word on this project since 2001, however.
Brandy has also guest-starred in several television shows such as
House and
American Dreams. She recently did four guest star appearances in the UPN sitcom
One on One alongside her brother Ray J.
In February 2006, Brandy is supposedly in talks to star and portray legendary singer and Oscar-nominated actress
Diahann Carroll in a television biopic entitled
The Time of My Life: The Diahann Carroll Story directed by
Spike Lee. Most recently in a TV Guide interview Brandy stated that her upcoming new sitcom was slated to start production in March 2006.
Arachnophobia (1990)
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
Osmosis Jones (2001) (voice)
TV
Thea (1993-1994)
Moesha (1996-2001)
Cinderella (1997)
Double Platinum (1999)
America's Got Talent (2006-Present)
Untitled Brandy Project (TBA)
*In late
1999, as part of her campaign to help
UNICEF, as their International Spokesperson for Youth, "One Voice" (a selection from the
Never S-A-Y Never LP) was made the official song of the organization.
*In
2000,
Mattel released a Brandy Doll.
*In early
2004, she was
Punk'd by
Ashton Kutcher's crew members.
*In late
July 2004,
New York Knicks guard
Quentin Richardson (nicknamed "Q" and then a member of the
Los Angeles Clippers) proposed to Brandy at a private reception in Los Angeles with friends and family, according to
People magazine. The engagement ring Richardson presented to Norwood was reportedly worth US$1 million. However, before the proposal, controversy once again arose when former lover, music producer/songwriter
Robert Smith, shocked radio listeners in an interview in New York when he revealed that he and Brandy did not legally get married in the summer of 2001 as reported. In the late 2005, it was rumored Brandy and "Q" broke up and she changed her tattoo of him into a cat. However, Brandy and "Q" are slated to be back together after she consoled him after his brother's death.
*Brandy has also been linked to
Boyz II Men front man
Wanya Morris,
Kobe Bryant, singer
Tyrese Gibson, and rapper-turned-preacher-turned-rapper
Mase prior to the affair with Smith and the engagement to Richardson.
*Early on in her career, Brandy styled her hair with a
hot comb but after suffering severe 3rd degree burns and hair loss, she used braids initially to keep her styled while she recovered.
*Brandy is a
vegetarian.
*Brandy is also in the works of a soundtrack for a video game which she will be providing the voice for one of the main characters.
*She is also the lead spokesman for Pro-Ten hair products.
*Brandy has taken
Scientology classes, but is not a Scientologist. [
9]
*Brandy was featured in the
G-Unit video
Stunt 101 as the lead girl.
*Brandy is one of three talent judges on
America's Got Talent, the new contest on
NBC with executive producer
Simon Cowell and host
Regis Philbin.
List of best-selling music artists*
Official site*
Official MySpace*
Brandy at All Music Guide{{Persondata
NAME=Norwood, Brandy Rayana | ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Brandy | SHORT DESCRIPTION=American singer/actress | DATE OF BIRTH=February 11 1979 | PLACE OF BIRTH=McComb, Mississippi | DATE OF DEATH= | PLACE OF DEATH=
|
