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| Home > singers > Brandy Norwood > Full Biography | |||||||||||||
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Brandy Norwood Biography |
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| Brandy Rayana Norwood or "Brandy" is an American actress and Grammy Award-winning R&B singer. She is best known for her starring roles in the sitcom Moesha and the 1997 version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, and for her hit songs such as "Sittin' up in My Room" and "The Boy Is Mine." More recently, she has been cast as being one of three judges on the TV reality show America's Got Talent. She is the sister of singer and actor William Raymond "Ray J" Norwood Jr, and a cousin of blues singer Bo Diddley, and rapper Snoop Dogg. Brandy began performing at many West Coast functions as part of a youth singing group and then, at 11, barely a teenager herself, met manager Chris Stokes who landed her gigs as backup singer for the group called Norment and more successful teen R&B trio Immature. In 1993, Norwood attended a party held by the Atlantic Recording Corporation. After performing in front of hundreds of people, an executive indicated interest in her personality and eventually offered Brandy a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Brandy's self-titled debut album was released on September 27, 1994. While the album debuted at a moderate number 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart only, Brandy soon became a quadruple platinum success thanks to heavy rotation on music channels MTV and BET and the singles "I Wanna Be Down" and "Baby" which both entered the top 10 of the official Hot 100 and became number-one hits on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Although the album's success was limited elsewhere, the album produced another two top 10 hits and made Brandy one of the most successful new artists of the year. Subsequently the album earned Norwood two Grammy Award nominations for "Best New Artist" and "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance". Four Soul Train Music Awards, two Billboard Awards, and the New York Children's Choice Award. Brandy continued to soar in 1995, teaming up with Lenny Kravitz for the Batman Forever soundtrack and scoring another hit with her number-two single, "Sittin' up in My Room" from the Waiting To Exhale soundtrack. In 1996, Brandy teamed up with Tamia, Chaka Khan, and Gladys Knight, for the single "Missing You," released from the Set It Off soundtrack. Never Say Never, which was released on June 9, 1998 and became Brandy's most successful album worldwide. Norwood co-wrote and produced six songs on the album which yielded her first number-one song on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, "The Boy Is Mine", a duet with singer Monica. The song rose to one of the most successful records of the year, staying on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, and eventually garnered the pair a Grammy Award for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal". Critics rated Never Say Never highly, with All Music Guide's Stephen Thomas Erlewine praising Brandy and her team for wisely finding "a middle ground between Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige. In June 2006, Norwood was cast as one of three talent judges on the first season of America's Got Talent, an amateur talent contest on NBC with executive producer Simon Cowell and host Regis Philbin. Brandy is scheduled to return for a second season of the show, which will start airing in summer 2007. Norwood is currently putting the finishing touches on her yet-to-be-titled fifth studio album which is scheduled for a fall 2007 release and involves producers The Neptunes, Bryce Wilson, Tim & Bob, Wyldcard, and executive producer Bryan Michael Cox. Next to this Brandy is expected to join her brother Ray-J and rappers Shorty Mack and Ashton for a group project named TKO (Tha Knock Out) whose debut album was orginally scheduled for an early 2007 release. The singer is also said to be in the works of a soundtrack for a yet-untitled video game in which she will be providing the voice for the main character. Brandy starred from 1996 until 2001 in the popular television sitcom Moesha, in which she played the lead character, a teenager. 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. 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. Most recently in a TV Guide interview Brandy stated that her upcoming new sitcom was slated to start production in March 2006. | |||||||||||||
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