BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Full Name: Tenitra Michelle Williams
Description: Singer, Actress, USA
Known For: Former member of “Destinys Child”
Instruments: Vocals
Music Styles: R&B, gospel, pop, dance, soul, hip hop
Location: IL, United States of America
Date Born: 23rd July 1980
Location Born: Rockford, Illinois, United States of America
CONTACT DETAILS
Web Site: Official website
Other Links: See below:
YOUTUBE VIDEO
BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Michelle Williams
An American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. Williams rose to fame in the 2000s as a member of R&B girl group Destiny’s Child, one of the best-selling female groups of all time.
Her work has earned her several awards and accolades including a Grammy Award and star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with Destiny’s Child, a solo MOBO Award, and nominations in the Stellar Awards and NAACP Theatre Awards. She has also been honored by the American Society of Culture Critics for her contributions to music and theater.
During the hiatus of Destiny’s Child, Williams released her debut solo album Heart to Yours which topped the US gospel album chart and became one of the best-selling gospel releases of 2002. Also a critical success, the album won Williams a MOBO Award for “Best Gospel Act”. Billboard ranked Williams as the fifth Top Gospel Artist of 2002.
In 2004, she released Do You Know which gained Williams a second nomination for “Best Gospel Act” at the 2004 MOBO Awards. After Destiny’s Child’s disbandment in 2005, Williams released her first pop album, Unexpected in 2008, which spawned the internationally-charting single “We Break the Dawn” and the US Dance number-one “The Greatest”.
Furthermore, Williams has found success as a television, Broadway and West End theatre actress, gaining a nomination for best “Lead Female Actress” in 2008 at the 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards. Making her acting debut on Broadway in Aida she has since starred in the sitcom series Half & Half and the productions; The Colour Purple, Chicago and What My Husband Doesn’t Know. Furthermore, she was a featured judge on MTV’s Top Pop Group and Gospel Dream and a contestant in series 8 of Strictly Come Dancing.
Williams was born July 23, 1980 in Rockford, Illinois. Her mother was a nurse and her father was a car salesman; she became one of four children raised in a “stable, loving” household. She made her musical debut at the age of seven, performing a rendition of the hymn “Blessed Assurance” at the St. Paul Church of God in Christ. She later sang in the gospel groups United Harmony and Chosen Expression.
After attending Rockford Auburn High School and being a part of the school’s Creative and Performing Arts magnet program, she pursued a degree in criminal justice at Illinois State University, doubtful of her ability to make a career as a professional singer. However, after two years of university, she left to pursue a music career and began touring as a backing vocalist for Grammy-award winning R&B artist Monica in October 1999, after successfully auditioning in May.
2000–02: Breakthrough with Destiny’s ChildMain article:
Destiny’s Child.
In late 1999, Williams met Destiny’s Child band members Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland in the lobby of an Atlanta hotel. Months later Beyoncé asked an acquaintance if she knew anyone who could sing for a possible spot with the group and was referred to Michelle.
After the much-publicized turmoil, Williams—alongside Farrah Franklin—officially joined the group in early 2000, replacing LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson without notice. Buoyed by the group’s breakout success, Luckett and Roberson had both attempted to split with the group’s manager in late 1990s, claiming that he kept a disproportionate share of the band’s profits and unfairly favored Knowles and Rowland. The issue was heightened after Williams and Franklin appeared in the video of “Say My Name”, implying that the original band members were already replaced.
Franklin, however, faded from the group after five months, as evidenced by her absences during promotional appearances and concerts. Franklin attributed her departure to negative vibes in the group resulting from the strife. After settling on this final lineup, the trio recorded “Independent Women Part I”, which appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels. It became their best-charting single yet, topping the official US singles chart for eleven consecutive weeks; the success cemented the new lineup and skyrocketed them to fame.
Beginning in April 2007, Williams joined Oprah Winfrey’s Chicago-based cast of the hit Broadway musical The Color Purple for its national tour.
2006–07: Television debut and The Color PurpleFollowing Destiny’s Child’s disbandment in early 2006 Williams made her television debut in the UPN comedy Half & Half, where she played the role of Naomi, a record company executive who is HIV positive.
Later that year, she appeared as one of the celebrity singers on the FOX reality television show Celebrity Duets, duetting with actors Alfonso Ribeiro and Jai Rodriguez.
In April 2006, Williams performed “America the Beautiful” at World Wrestling Entertainment’s event Wrestlemania 22, which was in her hometown of Chicago. Beginning in April 2007, Williams joined Oprah Winfrey’s Chicago-based cast of the hit Broadway musical The Color Purple for its national tour, starting with an extended run at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. Williams described the opportunity as “a dream come true”, playing the part of blues singer Shug Avery, which earned her positive reception.
Following this success, in May 2001 Williams and Destiny’s Child released the group’s third studio album Survivor. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with sales of 663,000 copies. Survivor has sold over ten million copies worldwide, 4.1 million of which were sold in the US alone. The album’s other number-one hits are “Bootylicious” and the title track “Survivor”, the latter earning the group a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. After releasing their holiday album, 8 Days of Christmas, the group announced their temporary break-up to pursue solo projects.
In March 2008, Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment revealed that Williams would be releasing her third studio album Unexpected on October 7, 2008 in the U.S. The album, her first secular release and first release since the disbanding of Destiny’s Child.
On June 7, 2012 it was announced that Williams had been signed to Light Records and is due to release her fourth studio album in 2013. On January 3, 2013, it was announced that Williams will play Sandra in the national tour of the Tony-nominated musical Fela!, beginning January 29 in Washington, D.C. and playing in a total of 16 cities.
Destiny’s Child released a compilation album titled Love Songs on January 29, which features the newly recorded song “Nuclear”, co-written by Williams. On February 3, 2013, during Beyoncé’s performance at the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show, held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Rowland and Williams joined Knowles on the stage, where the trio performed excerpts from “Bootylicious”, “Independent Women”, and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”. Rowland and Williams then exited the stage and Knowles ended her performance
.
In 2011, Williams became a spokesperson for the Training, Education & Research Institute (TERI) and their Power of Ten campaign to raise money to fund a £21.8 million specialist facility in San Marcos, California. During an interview Williams revealed she has “a personal connection to the movement” as her godson was diagnosed with the development disorder at the age of two.
In discussing the campaign, Williams said “It’s such a great organisation dealing with people with autism and other developmental disabilities” and she was “just blown away” when she was informed “that they’re trying to build a 20-acre facility that will have (an) equestrian centre, aquatics, arts and crafts facility and theatre”.
In 2012, she became an ambassador for the American Heart Association’s Power to End Stroke campaign. In speaking of her role she said “I am honored to partner with the campaign […] my father had a stroke in 2005 due to smoking, diabetes and an unhealthy diet, and my grandmother was diagnosed with having a stroke in 2006 when she went to her doctor for a simple outpatient procedure. I am bringing awareness to people so that strokes can be prevented. Let’s take care of ourselves…the first step is knowledge about your health.
Discography
Heart to Yours (2002)
Do You Know (2004)
Unexpected (2008)
LINKS:
- Official website
- Michelle Williams
at AllMusic
- Michelle Williams
at the Internet Broadway Database
- Michelle Williams
at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ “Billboard
. Retrieved December 5, 2011
- Jump up ^ http://www.yoraps.com/news1.php?subaction=showfull&id=1426009857&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&
(Subtracting from the total sales , the copies sold by the original lineup , you get the sales of the new lineup)
- ^ Jump up to: a b c “Billboard – Google Books”
. Billboard. Google Books. December 28, 2002. Retrieved 10 Feb 2013.
- Jump up ^ “Williams in a Dance Mood on Third Solo Disc”
. Billboard.com. 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to: a b “The 46th NAACP Image Awards – Nominees”
. NAACP Image Awards. NAACP. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
- Jump up ^ Williams, Michelle (January 14, 2014). “I am soooooooo excited about my 4 Stellar Award nominations!!!! Thanking YOU all who voted to get me this far!!!! #SAYYES”
. Instagram. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Caslin, Yvette (April 5, 2015). “Destiny’s Child, Tamela Mann, Deitrick Haddon and more on the 30th annual Stellar Awards”
. Rolling Out. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b “Upcoming Guidance on the “The Gospel Tradition: In Performance at the White House””
. White House. April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
- Jump up ^ Gans, Andrew (21 May 2008). “Nominees for 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards Announced”
. Playbill. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Woods, Judith (10 October 2008). “Singer Michelle Williams’s quest for love: No timewasters please!”
. Daily Mail. Retrieved 14 September 2011.