Brandy, The #58 Female Artist of the Rock Era

Brandy Norwood was born in McComb, Mississippi, where she started singing for her father as part of the church choir.  She is the first cousin of rapper Snoop Dogg.  Brandy sang her first solo at church at age two.   In 1983, the family moved to Carson, California and Brandy enrolled in the Hollywood High Performing Arts Center.   Brandy entered talent shows at age 11 and joined a local singing group.

In 1990, Brandy became a backing vocalist for the group Immature and recorded a demo tape.  Three years later, she auditioned for Darryl Williams, the A&R man for Atlantic Records, and subsequently signed a recording contract with Atlantic.  

In 1993, Brandy acted in the ABC sitcom Thea for one year and then worked on her debut album.  Producer Keith Crouch helped her complete the self-titled release, which produced three Top 10 songs and sold over six million copies worldwide.  Her debut single, "I Wanna' Be Down", was a #1 R&B smash and #6 overall and sold over one million copies. 

"I Wanna' Be Down" won Billboard Music Awards for Best New Clip, Rap and Best New Clip, R&B/Urban, and it was nominated for Best Rap Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.  Brandy also won Billboard Awards for Best R&B Female and Best New R&B Artist.  The next single, "Baby", went Platinum in the U.S., was her second #1 on the R&B chart and #4 overall, and reached #4 in New Zealand.

"Brokenhearted" was a #2 R&B hit and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Brandy was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards, and she won the Favorite New Artist Soul/R&B at the American Music Awards (also nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist.

 In 1995, she opened for Boyz II Men on their tour of the United States.  She contributed songs to the "Batman Forever" Soundtrack and the "Waiting To Exhale" Soundtrack.  "Sittin' Up In My Room" from the latter gave Brandy a #2 smash on both the R&B and overall charts, helping the "Waiting To Exhale" Soundtrack get a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.  "Sittin' Up In My Room" also earned Brandy a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance.  The video was also nominated for Best Video from a Film at the MTV Video Music Awards.

In 1996, Monica enrolled at Pepperdine University, and shared a short relationship with Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, accompanying him to his prom at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.  Between 1997 and 1998, Brandy dated Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men.

Brandy recorded "Missing You" with Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan and Tamia, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

In 1997, producer Whitney Houston hand-picked Brandy to play the title character in the television version of Cinderella in a cast that also included Houston, Jason Alexander and Whoopi Goldberg.  The two-hour Wonderful World of Disney special was seen by 60 million viewers, giving the network its highest ratings in the time period in 16 years.

Next, she hooked up with another new artist, Monica, whom we've already saluted in The Top 100 Female Artists of the Rock Era*, for the smash "The Boy Is Mine".  The single hit #1 in the U.S., New Zealand, the Netherlands, #2 in the U.K. and France, #3 in Sweden and Switzerland and #5 in Germany.  It topped the American chart for a record-breaking 13 weeks.

The song won a host of awards:  the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (it also earned Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best R&B Song), Hot 100 Sales Single of the Year, R&B Sales Single of the Year and Dance Maxi Sales Single of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards.  It was nominated for Video of the Year and Best R&B Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

"The Boy Is Mine" was the lead single from Brandy's second album, Never Say Never, released in 1998.  The album sold over five million units in the U.S. and 16 million worldwide, and was nominated for Best R&B Album at the Grammys.  "Top of the World" was not released in North America, but it was a European hit, reaching #2 in the U.K.

"Have You Ever" gave Brandy her second U.S. #1, also reaching #1 in New Zealand and #8 in Australia.  It earned Brandy another nomination at the MTV Video Music Awards for Best R&B Video.  

"Almost Doesn't Count" also earned Brandy a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance.

Brandy was nominated for two World Music Awards on the strength of the Never Say Never album:  World's Best Selling Female Artist and World's Best Selling R&B and Hip Hop Artist.

Brandy starred in the movie remake I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award and an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Female Performance.  In 1999, Brandy co-starred with Diana Ross in the television drama Double Platinum.

After a lengthy break, Brandy returned in 2001 with the album Full Moon.  "Another Day In Paradise", which also appears on the Phil Collins tribute album, hit #2 in Germany, #3 in Switzerland and #5 in the U.K.

The next single was "What About Us", which was a #3 R&B hit and #7 overall in the United States, reached #4 in the U.K. and was a Top 10 in three other countries.  It earned an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Viewers Choice.

But Brandy has not returned to the Top 10 since, despite the release of three albums:  Afrodisiac (2004), Human (2008) and Two Eleven (2011).

 Brandy has sold over eight million albums in the U.S. and over 30 million worldwide.  She has won a Grammy Award, three American Music Awards and seven Billboard Music Awards.  Brandy has 17 career hits to her credit, with five Top 10 songs and two #1's.