Brandy Norwood

Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979), better known mononymously as Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Her sound, characterized by heavy voice-layering and intricate riffs, has seen her nicknamed "the Vocal Bible". As of , she has sold over 40 million records worldwide, with approximately 8.62 million albums sold in the United States. Her work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award and an American Music Award. Born in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Carson, California, Nowood beginning her career as a backing vocalist for various teen pop groups. After signing with Atlantic Records in 1993, she released her self-titled debut album the following year at the age of fifteen, which features her hit song "I Wanna Be Down". The album sold six million copies worldwide. Norwood ventured into acting with the UPN sitcom Moesha (1996–2001), which won her an NAACP Image Award, and resulted in numerous other roles, such as the titular character in the television film Cinderella (1997) and Karla Wilson in the slasher film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). Her musical breakthrough came with her 1998 single "The Boy Is Mine"—a duet with fellow R&B contemporary Monica—which became one of the best selling female duets of all time and won her the Grammy for Best R&B Vocal by a Duo or Group. The song preceded Norwood's second studio album, Never Say Never (1998), which saw further acclaim and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. To date, it has sold over 16 million copies worldwide, making it Norwood's best selling album. Her third and fourth albums, Full Moon (2002) and Afrodisiac (2004), were released to critical and commercial success. Her fifth album, Human (2008) was released to positive reviews despite a steep commercial decline. Her sixth album Two Eleven (2012), saw a slight improvement before ultimately becoming an independent artist with her seventh album, B7 (2020). In 2002, Norwood starred in the reality series Brandy: Special Delivery, documenting the birth of her daughter. Norwood served as a judge on the first season of America's Got Talent before being involved in a heavily publicized car accident in 2006. In 2010, she returned to television as a contestant on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars and starred in the reality series Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business.