Brandy Norwood

Brandy Norwood was keenly interested in singing since the early age and with the support of her father she performed her first-ever gospel solo at two years of age. Until 1990, she didn’t have the enough support from the people around her and finally the destiny and her talent brought her a contract with Teaspoon Productions in 1990. She was hired as a backing vocalist by Earl Harris and Chris Strokes for their band Immature. After quite a talking and negotiations with East West Records, Norwood parents helped her get a recording deal with Atlantic Recording Corporation. With their support, she also showcased her talent at a number of platform and talent shows. During the same time, she also bagged a minor role in ABC sitcom ‘Thea’. Though the show didn’t get her huge success, her voice made her popular among audiences.

Darryl Williams, director of Atlantic records signed up Keith Crouch and R&B group Somethin’ for the People to hone her singing skills and prepared her for the real life battle. Her debut album Brandy was released in 1994 with singles like ‘I Wanna Be Down’ and ‘Baby’ which reached the top of Hot R&B Singles chart. She further went on to perform the soundtrack for the movie ‘Waiting to Exhale’ and ‘Batman Forever’. In 1996, she teamed up with Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight and Tamia for the single ‘Missing You’, soundtrack from a movie ‘Set It Off’. In 1996, she bagged a leading role of Moesha Mitchell on UPN sitcom ‘Moesha’ following her magnificent performance in ‘Thea’. The show earned her a critical acclaim and popularity that she was seeking for quite a long time.

In 1997, she got a lifetime opportunity to share the same screen space with her idol Whitney Houston in ‘Cinderella’, TV version of Rodgers and Hammerstein. In June 1998, she released her most anticipated second studio album ‘Never Say Never’. For the very same album, she produced and co-wrote 6 more singles including Billboard Hot 100 ‘The Boy Is Mine’ which was a duet with her rumored rival Monica. The album ‘Never Say Never’ was a global hit and was named Norwood biggest-selling album with over a 16 million copies worldwide sales. She made her movie debut in 1998 with a supporting cast of Karla Wilson in slasher film ‘I Still Know What You Did Last Summer’. She received a wide appraise for her frisky role in the movie. She then played an intense role of a daughter in 1999 musical drama film ‘Double Platinum’ alongside Diana Ross.

Multiple tabloids stated that Norwood was battling with the dehydration following her long hiatus. In 2001, she teamed up with her brother Ray-J and performed ‘Another Day in Paradise’ as part of a tribute for ‘Urban Renewal: A Tribute to Phil Collins’. Her third studio album ‘Full Moon’ was released in February 2002. After yet another long break, she returned with her fourth album ‘Afrodisiac’ in June 2002. The album was in the limelight for all the negative reason but still, Norwood received a critical acclaim for it. She also made a guest appearance in the third season of NBC’s drama program ‘American Dreams’, where she performed ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’. At the end of 2004 Norwood ended her 11 years long term contract with Atlanta Records by dropping her compilation album ‘The Best of Brandy’ in March 2005.

Norwood then continued her television role and in February 2006 she appeared in a recurring role on ‘One on One’. She also joined the judge’s panel on the 1^st season of ‘America’s Got Talent’. In December 2008, she unleashed her fifth studio album ‘Human’ which marked another success in her career. Norwood along with her brother Ray J and parents appeared on VH1 series ‘Brandy and Ray J: A Family Business’ in April 2010.

A part of a Norwood career, she also participated on season 11 of ABC’s reality show ‘Dancing with the Stars’ with choreographer partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy and placed fourth. In 2011, the confirmation was made that she had made a joint record deal with Breyon Prescott’s Chameleon Records and RCA Records. The same year she was cast on BET dramedy series ‘The Game’. She also signed a contract with Creative Artists Agency on June 2013 and a management deal with MBK Entertainment in 2014. In July, she became an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

In the beginning of April 2015, she was introduced to Broadway with musical ‘Chicago’. Norwood acted in a lead role in the sitcom ‘Zoe Ever After’ in January 2016. Later the month she announced her Slayana World Tour. In January 2017, she appeared competing with her brother Ray J in FOX cooking show ‘My Kitchen Rules’. She declared her come back to Broadway as Roxie in Chicago in August 2017.

On December 30, 2006, Norwood was involved in a car accident in Los Angeles which caused the death of a lady driver Awatef Aboudihaj. However, no lawsuit was filed against her and the incident was settled out of the court where Norwood paid a certain amount to all the victims.

Brandy Norwood has won multiple awards for her remarkable contribution to the entertainment industry. In 2014, she won Image Award for an Outstanding supporting actress for ‘The Game’; previously she had received the same award for Moesha in 1997. Norwood was also awarded MTV Movie Award for Best Movie Song ‘Waiting to Exhale’.

Net Worth and Salary