1. Brandy Norwood gained fame by starring in the UPN sitcom Moesha, and further recognition for her role in the television film Cinderella and the slasher film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.
68 Facts About Brandy Norwood
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Brandy Norwood saw continued critical and commercial success with her third and fourth albums, Full Moon and Afrodisiac.
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Brandy Norwood served as a judge on the first season of America's Got Talent.
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In 2015, Norwood made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago, followed by her seventh and eighth studio albums, B7, and the holiday album Christmas With Brandy.
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Brandy Norwood has sold over 40 million records worldwide, with approximately 8.62 million albums sold in the United States alone.
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Brandy Norwood's accolades include a Grammy Award and an American Music Award.
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Brandy Norwood has become known for her distinctive sound, characterized by her peculiar timbre, voice-layering, and intricate riffs, which has earned her the nickname "the Vocal Bible" from industry peers and critics.
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Rapper Snoop Dogg has claimed that he and Brandy Norwood are cousins, though Brandy Norwood has stated she is unsure if they are actually related.
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Brandy Norwood is reported to be a cousin of wrestler Mercedes Mone and rapper Daz Dillinger.
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Brandy Norwood began entering talent shows by the time she was eleven, and, as part of a youth singing group, performed at several public functions.
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Brandy Norwood recalled that she appreciated the cancellation of the show as she was unenthusiastic about acting at the time, and the taping caused scheduling conflicts with the recording of her album.
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Brandy Norwood's self-titled debut album was released in late September 1994 and peaked at number twenty on the US Billboard 200.
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In 1996, Norwood collaborated with Tamia, Chaka Khan, and Gladys Knight on the single "Missing You", released from the soundtrack of the F Gary Gray film Set It Off.
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In 1997, Brandy Norwood was hand-picked by producer Whitney Houston to play the title character in Rodgers and Hammerstein's television version of Cinderella featuring a multiracial cast that included Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and Houston.
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Brandy Norwood co-wrote and produced six songs for the record, including her first number-one song on the US Billboard Hot 100, "The Boy Is Mine", a duet with singer Monica that has become the most successful song by a female duo in the music industry.
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Never Say Never was released in June 1998 and became Brandy Norwood's biggest-selling album, selling over 16 million copies worldwide and reaching number two on the Billboard 200.
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Brandy Norwood earned positive reviews for her "bouncy" performance, which garnered her both a Blockbuster Entertainment Award and an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Female Performance.
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In February 2006, Brandy Norwood began appearing in a recurring role on UPN sitcom One on One, playing the sister to brother Ray J's character D-Mack.
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Brandy Norwood was originally slated to return for the second season in summer 2007, but eventually decided not to, feeling that she "couldn't give the new season the attention and commitment it deserved," following a fatal 2006 car accident in which she was involved.
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Brandy Norwood was replaced by reality TV star Sharon Osbourne.
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In fall 2010, Brandy Norwood appeared as a contestant on season 11 of the ABC reality show Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
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Brandy Norwood ultimately placed fourth in the competition, which was a shock to the judges, viewers, studio audience, and other contestants that considered her one of the show's frontrunners throughout the entire competition.
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Later that same year, Brandy Norwood returned to acting roles with recurring appearances on The CW's teen drama series 90210, and in the fourth season of the Lifetime's comedy series Drop Dead Diva, in which she played the role of Elisa Shayne.
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In 2011, Brandy Norwood joined the cast of the BET comedy series The Game, playing the recurring role of Chardonnay, a bartender.
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Brandy Norwood became a regular cast member by the next season.
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In February 2012, Brandy Norwood reteamed with Monica on "It All Belongs to Me", which was released as a single from the latter's album New Life.
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In March 2013, Norwood returned to film, joining an ensemble cast consisting of Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Lance Gross and Vanessa L Williams in Tyler Perry's drama Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor.
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In June 2013, Brandy Norwood signed with Creative Artists Agency, headquartered in Los Angeles, and in early 2014, she arranged a management deal with MBK Entertainment with CEO Jeff Robinson.
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Also in 2014, Brandy Norwood made guest appearances on VH1's Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood and the TV Land sitcom The Soul Man.
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Also in 2015, Brandy Norwood appeared on British house duo 99 Souls's mashup single "The Girl Is Mine", for which she re-recorded her vocals from "The Boy Is Mine".
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In January 2016, Brandy Norwood co-executive produced and starred as the lead in the BET sitcom Zoe Ever After, a multi-camera romantic comedy about a newly single mom stepping out of the shadow of her famous boxer ex-husband.
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In November 2016, Brandy Norwood became the second recipient of the Lady of Soul Award at the Soul Train Music Awards.
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Two months later, Brandy Norwood competed with her brother Ray J on the FOX reality cooking series My Kitchen Rules.
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In July 2018, Brandy Norwood became a series regular on the Fox musical drama television series Star.
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Brandy Norwood played the role of Cassie, starting as a recurring role in the second season, and remained a series regular until the series' ending in 2019.
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Two months later, Brandy Norwood performed a medley at the Billboard Music Awards, which were held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
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In March 2021, Brandy Norwood was chosen by John Legend as a mentor on the twentieth season of the singing competition series The Voice.
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In March 2022, Brandy Norwood released "Nothing Without You", a duet alongside daughter Sy'Rai, recorded for the soundtrack to the comedy film Cheaper by the Dozen.
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In October 2022, Brandy Norwood was nominated for Best Global Act at the All Africa Music Awards 2022 for "Somebody's Son," her collaboration with Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage.
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In November 2023, Norwood released her eighth studio album, Christmas with Brandy, a collection of six original songs and six cover versions of Christmas standards.
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On November 23,2023, Brandy Norwood performed "Someday at Christmas" at the 2023 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
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On February 4,2024, Brandy Norwood performed at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards; Burna Boy's single, "Sittin' on Top of the World", which heavily sampled Brandy Norwood's own "Top of the World", had been nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance.
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In July 2024, Descendants: The Rise of Red, a standalone sequel to the Descendants franchise, was released on Disney+, in which Brandy Norwood reprised the role of Cinderella, and appeared on the film's soundtrack, contributing vocals to "Love Ain't It" alongside Rita Ora, Malia Baker and Kylie Cantrall, and "So This Is Love" alongside Paolo Montalban.
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Brandy Norwood has been classified as some to have a contralto vocal range.
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Brandy Norwood's voice has often been described as soft, raspy, and husky by music critics and Norwood herself.
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Brandy Norwood sang about love while highligting other topics such as, "tributes to her little brother, God, the perfect man and older crooners like Aretha and Whitney ".
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Since the start of her career, Brandy Norwood has named Whitney Houston as her most prominent music and entertainment influence.
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Brandy Norwood exclaims that her dad "taught me everything that I know [about singing]".
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Since her 1994 debut album, Brandy Norwood has sold more than 40 million records worldwide with over 8.62 million albums sold in the United States alone.
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Brandy Norwood was one of the youngest artists nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
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Additionally, on many occasions, Brandy Norwood has been thought of as a talented artist that music producers and songwriters have used to enhance their own artistic and creative energies.
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Brandy Norwood has made her impact in the film and television industry as well.
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Brandy Norwood was the first African American to play the role of Cinderella.
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On stage, Brandy Norwood made Broadway history along with co-star Lana Gordan by becoming the first black co-leads in Chicago the Musical in 2017.
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Brandy Norwood represented the brands Candie's in 1998 and DKNY in the Spring of 2000.
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In 2005, Brandy Norwood became the spokesperson for Ultima, a company for hair weaves and wigs.
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Brandy Norwood is an avid supporter of the Make A Wish Foundation and RAINN.
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In 2000, Brandy Norwood donated $100,000 to 2000 WATTS, an entertainment community center founded by singer and actor Tyrese Gibson in the underprivileged community of Watts, Los Angeles, California.
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In 2010, Brandy Norwood became involved with Get Schooled, a national non-profit mobile phone calls by celebrities to wake up students for school.
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In 2014, Brandy Norwood teamed up with "text4baby", which spreads health and wellness to expecting moms via text message, and became an honorary co-chairman of the 2014 Unstoppable Foundation.
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Brandy Norwood attended Hollywood High School but studied with a private tutor beginning in tenth grade.
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Brandy Norwood dated Boyz II Men lead singer Wanya Morris, whom she cited as her "first love".
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The couple kept their relationship secret until February 2002, when Brandy Norwood announced that she was expecting her first child.
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Brandy Norwood responded that she regarded her relationship with Smith as a "spiritual union and true commitment to each other," though she later confirmed Smith's statement and justified her actions with the pressure of having to be a role model.
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The couple became engaged in July 2004, but Brandy Norwood ended their 14-month engagement in September 2005.
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Law enforcement officials later reported that Brandy Norwood was driving her car at 65 miles per hour and did not notice that vehicles ahead of her had slowed considerably.
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Aboudihaj's husband filed a lawsuit against Brandy Norwood, suing her for an undisclosed amount of financial relief to cover medical and funeral expenses, as well as legal costs and other damages.
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Brandy Norwood rejected his part of a $1.2 million settlement offer in February 2009, but did settle in November of that year.