Brandy

Brandy was born in McComb, Mississippi on February 11, 1979. She started singing at Brookhaven church of Christ in Brookhaven, Mississippi at an early age of two and when she was 11, she began working as a backing vocalist for boybands Norment and Immature. Wanting to record her own album, she then sought a record deal with major label but didn't get any until she attended a party held by Atlantic Recording Corporation. After performing in front of the guests, she was then offered a recording contract by the company's executive, Darryl Williams.

Brandy's first record is a self-titled album released in 1994. Working with producers Keith Crouch and Darryl Williams, the album features such hit singles as "I Wanna Be Down", "Single", "Baby", and "Brokenhearted". Since making its way out in September, the effort peaked at number 6 on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and landed at number 20 on Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart. Also, the album earned her two Grammy Award nominations for "Best New Artist" and "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" which unfortunately she lost them all.

In 2007, Atlantic Records signed Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins to work on Brandy's sophomore studio album "Never Say Never". Playing triple duties as a singer, songwriter, and producer, she yielded the lead single off the album "The Boy Is Mine" to number one on Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. This second LP was nominated for four nods at the 41st Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for "The Boy Is Mine", Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song for "The Boy Is Mine", Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Boy Is Mine", which she took home the prize from the latest category.

After "Never Say Never" was released, Brandy took timeout for four years from the music industry and made a comeback in 2001 with her brother Ray-J to record a cover version of Phil Collins' 1980s hit single "Another Day in Paradise". Listed on tribute album "Urban Renewal: A Tribute to Phil Collins", the song became an instant massive hit, reaching the top 10 on the majority of all charts it appeared on.

In summer 2001, Brandy announced that she married music producer Robert Smith but later reportedly got divorce the next year after giving birth to daughter Sy'rai Iman Smith. However, in a radio interview in 2003, she claimed her marriage to Robert actually never happened. No explanation has been made regarding the reason behind her lying until 2008 when she opened it up to US Weekly. "I lied because of the fear of what people would think and the pressure to be a good role model," but "Our relationship was very real, we just weren't legally married," she said.

Back in the same year she lied about her marriage, Brandy released her third studio effort which dealt with the development of a male-female relationship. The LP peaked at number 2 on both Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart and Billboard Top Internet Albums chart, selling more than 1, 250,000 copies worldwide.

In 2004, Brandy released another major studio album entitled "Afrodisiac". Working with Rodney Jerkins, she lined up Kanye West and T.I. as featured guests on the LP. Since making its way out in June 2004, it landed at number 3 on Billboard 200 Albums chart and Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The next year, Brandy decided to end her contract with Atlantic Records. Still unsigned, she entered the studio with several songwriters and producers to create a follow-up to her 2004's "Afrodisiac". By September 2008, her project called "Human" was completed and she decided to release it under Epic Records. The album was supposed to hit the market on November 11 but a call from Timbaland who requested her to make a music with him caused it delayed for a month. She pushed it back to December 9.