Brandy Norwood

Brandy Norwood

Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979), known professionally as Brandy or Bran'Nu, is an American recording artist and actress. Born into a musical family in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Carson, California, Norwood enrolled in performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing competitions as a child. She first appeared in a supporting role on the short-lived ABC sitcom Thea in 1993. She went on to star in the successful UPN sitcom Moesha in 1996, which lasted for six seasons and resulted in roles in the 1998 horror sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, the TV films Cinderella (1997) and Double Platinum (1999), and recurring roles on series such as Drop Dead Diva and The Game.

In 1993, she signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records, releasing her self-titled debut album a year after, which was a commercial success with two number one singles on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart—"I Wanna Be Down", and "Baby". She went on to release a successful single, "The Boy Is Mine", a duet with singer Monica, and her second album Never Say Never in 1998. Norwood followed up Never Say Never with Full Moon (2002), Afrodisiac (2004) and Human (2008), the latter of which became her first album to be released by Epic Records after a label change in 2005. Norwood's sixth studio album, Two Eleven, was released on Chameleon/RCA in October 2012 and is preceded by the singles "Put It Down" and "Wildest Dreams".

Apart from her work in music, Norwood is widely known for her reality series Brandy: Special Delivery (2002) and Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business, co–starring her younger brother Ray J, as well as her roles a judge on the premiere season of America's Got Talent and a contestant on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars. She has sold over 8.62 million copies of her first five studio albums in the United States, and over 30 million records worldwide. Additionally, she has won over 100 awards as a recording artist. In 1999, Billboard ranked Norwood among the top 20 of the Top Pop Artists of the 1990s. In 2010, Billboard included Norwood in their Top 50 R&B and Hip Hop Artists list of the past 25 years.