Jody Watley is one of the most popular and richest R&B Singer who was born on January 30, 1959 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. R&B singer who won an Grammy Award for Best New Album in 1987. She was also nominated for numerous MTV Video Music Awards. The video she made to promote “Real Love” received six Video Music Award nominations.
She was inspired to a certain extent by She was influenced by Diana Ross..
Watley was born in Chicago, Illinois. Watley made her first stage appearance at 8 years old with family friend and godfather Jackie Wilson. She got her start on the TV dance show Soul Train at the age of 14. At Dorsey High School she was voted “best dancer” in her senior class poll. Documented by Ebony magazine in 1977 as a part of “The New Generation,” Jody Watley was one of the most popular dancers on the show and recognized as a trendsetter for her style and dance moves. As standouts on the television show, Watley and fellow Soul Train dancer Jeffrey Daniel were selected to join Gary Mumford and become original members of the R&B group Shalamar by show creator Don Cornelius. (Mumford was shortly replaced by Gerald Brown, and Brown himself was soon replaced by Howard Hewett as lead vocalist). The lineup of Hewett, Watley, and Daniel would be the most successful. Watley remained with Shalamar from 1977 to 1983. The trio released several albums and scored several hits including the US Top 20 “Dead Giveaway”, and the R&B hits “The Second Time Around”, “For The Lover In You”, and “A Night To Remember”. Because of conflicts within the group, disagreements about the artistic direction of Shalamar with Dick Griffey, and lack of payment from Solar Records, she finally left the group in 1983, prior to the release of The Look album.
After two and a half years in England, Watley returned to America and secured a recording deal with MCA Records, eager to establish her own identity. Her debut solo studio album, titled Jody Watley, was released in March 1987, and she co-wrote six of the album’s nine songs. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Watley would say that she wanted to showcase her voice against “really funky hard dance tracks.” The album’s lead single, “Looking for a New Love”, became a hit and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album peaked at number ten on the US Billboard 200, number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and sold 2 million copies in the United States and a total of 4 million copies worldwide. It produced five uptempo dance and R&B singles that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with three peaking within the top-ten: “Looking for a New Love” (#2); “Still a Thrill” (#56); “Don’t You Want Me” (#6); “Some Kind of Lover” (#10); and “Most of All” (#60) Also included on her debut album was the duet with George Michael, “Learn to Say No”, produced by Bernard Edwards of Chic-fame.
She has two kids and was previously engaged with Andre Cymone, a musician who played the bass for Prince.
