Michelle Williams (singer)

Michelle Williams
Williams in 2015
Born
Tenitra Michelle Williams

(1979-07-23) July 23, 1979 (age 45)
Rockford, Illinois, U.S.
Education
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actress
  • podcaster
Years active1999–present
Notable work
AwardsFull list
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Labels
Formerly ofDestiny's Child

Tenitra Michelle Williams (born July 23, 1979)[1] is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in the early 2000s as a member of R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling female groups of all time[2] with over 100 million records,[3] of which more than 60 million copies sold with the trio lineup that included Williams.[4][5] During her time in the group she earned several accolades including a Grammy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

During the group's two-year hiatus, 2001–2003, Williams released her debut solo album Heart to Yours (2002) which topped the US gospel album chart and became the best-selling gospel release of the year. That same year, Billboard named Williams the fifth best-charting gospel artist of the year and she received a MOBO Award for "Best Gospel Act".[6] Following this, she released her second solo album Do You Know (2004). After Destiny's Child's disbandment in 2006, Williams released her first pop album, Unexpected (2008),[7] which spawned the singles "We Break the Dawn" and the US Dance number-one "The Greatest". Her fourth studio album, Journey to Freedom (2014), received positive reviews and became her highest-charting album in the US; it includes the singles "If We Had Your Eyes", and "Say Yes" which topped the US Hot Gospel Songs chart for seven weeks, and won the Stellar Award for Music Video of the Year.[8][9][10]

Williams also found success as a television, Broadway, and West End theatre actress, gaining a nomination for "Best Lead Female – Equity" in 2008 at the 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards.[11] Making her acting debut on Broadway in Aida (2003), she has since starred in the sitcom series Half & Half (2006) and the musical productions The Color Purple (2007), Chicago (2009–10), What My Husband Doesn't Know (2011) and Fela! (2013) and the original Broadway production of Death Becomes Her (2024). She was a featured judge on MTV's Top Pop Group, a contestant on season 8 of Strictly Come Dancing in the United Kingdom, and starred in the Oxygen reality television series Fix My Choir. She has also appeared on the American, British, and Australian versions of The Masked Singer.

  1. ^ "Michelle Williams • Instagram".
  2. ^ "Billboard Archived August 31, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 5, 2011
  3. ^ "Mathew Knowles' Music World Entertainment Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary" (Press release). Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  4. ^ Olivia B. Waxman (January 11, 2013). "Beyoncé and Destiny's Child to Release Original Track for First Time in Eight Years". Time.
  5. ^ "Yo! Raps Magazine is under construction". Archived from the original on March 22, 2015.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gospel Year End 2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Williams in a Dance Mood on Third Solo Disc". Billboard.com. 2008. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
  8. ^ "The 46th NAACP Image Awards – Nominees". NAACP Image Awards. NAACP. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  9. ^ Williams, Michelle (January 14, 2014). "I am soooooooo excited about my 4 Stellar Award nominations!!!! Thanking YOU all who voted to get me this far!!!! #SAYYES". Instagram. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stellar Win 2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Gans, Andrew (May 21, 2008). "Nominees for 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards Announced". Playbill. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2011.