Brandy Rayana Norwood, known more commonly as just Brandy, is an African-American singer-songwriter and actress from McComb, Mississippi. She is known for her roles in Moesha, Osmosis Jones and Cinderella (1997). She has released many R&B albums and singles since the 1990s. She is known as "The Vocal Bible". She gave birth to a daughter named Sy'rai Iman Smith in June 2002.
In the Descendants franchise, portrays Cinderella in the Disney+ film Descendants: The Rise of Red. She previously portrayed another version of Cinderella in the 1997 television film Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella alongside Paolo Montalban who portrayed Prince Christopher, the Rodgers & Hammerstein version of Prince Charming. In a behind the scenes video for The Rise of Red, she and Rita Ora have stated they would both like to collab together with music and are fans of each others works.
Early Life[]
Brandy Norwood was born in McComb, Mississippi but raised in Carson, California. During her youth, she acted as a backing vocalist for teen groups, she would sing for her father's choir group during church and performed her first gospel solo at the age of two in 1981. Her parents moved to Carson, California in 1983. At the age of seven, Brandy became a fan of singer Whitney Houston and her interest in music grew. During her time in school, she found no support in the staff when asking them for help to audition.
By the age of eleven, Brandy began entering talent shows where she sung in public venues. In 1990, she was signed on to work with Teaspoon Productions, a company heralded by Chris Stokes and Earl Harris where she was a backing vocalist for a R&B band named Immature. Three years later, her parents continued to support their daughter's ambitions by organising a recording contract with the Atlantic Recording Corporation. Still wanting to help her daughter, Brandy's mother left her job and Brandy herself dropped out of Hollywood High School to be privately tutored from the tenth grade onward. In 1999, Brandy joined forces with Monica Arnold to sing an R&B song called 'The Boy is Mine'.
Trivia[]
- She is related to guitarist and singer Bo Diddley on her mother's side.
- She and rapper Snoop Dogg are third cousins with the latter claiming they are actual cousins though Brandy claims she herself is unsure if they are really related.