Michelle Williams

Tenitra Michelle Williams born July 23 1979 is an American singer songwriter and actress She rose to fame in the 2000s as a member of RB girl group Destinys Child one of the bestselling female groups of all time with over 60 million records of which more than 35 million copies sold with the trio lineup that included Williams During the groups twoyear hiatus 20012003 Williams released her debut solo album Heart to Yours 2002 which topped the US gospel album chart and became the bestselling gospel release of the year Also in 2002 Billboard named Williams the fifthbest gospel artist of the year and she received a MOBO Award for Best Gospel Act Following this she released Do You Know 2004 which gained her a nomination for Best Gospel Act at the 2004 MOBO Awards After Destinys Childs disbanded in 2006 Williams released her first pop album Unexpected 2008 which spawned the internationally charting single We Break the Dawn and the US Dance numberone The Greatest Her fourth studio album Journey to Freedom 2014 received positive reviews and became her highestcharting album in the US it was preceded by lead single If We Had Your Eyes which reached the US Adult RB top 20 and the Soul Trainnominated Say Yes which charted internationally and topped the US Hot Gospel Songs chart for seven weeks Journey to Freedom was nominated for Outstanding Gospel Album Traditional or Contemporary at the 46th NAACP Image Awards and earned Williams four nominations at the 30th annual Stellar Awards winning Music Video of the Year for Say Yes Williams has 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 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 200910 What My Husband Doesnt Know 2011 and Fela 2013 She was a featured judge on MTVs Top Pop Group a contestant in season 8 of Strictly Come Dancing in the United Kingdom and costarred alongside gospel musician Deitrick Haddon in the Oxygen reality television series Fix My Choir She has also appeared on both the American and British versions of The Masked Singer as Butterfly and Rockhopper respectively She has earned several awards and accolades including a Grammy Award and star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of Destinys Child as well as a solo MOBO Award and Stellar Award Description above from the Wikipedia article Michelle Williams singer licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia