Jody Watley

Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, jazz, dance and electronic soul.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s she was a member of the R&B/funk band Shalamar, who scored many hits, notably in the UK.

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 on both the pop and R&B charts including "Take That to the Bank", "The Second Time Around", "Make That Move", "For the Lover In You", "Dead Giveaway" 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 leaving Shalamar in 1984, Watley moved to England, and while there she recorded a guest vocal with British Jamaican roots reggae group Musical Youth for their album, Different Style!.

She also recorded with Gary Langan, Anne Dudley and J. J. Jeczalik (who later became Art of Noise).

She had a brief stint with Phonogram Records where two singles were released (in the UK, Europe and Australia—though crucially not America) under the mononym 'Jody': "Where the Boys Are" and "Girls Night Out".

Also during this era, and after departing the group, she took part in Bob Geldof's Band Aid recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which included Bono, Boy George, Sting, George Michael, Phil Collins, Status Quo, Paul Weller, Bananarama and other prominent Irish and British artists.

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 with partner André Cymone, who also produced her first four albums.

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 U.S. Billboard 200, number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and sold two million copies in the United States and a total of four 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 a duet with George Michael, "Learn to Say No", produced by Bernard Edwards of Chic fame.

The album sold over four million copies worldwide, reaching number 16 on the Billboard 200, and produced four singles: "Real Love" Certified Gold by RIAA (US #2, #1 R&B, #2 Dance, UK #31), a Gold-certificated single and her first Top 40 UK single since "Looking for a New Love" in 1987; "Friends" featuring Eric B. & Rakim (US #9, #3 R&B, #7 Dance, UK #21) was the first R&B, Pop, Rap, Dance collaboration to cross over Top 10 on multiple charts; and "Everything" (US #4, #3 R&B), her first ballad released as a single.

The album's fourth and final single, "Precious Love", was a minor hit, peaking at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Friends" is notable for being the first multi-format hit single to include the formula of a pop star featuring a guest rapper with the custom full 16-bar verses and bridge concept, and distinguishable from the rap "Intro" by Melle Mel on Chaka Khan's notable cover of Prince's song "I Feel for You".

In 1988, she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist (as a solo artist) and has been nominated for three Grammy awards.

At the 30th Annual Grammy Awards of 1988, Watley won the award for Best New Artist, and was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

That same year, she also received nominations for two MTV Video Music Awards and three Soul Train Awards.

After Shalamar she had two singles released under the name of 'Jody', without her last name even though adverts in UK pop magazine Smash Hits mentioned that she was "formerly of Shalamar".

This "technicality" (no second name), allowed her controversially to be considered a "New Artist" at the Grammys, beating Breakfast Club, Cutting Crew, Terence Trent D'Arby and Swing Out Sister.

Shortly after winning the Grammy, Watley would be featured in Harper's Bazaar magazine photographed by Francesco Scavullo.

In the spring of 1989, Watley released her second studio album, Larger Than Life, co-writing eleven of the album's twelve songs.

During the summer of 1989, the "Real Love" video, directed by Hollywood director David Fincher, was nominated for seven MTV Video Music Awards including Breakthrough Video, Best Art Direction, Best Dance Video and Best Female Video at the 1989 ceremony.

The successful "Friends" formula would become a mainstay formula in commercial pop music and was added as a category at the Grammys under Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2002.

In 2008, she was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from Billboard magazine, and was also prominently featured in the historic black issue of Vogue Italia in 2008.

In December 2016, Billboard ranked her as the 21st-most-successful dance artist of all time, and in 2017 Black Music Honors TV special recognized Watley as Crossover Music Icon Honoree for her groundbreaking achievements and influence.

In August 2018, Billboard ranked Jody Watley as one of the top female artists of all time, at number 53.

In March 2021, Jody Watley was named the First Ambassador of the National Museum of African American Music.

In 2022, Jody Watley received an honorary doctorate in business and Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from Joe Biden at Jody Watley Day at Georgia State Capitol, and was inducted into Women Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

In 2023 Sirius XM Satellite Radio launched 'The Jody Watley Show" monthly Life, Music and Culture show featuring celebrity guests and classic R&B hits

Watley was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Watley made her first stage appearance at eight 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.