Norwood was born in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Carson, California. Her father, Willie Ray Norwood, was a pastor and choir director, and by the age of two, she was singing at his church. Her mother, Sonja Bates, is a cousin of legendary blues singer Bo Diddley. Brandy became a fan of Whitney Houston, and she told her father that she wanted to be a singer, like Houston. At the age of four, the Norwoods moved to California, where Brandy began her artistic career singing at talent shows in 1990. At 11, she met a record producer who took her to various record companies and led her to backup singing jobs with two groups: Norment and the more successful Immature. When Brandy was 14, she was able to land a record deal with Atlantic Records, and in 1994 her first album, Brandy, was released, reaching gold status in less than two months, and quadruple platinum status soon after. The album contained the popular singles "I Wanna Be Down," "Baby," "Best Friend," "Brokenhearted," and made her an MTV star throughout 1995 and into early 1996. Awards started to come soon after. In the fall of 1995 she attended the Billboard Music Awards taking home the awards for "Best New Artist, R&B," and "Best R&B Female". At the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards she eclipsed a category that comprised U2,Whitney Houston, and Seal to win the "Best Song From A Movie" award for "Sittin' Up In My Room". She was nominated for a 1996 "Best New Artist" Grammy and "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" Grammy Award, also for her smash hit "Baby"; in 1996, she won an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding New Artist". Between 1995 and 1996, she won a total of seven Soul Train and Soul Train 'Lady of Soul' Music Awards, in the categories of "Best New Artist," "Best R&B/Soul Artist, Female," "Best R&B/Single, Solo," "Best R&B/Soul Song of The Year," "Best R&B/Soul New Artist," "Best R&B/Soul Album of The Year, Solo," and "Best New Artist of the Year". At the 2nd annual Lady of Soul Awards, Brandy was honored with the Aretha Franklin Award for Entertainer of the Year in 1996. |
