Jody Watley is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and producer that first danced her way to fame at 14 years old as a dancer on Soul Train. That experience led show host Don Cornelius and booking agent Dick Griffey to place her and fellow dancer Jeffrey Daniel in the group Shalamar in 1977, with lead singer Howard Hewett added to the group in 1979. They produced the hits “Second Time Around,” “Make That Move,” “This is for the Lover in You,” and “A Night to Remember” before Watley left the group in 1983 due to conflict within the group and a lack of payment from Dick Griffey’s SOLAR Records label.

She released her self-titled debut album in 1987 featuring the #1 Dance hits “Don’t You Want Me,” “Some Kind of Lover,” and “Looking for a New Love,” which also peaked at #1 on the R&B Singles chart and #2 on the Pop chart. This album went Platinum and led to her winning the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1988. Her follow-up album Larger Than Life was released in 1989 and featured the Top 10 Pop hits “Everything,” “Friends” with Rakim, and the #1 Dance and R&B hit “Real Love.” She worked on these albums with Prince bassist André Cymone, who she would later marry in 1991 before separating in 1995.

She released nine studio albums between 1987 and 2006, and in 2008, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Billboard Music Awards. Her last project was the 2014 EP Paradise on her own Avitone label and she made an appearance on DâM-FunK’s Invite the Light album in 2015 on the track “Virtuous Progression.” She also formed “Shalamar Reloaded” with two new members and continues to tour.