Michelle Williams

Tenitra Michelle Williams (born July 23, 1979) is an American singer and actress.

Tenitra Michelle Williams was born in Rockford, Illinois, on July 23, 1979, to Anita Williams (née Washington) and Dennis Williams III (1952–2020).

She has three siblings: elder brother Erron, who is a musician, elder sister Cameron, and younger sister Danielle.

Williams made her musical debut at the age of seven, performing a rendition of the hymn "Blessed Assurance" at the St. Paul Church of God in Christ.

She later sang in the gospel groups United Harmony and Chosen Expression.

Williams graduated from Rockford Auburn High School in 1997.

Shortly after graduating, she pursued a degree in criminal justice at Illinois State University, doubtful of her ability to make a career as a professional singer.

After two years of college, she left to pursue a music career, as a backing vocalist for other artists such as Monica.

In late 1999, 20-year-old Williams met Destiny's Child band members Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland in the lobby of an Atlanta hotel.

Several months later, a choreographer acquaintance of Williams who knew the group, connected Williams to the Knowles family and Rowland, as they were vetting potential new group members.

Buoyed by the group's breakout success, Luckett and Roberson had both attempted to split with the group's manager Mathew Knowles in late 1999, claiming that he kept a disproportionate share of the band's profits and unfairly favored Knowles and Rowland.

The issue was heightened after Williams and Franklin appeared in the video of "Say My Name", implying that the original band members were already replaced.

Franklin, however, faded from the group after five months, as evidenced by her absences during promotional appearances and concerts.

Franklin attributed her departure to negative vibes in the group resulting from the strife.

She rose to fame in the early 2000s as a member of R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling female groups of all time with over 100 million records, of which more than 60 million copies sold with the trio lineup that included Williams.

During her time in the group she earned several accolades including a Grammy Award and star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

After the much-publicized turmoil, Williams, alongside Farrah Franklin, officially joined the group in early 2000, replacing LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson without notice.

After settling on this final lineup, the trio released "Independent Women Part I", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels.

It became their best-charting single yet, topping the official US singles chart for eleven consecutive weeks.

The success cemented the new lineup and skyrocketed them to fame.

During the group's two-year hiatus, 2001–2003, Williams released her debut solo album Heart to Yours (2002) which topped the US gospel album chart and became the best-selling gospel release of the year.

That same year, Billboard named Williams the fifth best-charting gospel artist of the year and she received a MOBO Award for "Best Gospel Act".

In May 2001, Destiny's Child released the group's third studio album Survivor.

It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with sales of 663,000 copies.

Survivor has sold over twelve million copies worldwide, 4.1 million of which were sold in the US alone.

The album's other number-one hits are "Bootylicious" and the title track "Survivor", the latter earning the group a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

In October 2001, Destiny's Child released their holiday album, 8 Days of Christmas.

Before releasing the 2002 compilation album, This Is the Remix, the group announced their temporary break-up to pursue solo projects.

While Williams was still with Destiny's Child, she intensified work on her debut solo album Heart to Yours.

The album material included collaborations with singers Carl Thomas, Shirley Caesar and the Mary Mary duo, taking the singer's work further into urban contemporary gospel and Christian music.

"Some people will do gospel when their career fails, but I chose to do it at the height of the popularity of Destiny's Child", Williams explained during the album's release.

"And I didn't want to do it because it was a fad. I wanted to do it because it's in me. It's in my heart."

Released on April 16, 2002, in North America to much critical acclaim, Williams became the first member of Destiny's Child to release solo material with Heart to Yours.

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 (2009–10), What My Husband Doesn't Know (2011) and Fela! (2013).

She was a featured judge on MTV's Top Pop Group, a contestant on season 8 of Strictly Come Dancing in the United Kingdom, and starred in the Oxygen reality television series Fix My Choir.

She has also appeared on the American, British, and Australian versions of The Masked Singer.

Following this, she released her second solo album Do You Know (2004).

After Destiny's Child's disbandment in 2006, Williams released her first pop album, Unexpected (2008), which spawned the singles "We Break the Dawn" and the US Dance number-one "The Greatest".

Williams also 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.

Her fourth studio album, Journey to Freedom (2014), received positive reviews and became her highest-charting album in the US; it includes the singles "If We Had Your Eyes", and "Say Yes" which topped the US Hot Gospel Songs chart for seven weeks, and won the Stellar Award for Music Video of the Year.