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Brandy Rayana Norwood, simply known as Brandy, was born on February 11, 1979 in McComb, Mississippi. She grew up surrounded by a family of performers starting with her father who was a former R&B singer, her brother Ray J who is also a singer and actor, as well as her cousins Bo Diddley and rapper Snoop Dogg. Brandy started singing in her father’s ministry church at the age of two. At 11, she became a backup singer for the group Norment and eventually the R&B trio Immature. In 1993, Brandy was offered a recording deal with Atlantic Records after witnessing her perform in front of hundreds of people.

In 1994, Brandy came up with a self-titled debut album which soon became quadruple platinum thanks to MTV and BET airplay. Her singles I Wanna Be Down and Baby both went straight to the top 10 and became number one hits on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Brandy earned two Grammy nominations for her debut album, as well was four Soul Train Music Awards, two Billboard Awards and the New York Children’s Choice Awards. Success continued to flow in 1995 when she made another hit with her single Sittin’ up in My Room.

Brandy’s Never Say Never was her most successful album to date, wherein she co-wrote six songs including her first number one hit, The Boy is Mine, which she sang with Monica. The single stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, resulting to a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Brandy then went on to endorse brands such as DKNY Jeans as well as Candies shoes and CoverGirl cosmetics, at the same time starred in her sitcom Moesha. After a hiatus from the entertainment biz, Brandy returned in 2001 with a remake of Phil Collins’ Another Day in Paradise with her brother Ray J, which became another hit.

In 2002, Brandy came up with her third album, Full Moon, however, the album was not successful in the US and UK charts. During this time Brandy became and involved and married her producer Robert ‘Big Bert’ Smith, and soon gave birth to a daughter named Sy’rai Iman. The couple subsequently divorced shortly afterwards. In 2004, Brandy came up with another unsuccessful album, Afrodisiac. During this time she asked for a release from her record label, which was granted by Atlantic Records. In consequence, her label released The Best of Brandy, a collection of all her singles.

Brandy is currently working on her fifth album which is yet to be titled.