Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979), better known by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model and actress. Born into a musical family in McComb, Mississippi, Norwood was raised in Carson, California, beginning her career as a backing vocalist for teen groups. After signing with Atlantic Records in 1993, she released her self-titled debut album the following year, which sold six million copies worldwide. Brandy gained fame by starring in the UPN sitcom Moesha, and further recognition for her role in the television film Cinderella (1997) and the slasher film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). Her 1998 duet with fellow R&B contemporary Monica, "The Boy Is Mine", won a Grammy Award and became one of the best-selling female duets of all time. Her second album, Never Say Never (1998), sold 16 million copies worldwide.
Brandy saw continued critical and commercial success with her third and fourth albums, Full Moon (2002) and Afrodisiac (2004). She served as a judge on the first season of America's Got Talent. Soon after, Norwood released her fifth album, Human (2008) to modest but declined commercial success.
Norwood returned to television as a contestant on on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars and starred in the reality series Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business. In 2012, she became a series regular in the BET series The Game, and released her sixth album Two Eleven. In 2015, Norwood made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago, followed by her seventh and eighth studio albums, B7 (2020), and the holiday album Christmas With Brandy (2023).
Norwood has sold over 40 million records worldwide, with approximately 8.62 million albums sold in the United States alone. Through the RIAA she has a total of 10.5 million certified album units. Her accolades include a Grammy Award and an American Music Award. She has become known for her distinctive sound, characterized by her peculiar timbre, voice-layering, and intricate riffs, which has earned her the nickname "the Vocal Bible" from industry peers and critics.
