* [우리샵] 빛나는 별이 되다'

W-Pop

Biography

[edit] Shalamar (1977 - 1984)

Watley got her start as a dancer on the hit TV show Soul Train at the age of fourteen. From 1977 to 1984, she was a singer in the R&B group Shalamar with Howard Hewett and Jeffrey Daniel. The group achieved a platinum-selling album, Friends, and the #1 R&B singles "A Night To Remember", "This Is For The Lover In You" and "The Second Time Around" in the U.S.; the group also scored numerous Top-10 hits on the UK charts. After several conflicts within the group, Watley left, disillusioned. Post-Shalamar, Jody took part in Bob Geldof's historic Band Aid alongside such stars as Sting, Bono from U2 and George Michael. Their charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" helped raise millions of dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia. She also met Duran Duran's bassist John Taylor during this event and dated him briefly.

[edit] Early solo career (1984 - 1989)

In late 1986, Watley released her first single off her debut album called "Looking For A New Love", which became a hit with an instant catch phrase ("Hasta La Vista…Baby"). Watley's solo debut album, Jody Watley, was released in March 1987 on MCA Records. "Looking for A New Love" stayed at #2 on the Billboard's Hot 100 Single chart for four weeks, and sold over 750,000 copies in the U.S. The album peaked at #10 on The Billboard 200 chart and spawned four more hits, "Don't You Want Me" (#6), "Still A Thrill" (#56), "Some Kind Of Lover" (#10) and "Most Of All" (#60). It sold over two million copies in the U.S. and nearly five million copies worldwide.

At the 30th Annual Grammy Awards, Watley was named Best New Artist, and was also nominated for Grammy Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. That same year (1988), she was also nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards and three Soul Train Awards, including Album of the Year and Single of the Year.

In the spring of 1989, Watley released her second album, Larger Than Life. Her second album solidified her as a pop icon in the music industry. The album sold over four million copies worldwide, and hit the Top 5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in America. The first single release, "Real Love," was a massive hit that set a trend with its new style of bass heavy-thumping beat dance. In America, it hit #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, the Single Sales chart, and the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, while hitting #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; the single also went gold there for attaining sales of over 500,000 copies. The album contained two more Top 10 Pop, Dance and R&B hits: "Friends" (featuring Eric B. & Rakim). It is noted as the first singer/rapper collaboration that became commonplace by the late 1990s. The ballad "Everything" peaked at #11 on the Adult Contemporary chart, #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The albums final single, "Precious Love" became a moderate hit peaked at #51 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and #87 on the Billboard Hot 100.

During the summer of 1989, Watley's "Real Love" video, directed by David Fincher, was nominated for seven MTV Video Music Awards including Breakthrough Video, Best Art Direction, Best Dance Video, and Best Female Video at the 1989 award show. That record was held until Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson's video "Scream" received eleven VMA nominations in 1995. The next year, she was also nominated for two Soul Train Awards, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist, and a Narm Award for Best Selling R&B Female Album. While riding high on her Larger Than Life World Tour, a remix album, You Wanna Dance with Me?, was released in October 1989 and hit Gold status in America.