Brandy Rayana Norwood is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her intricate vocal riffs, and is regarded as an influential figure in contemporary R&B.
Born into a musical family in McComb, Mississippi, Brandy was raised in Carson, California, where she began her career as a backing vocalist for youth music groups. After signing to Atlantic Records, she rose to prominence in the mid-1990s with her debut album, Brandy (1994), which spawned the US Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles "I Wanna Be Down", "Baby", and "Brokenhearted". She became a television star with her lead role on the UPN sitcom Moesha (1996–2001) and portrayed Cinderella in the television film Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997). Brandy's best-selling second album, Never Say Never (1998), yielded two US number-one singles: "The Boy Is Mine" and "Have You Ever?". The former, a duet with Monica, spent thirteen weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and won both artists their first Grammy Award. Brandy ventured into more experimental sounds with the electronic-infused Full Moon (2002) and the ambient-inspired Afrodisiac (2004).