Michelle Williams

Tenitra Michelle Williams (born July 23, 1979) is an American singer and actress. 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 a star on the Hollywood Walk of 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. That same year, Billboard named Williams the fifth top-charting gospel artist of the year and she received a MOBO Award for "Best Gospel Act". 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". 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. Williams has also ventured into acting, appearing in television, Broadway, and West End theatre productions. 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) Fela! (2013) and the original Broadway production of Death Becomes Her (2024). In addition, she received a nomination for "Best Lead Female – Equity" in 2008 at the 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards. Williams was a featured judge on MTV's Top Pop Group, a contestant on season 8 of Strictly Come Dancing in the United Kingdom, and has also appeared on the American, British, and Australian versions of The Masked Singer.