Deniece Williams

Deniece Williams ( born June 3, 1950 in Gary, Indiana, real name June Deniece Chandler ) is an American R & B and gospel singer, who at the height of her career in the 1970s and 1980s number-one success in the British and American pop charts go. Furthermore, they also managed to jump to the top of different genre charts like R & B, Disco, to adult contemporary. Among her most successful recordings include Free ( 1977), Too Much, Too Little, Too Late (1978, with Johnny Mathis ) and Let's Hear It for the Boy (1984). Following these hits she recorded a series of gospel albums, which earned her a total of four Grammys.

Biography

In her youth, Deniece Williams sang gospel in the church choir. After school, she made ​​once an intern at the hospital before as Denise Chandler and Deniece Chandler recorded in 1968 and 1969 several unsuccessful singles for small record companies. By the relations of a cousin she was allowed to sing in the early 1970s with Stevie Wonder and was eventually incorporated into his background Trio Wonder Love. Williams could be heard in the following among other things on the second album Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta (1974 ) Wonders of then- wife Syreeta. She also sang in the same year in the background of Minnie Ripertons second solo album Perfect Angel. Riperton was previously also been a member of Wonder Love. Williams was engaged in the following months of stylistically diverse artists as Kenny Rankin, Esther Phillips, Iron Butterfly, Linda Lewis and Roberta Flack as a background singer. Encouraged by this work, Williams decided to continue her neglected since the late 1960s solo career.

With musical and technical production support of the members of Earth, Wind & Fire released their debut album This Is Niecy was born ( pet name for Deniece ) on Columbia Records. The first single It's Important to Me in 1976 was a first moderate success and successful in the U.S. clubs and discos. The breakthrough came in but with the release of the single Free. The song reached # 2 on the black singles charts in the U.S. and in the UK it was even a number - one hit in the pop charts. There came also another extraction, That's What Friends are for, among the top 10. Despite their successes in these secular genres, they remained faithful to the Gospel music: So contained their subsequent albums always a religious song.

Although Deniece Williams in between back to the top, four Grammys album Songs cooperated with Riperton for Wonder In The Key Of Life, a year their second album Songbird appeared after the solo debut. It remained on the success although significantly behind its beginnings back, but again shortly afterwards created a joint album with the success of singer Johnny Mathis. The titled after their hit That's What Friends are for joint work achieved in the UK and the U.S., the top 20 and one of Williams 's most successful works. The duet Too Much, Too Little, Too Late was her first number - one hit in the U.S. and number 3 in England.

In the following years she was able to keep going strong. With I've Got the Next Dance 1979 she had a # 1 disco hit. Then she moved to the newly founded label ARC their producer Maurice White and was able to establish two more albums. Another highlight was her 1982 album Niecy, with whom she came a second time among the top 20 in the U.S.. From this comes the Top 10 hit It's Gonna Take a Miracle, at the same time their second number one in the Black / R & B charts.

Then followed a trip to film and television. Again, a duet with Johnny Mathis, she sang the title song Without Us for hit TV series Family Ties. And finally she wore to the 1984 hit movie Footloose the title Let's Hear It for the Boy at. After Kenny Loggins ' title song Footloose, it was the second number 1 from the soundtrack of dance film and Deniece Williams' most successful single. She reached the charts worldwide and was also in the top 10 in Germany and the Top -20 in Switzerland.

The following years brought a musical re-orientation or a return to Williams' roots, the Gospel. While they achieved only mediocre rankings on the R & B charts with the published at Columbia following three R & B albums, the Glad I know her breakthrough came in 1986 to publish parallel with Sparrow Records album So in the gospel field. Two Grammys, for the duet with Sandi Patti They Say and the solo number I Surrender All, she got this year. For the released in 1987 I Believe In You followed a year later the third award of the major U.S. music award. The album reached the Top 10 of the Gospel-/Contemporary-Christian-Charts. The successor Special Love 1989 was placed at position 11.

In the 90s it was a little quieter to Deniece Williams. While they sang every now and then on the albums of other musicians, but prior to their 1996 LP, Love Solves It All she had a five-year album break. This year, she also started a radio show about gospel music for the BBC. 1998, followed again a highlight of their Gospel creative with the album This Is My Song, for which she was awarded her fourth Grammy. It reached # 14 in the Gospel charts.

After another long pause, she had published in 2007 a ​​small comeback when she could return to the R & B charts after nearly 20 years with the CD Love, Niecy Style again. It reached number 41 in 2011 Williams was the subject of the documentary series Unsung on the African- American television network TV One. This series is dedicated to R & B stars, who received less attention than others. As part of the program, among other Stevie Wonder, Johnny Mathis, Tatyana Ali, Thom Bell and Maurice White had their say.

Private

Deniece Williams was married three times. The marriages with Ken Williams, Christopher Joy and Brad Westering were divorced. Williams is a mother of four sons.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards

  • Grammy in 1987 for Best They Say (along with Sandi Patti) in the category of gospel performance by a duo, a group or a choir
  • Grammy in 1987 for female I Surrender All in the category of Best Soul Gospel performance
  • Grammy 1988 female for I Believe in You in the category of Best Gospel presentation
  • Grammy 1999 contemporary for This Is My Song in the category Best / Pop Gospel Album
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