Michelle Williams is a multi-award winning International singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is best known as one-third member of the successful R&B girl group Destiny’s Child, one of the world’s best-selling female groups of all time. In 2006, Michelle Williams, Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland collectively received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their contribution to entertainment. Along the way, Michelle was the first from the group to explore solo terrain. The award-winning “Heart To Yours”, which featured a collaboration with the legendary Shirley Caesar, entered the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart at #1, peaked at #3 on the Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart and became the year’s top-selling Gospel album.
Her second solo album “Do You Know” achieved similar success, peaking at #2 on the Top Gospel Albums chart and #3 on the Top Christian Albums chart following its release in 2004. “Unexpected”, her third solo album, introduced a bold new dance/pop sound for Williams, showcased by the #1 Billboard Hot Dance tracks “We Break the Dawn”, “The Greatest”, and “Hello Heartbreak”.
In between recordings and concert tours, Michelle has conquered yet another challenging mountain as an actress. First, she took the reigns of Broadway’s “AIDA” in 2003 to critical acclaim and audience raves. In February 2006, she took to the television screen for a multi-episode run in the popular UPN sitcom “Half & Half,” where she played the role of Naomi, a record company executive who is HIV-positive. Later that year, she was featured as a celebrity judge on FOX’s “Celebrity Duets” series.
Michelle returned to theatre and took on her greatest acting challenge when she joined the cast of Oprah Winfrey’s stage production “The Color Purple” for its national tour. She dazzled in the role of Shug Avery, which she describes as “crazy-cool fun”. In 2009, Michelle joined the highly acclaimed production “Chicago” where she made history as being the first African American woman to play the lead role as Roxie Hart on London’s West End. She reprised her role in February 2010 on Broadway for a limited eight-week engagement. Using her dance skills once again, she was also an extremely popular dance contestant on the UK’s “Strictly Come Dancing”.
As well as releasing her single, “On the Run” – a catchy dance record which reached number 4 in the dance charts- she has most recently made ‘Waiting On You’, a collaboration with dance diva Ultra Nate which is currently climbing the club charts. Michelle continues to reinvent herself. In 2011, she was announced as the spokesperson for TERI, an organization dedicated to children and adults living with autism and other developmental disabilities. Currently, she is working on launching a charity to help motivate the youth to live their best lives and to dream big.
“Everyday, I awake and give thanks for the opportunities of my life,’ Michelle says. ‘I never take it for granted. In fact, I celebrate my amazingly good fortune every chance I get.”
