Brandy Norwood’s net worth, fact, career, awards, biography & life story

Brandy Norwood is an American R&B Singer-Songwriter, Composer, Actress, and Record Producer. She is known as a great R&B singer. Her debut album “Brandy” was released in 1994 and reached number twenty on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The album earned her several awards such as Billboard Music Awards and Kids’ Choice Awards. She has won the prestigious Grammy Awards on the category of ‘Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals’ for the song “The Boy Is Mine”. She is an older sister of singer and songwriter Ray J and also a cousin of rapper Snoop Dogg and WWE wrestler Sasha Banks.

Brandy and her brother, Ray J has founded the ‘Norwood kids Foundation’  with a goal of “use performing arts as a catalyst to shape the youth of today into self-confident, disciplined, responsible, and caring individuals capable of making a positive impact in their communities.”

On August 22, 2020, it was announced that the latest Verzuz battle would be between Brandy and Monica. The battle is due to take place on August 31, 2020, at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

She is quite active in social media platforms with around 4.4m followers on Instagram @brandy and around 3.1 m followers on Twitter @4everBrandy.

What was Brandy Norwood famous for?

• Famous as an American R&B Singer-Songwriter.

Where was Brandy Norwood born?

Brandy Norwood was born in McComb, Mississippi, the USA on February 11, 1979. Her birth name is Brandy Rayana Norwood. She was born to father, William Ray Norwood Sr. who was a gospel singer and choir director and mother, Sonja Bates Norwood who was a district manager for H&R Block. She has a younger brother  William Ray Norwood Jr. who is professionally known as ‘Ray J’. She is also a cousin of rapper Snoop Dogg and WWE wrestler Sasha Banks. She moved to Los Angeles, California with her parents in 1983.

Brandy Norwood holds an American nationality and belongs to a black ethnic background. Her zodiac sign is Aquarius. Her religion is Christianity.

Regarding her educational background, she attended the Hollywood High Performing Arts Center at Los Angeles, California but later she dropped Hollywood High School and studied with a home tutor.

Brandy Norwood’s Career Highlights

• Brandy Norwood started singing along with her father in the church choir and performed her first gospel solo when she was just two years old.
• In 1990, she signed a contract with Teaspoon Productions and worked as a backup singer for Chris Stokes and Earl Harris’s R&B boy band Immature. Her parents then organized a recording contract with the Atlantic Recording Corporation after auditioning for the company’s director of A&R Darryl Williams.
• During her early career phase, she appeared in the short-lived ABC sitcom “Thea” and earned a Young Artists Award nomination for Outstanding Youth Ensemble alongside her co-stars.
• In September 1994, her self titled debut album “Brandy” was released and reached at number twenty on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The album sold over six million copies worldwide.
• The singles “I Wanna Be Down” and “Baby” both reached the top of the Hot R&B Singles chart and were certified gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
• In 1995, She did the opening act at the Boyz II Men’s national tour and sang for the Hollywood movies ‘Batman Forever’ and ‘Waiting to Exhale’.
• In 1996, she collaborated with Tamia, Chaka Khan, and Gladys Knight on the single “Missing You” for the film Set It Off. In the same year, she starred in the main role in the TV sitcom ‘Moesha’ alongside Sheryl Lee Ralph and William Allen Young.
• In 1997, she played the title character in a musical fantasy television film, “Cinderella” along with  Whitney Houston, Jason Alexander, and Whoopi Goldberg.
• Brandy Norwood’s second album “Never Say Never” was released in June 1998 and became her biggest-selling album, selling over 16 million copies worldwide. From the album, the song ‘The Boy Is Mine’ a duet with American singer Monica became her first song to top the ‘U.S. Billboard Hot 100’. In the same year, she even went on the Never Say Never World Tour.
• Brandy made her big-screen debut portraying the supporting role of Karla Wilson in the slasher film, “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” in 1998.
• In 1999, she co-starred with Diana Ross in the television musical drama film, “Double Platinum”.
• Her third studio album, “Full Moon” was released in February 2002 but it was not as much success as her previous two albums.
• On June 28, 2004, Brandy released her fourth studio album, “Afrodisiac” which became her most critically acclaimed album. The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart and it’s single “Talk About Our Love” reached number six in the United Kingdom.
• Her first compilation album, “The Best of Brandy” was released in March 2005. The album was released without any promotional single, however, it was reached the top 30 in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• She was cast as a judge in the talent hunt show ‘America’s Got Talent’ alongside David Hasselhoff and Piers Morgan in its first season in June 2006.
• In December 2008, Brandy released her fifth studio album, “Human”. The album reached number 15 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart but it failed to match the success of its predecessors.
• In April 2010, Brandy and her brother, Ray J debuted in the VH1 reality series “Brandy and Ray J: A Family Busines”s along with their parents. In the same year, she appeared as a contestant on season 11 of the ABC reality show “Dancing with the Stars” partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
• In 2011, she joined the cast of the comedy series ‘The game’ in which she played the recurring role of Chardonnay in the first season before becoming a regular on the show.
• In October 2012, Brandy released her sixth studio album titled “Two Eleven” which reached the number 3 on U.S. Billboard 200 chart and the top of the Billboard US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
• She appeared in a romance drama film, “Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor” in 2013. In the film, Brandy portrayed a supporting character, Melinda.
• In July 2014, Brandy released a cover version of Coldplay’s song “Magic” to her TwitMusic account which peaked at number one on Billboard’s Trending 140 chart. In the same year, she made guest appearances on VH1’s “Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood” and the TV Land sitcom “The Soul Man”.
• Brandy made her Broadway debut playing the lead role of Roxie Hart in the Broadway musical “Chicago” in 2015. in the following year, she played the lead role in the  BET sitcom “Zoe Ever After” and she went on the Slayana World Tour.
• In January 2017, Brandy competed with her younger brother Ray J on the FOX reality cooking series “My Kitchen Rules”.
• In July 2018, she appeared on the Fox musical drama television series, “Star”. In the series, she played the recurring role of  Cassie.
• In June 2019, she appeared on Canadian singer Daniel Caesar’s second album “Case Study 01” and released their duet “Love Again” as a single in July. The song reached the top of the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart. The same year, she released the buzz single “Freedom Rings”.
• Brandy’s seventh studio album “B7” was released on July 31, 2020. The album reached number 2 on the UK Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart Top 40 and at number 12 on the Billboard 200 chart. It’s lead single “Baby Mama” reached the top ten of the US Adult R&B Songs chart.

Brandy Norwood’s Awards and Nominations

• Brandy Norwood won her first award, a Billboard Music Awards on the category of Best New R&B Artist in 1995. Since then she has won 7 Billboard Music Awards on different categories till 2020.
• In 1996, she won an Award in the category of Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist at American Music Awards. Besides, she has also achieved the other five different categories of American Music Awards nominations from 1996 to 2000.
• In 1998, she won the category of ‘Outstanding R&B Album’ for her second album, “Never Say Never” at the California Music Awards.
• She has also won the category of ‘Best-selling Album by an International Newcomer’ at the ECHO Awards in 1999.
• In 1999, she won the Grammy Awards on the category of ‘Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals’ for the song “The Boy Is Mine”. She has also achieved several Grammy nominations from 1996 to 2020.
• She has won two Kids’ Choice Awards on the category of ‘Favorite Singer’ in 1995 and 1996. She has also received a Kids’ Choice Award on the category of ‘Favorite Song’ for the song “Baby” in 1996.
• In 1996, Brandy took home her first NAACP Image Award on the category of ‘Outstanding New Artist’. She has also won the NAACP award on the category of ‘Outstanding Youth Actress’ for “Moesha” in 1997 and ‘Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series’ for the show “The Game” in 2014.
• She won a Soul Train Awards on the category of ‘R&B/Soul or Rap Album of the Year’ for her debuted album “Brandy” in 1995 and other Soul Train Award on the category of “Lady of Soul Award” in 2016.
• In 2001, she was honored with ‘Most Notable Achievement Awards’ by Stellar Awards.
• She won the Music – Choice Female Artist Award at the Teen Choice Awards in 1999.
• In 2018, Brandy was honored with the Cathy Hughes Award of Excellence by Urban One Honors.

Brandy Norwood’s Relationships

Brandy Norwood is Unmarried. She has a daughter named Sy’rai Iman Smith born with an ex-boyfriend,  Robert “Big Bert” Smith.

She was in a relationship with future Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant in 1996 but the couple broke up soon. Later, she dated  Boyz II Men lead singer Wanya Morris and then dated the American rapper, Mase, for a while.

She was also romantically involved with producer Robert “Big Bert” Smith. On June 16, 2002, she gave birth to their daughter, Sy’rai Iman Smith but they separated in 2003.

In 2004, Brandy started a relationship with NBA guard Quentin Richardson and the couple got engaged in July 2004 but Brandy ended their 14-month engagement in September 2005. It was claimed that she had got his face tattooed on her back, which was later transformed into a cat after their separation.

In early 2010, she was romantically linked with singer Flo Rida but Brandy started dating music executive, Ryan Press at the end of that year. They got engaged in December 2012 but the engagement didn’t lead marriage. Brandy called off her engagement in April 2014.

Brandy Norwood’s Height and Weight

Brandy Norwood is a beautiful black lady with a stunning look. She stands at a height of 1.7 m (5 feet and 7 inches) tall and her body weighs around 52 kg (115 lbs.). Her body measurements are 34-23-34 inches. She wears a bra size of 34C and her shoe size is 9(US). Her eye color is Dark Brown and her hair color is Black. Her sexual orientation is Straight.

Brandy Norwood’s Net Worth

Brandy Norwood has quite good earnings from her professional career as an R&B Singer.  She has also worked in some films and TV series which helps her to garnered additional income.  Her major source of earnings is her music career.  As of 2020, her net worth is estimated to be $14 million. There is no information about her salary.