Jody Watley

Jody Watley (January 30, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and producer whose discography encompasses a wide scope of genres, including pop, R&B, jazz, and dance music. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she got her start dancing on the TV show Soul Train and later rose to fame as the lead singer of the R&B/funk band Shalamar, with whom she recorded seven studio albums between 1977 and 1983. Following her departure from the group, she relocated to the UK and issued the singles "Where the Boys Are" (1984) and "Girls Night Out" (1985) under the moniker "Jody." Upon her return to the US, Jody Watley secured a deal with MCA Records and got her commercial breakthrough with her 1987 eponymous studio debut, which soared to the top of the R&B charts in the US and reached Number 10 on the Billboard 200, helping her win the Best New Artist category at the 1988 Grammy Awards. Larger than Life, her sophomore effort, appeared in 1989. During the next decade, she steered away from dance-oriented music and explore more adult themes on the albums like Affairs of the Heart (1991), Intimacy (1993), and Affection (1995), all of which enjoyed moderate popularity in the United States. Flower, her first release for Atlantic Records, saw the light in 1998 and spawned the chart-topping singles "Off the Hook" and "If I'm Not in Love." Other notable releases include The Saturday Night Experience Volume 1 (1999), Midnight Lounge (2001), The Makeover (2006), and the EP Paradise (2014).