Jody Watley Bio - Biography

Name Jody Watley
Height
Naionality American
Date of Birth 30-January-1959
Place of Birth Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Famous for Singing
Jody Watley is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and one of the defining iconic artists of the 1980s whose music crosses genres from Pop, R&B, Jazz, Dance and Electronic Soul. In 1987, she won the Grammy Award for "Best New Artist." Along with Janet Jackson and Madonna, she ranks as one of MTV Video Music Awards most nominated female artists ever, with six nominations for her ‘Real Love’ video.

To date, she is best known for her role in being a pioneer setting trends and standards for dance, style, music and video. Early in her solo career she was also noted for her commercial dance pop stylings with a funky edge. Jody Watley is also noted as being the first Pop/R&B singer to include a rapper on the specialized verse/bridge with their collaboration on "Friends" featuring Eric B. & Rakim, which would become a popular formula in commercial Pop/R&B/Hip-Hop. In 1990, Watley would continue to be involved with fashion. On her second album, she was photographed by fashion photographer Steven Meisel, where she continued to make her own style statements. In the videos for "Real Love", Watley would introduce a higher fashion aesthetic blending vintage and custom designs. "Friends" mixed couture by Jean-Paul Gaultier, with an urban sensibility. She released a million-selling home video, Dance To Fitness. She was featured in the first celebrity ad campaign for Gap LA Eyeworks and in magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Vogue Italia, Rolling Stone, Essence, and Vanity Fair. She was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People of 1990 in People Magazine.

In the same year, she contributed a jazzy rendition of "After You, Who?" the compilation album "Red Hot + Blue", an AIDS-awareness charity recording of songs by Cole Porter produced by the Red Hot Organization. Watley was photographed by famous photographer, Victor Skrebneski, for the popular Saks Fifth Avenue Defining Style Fall Catalog, where she appeared in a 15 page high fashion layout in 1996.