Jody Watley Biography

Jody's youthful stint as a dancer on Soul Train led to a meeting with Dick Griffey, the hit TV show's booking agent. Griffey invited Watley, along with other singers Jeffrey Daniels and Gerald Brown, to join Shalamar in 1977. Take That to the Bank launched a succession of poppy dance-soul successes that would chart in the United States and the United Kingdom in 1979. Watley left the band in 1982 and relocated to London, where she worked with the Art of Noise on several demos. During this period, she was approached by Bob Geldof and asked to appear on Band Aid's 1986 charity record Do They Know It's Christmas? Late in the year, she returned to the United States and began work on her solo debut. Watley's 1987 self-titled debut, produced by hit producers Bernard Edwards, David Z., Patrick Leonard, and André Cymone (who would later become her husband until 1995, when the two divorced), was an instant hit thanks to the lead single, Looking for a New Love, and the catchphrase, hasta la vista, baby. The future successes Don't You Want Me and Still a Thrill was backed with stylish visuals, which helped her win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 30th annual Grammy Awards. She would return two years later with the ambitious album Larger Than Life, which included the number one song Real Love. Friends, the album's second single, featured Eric B. & Rakim and was an early R&B/hip-hop hybrid. You Wanna Dance with Me? is a remix album. A year later, the million-selling fitness video Dance to Fitness appeared. Other non-musical accomplishments included fashion spreads and a role in a Gap commercial campaign, all of which helped her land a position on People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list.

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