Jody Watley

Throughout her professional journey, Jody Watley fused R&B and dance-pop through a polished and fashionable approach that secured chart-topping success along with Grammy recognition for her standout singles and albums. In the process she helped connect rap and R&B via the 1987 single "Friends" featuring Eric B. & Rakim, while a sequence of visually arresting videos established her as a fashion icon. Watley emerged in the late '80s through her self-titled debut album and songs such as "Looking for a New Love" and "Real Love." Once she had solidified her signature club-oriented style she shifted away from dance-pop to address social themes on 1991's Affairs of the Heart and adult relationships on 1993's Intimacy. Watley subsequently pursued her creative instincts across multiple paths, collaborating with leading remixers including Masters at Work, experimenting with drum'n'bass and electronic sounds on 1999's The Saturday Night Experience, and issuing jazz-tinged albums such as 2001's Midnight Lounge. She earned a reputation as a versatile collaborator, partnering in the 2010s with figures ranging from folk singer Peter Harper to EDM artists French Horn Rebellion, and issuing characteristically varied tracks like a jazz-tinged cover of Bob Marley's "Waiting in Vain" and the empowering house single "The Healing."

Watley entered the world in Chicago on January 30, 1959, yet spent her formative years in Los Angeles. Her adolescent role as a dancer on Soul Train introduced her to the program's creator, Don Cornelius. Griffey enlisted Watley, together with Jeffrey Daniel and Gerald Brown, to form Shalamar in 1977. Beginning in 1978, a run of upbeat dance-soul successes that showcased Watley opened with "Take That to the Bank." Watley departed the ensemble in 1982 and relocated to London, where she cut several demos alongside the Art of Noise. During that period Bob Geldof asked her to contribute to Band Aid's 1986 charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" She came back to the U.S. toward the end of the year and commenced work on her first solo project.

Produced with hitmakers Bernard Edwards, David Z., Patrick Leonard, and André Cymone, Watley's 1987 self-titled debut achieved immediate commercial impact thanks to its opening track, "Looking for a New Love," and the memorable phrase "hasta la vista, baby." Equally striking videos supported the successes "Don't You Want Me" and "Still a Thrill," securing her the Best New Artist honor at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards. Two years afterward Watley delivered the expansive album Larger Than Life and the number two pop hit "Real Love." The album's next release, "Friends," represented an early R&B/hip-hop hybrid that included an appearance by Eric B. & Rakim. The remix collection You Wanna Dance with Me? arrived a year later, coinciding with the million-selling exercise video Dance to Fitness. Magazine spreads and a Gap advertising campaign constituted additional non-musical endeavors that placed Watley on People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list.

More seasoned material surfaced on both 1991's Affairs of the Heart and 1993's Intimacy, a pair of favorably received albums that reinforced Watley's dedicated following. She also joined legendary composer Henry Mancini for the soundtrack to the Blake Edwards film Switch at that time and accepted an invitation to perform at the White House in 1992. The 1995 album Affection marked the singer's departure from her longtime home at MCA in favor of her independent imprint Avitone. Her 1998 project Flower appeared on Atlantic worldwide, although the label withheld a domestic release. A year later Destiny's Child included the Watley-penned "Sweet Sixteen" on their multi-platinum album The Writing's on the Wall, while Watley herself developed a fresh dance aesthetic that remained stylish and refined yet ventured slightly further afield. The Japanese-only The Saturday Night Experience, Vol. 1 reached stores in 1999.

Watley reentered the dance chart in 2000 via the Masters at Work-produced "I Love to Love" featuring Roy Ayers. House authorities Ron Trent and Blaze reworked the single "Saturday Night Experience" for the U.K. label Giant Steps in 2001, and the refined Midnight Lounge came out on Shanachie the same year. In 2005 she joined King Britt's album This Is and returned to the summit of the dance chart with a remix of her classic "Looking for a New Love." The next year Watley issued a new LP, The Makeover, that contained a cover of Madonna's "Borderline," which peaked at number two on the dance chart. Subsequent singles from the album likewise ascended the dance chart: "A Beautiful Life" reached number five, and "I Want Your Love" attained number one. In 2008 Billboard presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She additionally appeared in a fashion spread with Iman, Naomi Campbell, and Tina Turner for Vogue Italia. Devoted almost entirely to Black models, that edition became the first to sell out in the magazine's history.

Throughout the early 2010s Watley remained engaged through partnerships with French Horn Rebellion and a series of live appearances that included a slot at the 2013 Essence Music Festival. "Nightlife," issued in 2013, became her 19th solo Top 20 dance-chart entry. Not long afterward she secured legal and registered trademark ownership of the Shalamar name and launched tours with a collective billed as Shalamar Reloaded. She released an EP titled Paradise under her own name in 2016 and adopted the Jody Watley & SRL designation for concert dates and subsequent recordings. Additional collaborations and releases followed over the ensuing years: she shared a track with contemporary folk artist Peter Harper on his 2017 album Break the Cycle, reunited with French Horn Rebellion for the 2018 single "Just Werrrk," and unveiled a jazz-inspired cover of Bob Marley's "Waiting in Vain" that same year. Jody Watley & SRL also put out the single "The Mood" in 2018, which climbed the upper reaches of the U.K. Soul Singles Chart.

Alongside the consistent stream of fresh recordings, Watley's impact on pop music and her chart achievements received recognition in 2018 when Billboard listed her among the Top 60 Female Artists of All Time. She joined producer Brian Power the following year on the house track "One Good Reason," and in early 2020 she offered a seasonally fitting selection of songs on the Winter Nights EP. An uplifting piece titled "The Healing" appeared shortly thereafter.