Biography
Time will tell whether the much-maligned Willa Ford draws greater notice for her recordings, her romance with Backstreet Boys vocalist Nick Carter, or neither of those things. Resentful BSB supporters have directed hostility toward Ford, establishing no fewer than three websites devoted to opposing her and leveling a wide array of charges and criticisms that extend from claims of crossed eyes to allegations of physical mistreatment directed at Carter and BSB followers. Her opening slot on the group's first national tour only reinforced the perception among those fans that she was exploiting Nick for career advancement. Setting aside that wave of criticism, however, her route to recognition follows a pattern familiar among other performers from Florida. Essentially, Ford is a striking performer whose professional résumé stretches back to childhood and who secured label deals with outfits eager to profit from the profitable adolescent audience. Born Amanda Lee Williford on January 22, 1981, in Ruskin, Florida, she began performing at age eight as a member of the Tampa Bay Children's Choir and, by eleven, had joined Entertainment Revue, a Tampa-based ensemble of twenty girls between the ages of five and sixteen that appeared across the area at fairs, conventions, Walt Disney World, and Busch Gardens. At fifteen she spent a short time in the vocal quartet FLA before pursuing a solo path. Billing herself as Mandah, she landed a contract with MCA, which planned to present her as a wholesome teen attraction. While at the label she adopted the stage name Willa Ford to prevent mix-ups with Mandy Moore. MCA ultimately let her go, partly because adverse publicity clashed with the wholesome persona they had envisioned; she then moved to Atlantic, which placed one of her tracks on a Pokémon soundtrack before issuing her first album, Willa Was Here, in 2001. The songs adhere to teen-pop conventions through heavy reliance on vocoders, pop/R&B rhythms, and dance grooves, yet the flagship track "I Wanna Be Bad" together with the overtly sensual artwork suggest Atlantic has chosen to lean into Ford's provocative persona rather than soften it.
Albums
Singles
