page_title: Michelle Williams (singer)
section_title: 2008–10: Unexpected, Chicago and label troubles
hierarchical_section_title: Michelle Williams (singer) / Life and career / 2008–10: Unexpected, Chicago and label troubles
caption_attribution_description: Live in City Hall Park
context_page_description: Tenitra Michelle Williams is an American gospel singer and actress. Williams rose to fame in the 2000s as a member of R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling female groups of all time with over 60 million records, of which more than 35 million copies sold with the trio lineup with Williams.
  During the group's two year hiatus, Williams released her debut solo album Heart to Yours which topped the US gospel album chart and became the best-selling gospel release of the year. Also in 2002, Billboard, named her the fifth Top Gospel Artist of the year and she received a MOBO Award for "Best Gospel Act". Following this she released Do You Know which gained her a nomination for "Best Gospel Act" at the 2004 MOBO Awards.
  After Destiny's Child's disbanded in 2006, Williams released her first pop album, Unexpected, which spawned the internationally charting single "We Break the Dawn" and the US Dance number-one "The Greatest".
context_section_description: In March 2008, Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment revealed that Williams would be releasing her third studio album Unexpected on October 7, 2008, in the U.S. The album, her first secular release and first release since the disbanding of Destiny's Child, involves production by Stargate, Rico Love, the Heavyweights, Wayne Wilkins, Andrew Frampton and Soulshock and Karlin, among others. In June 2008, Williams released lead single "We Break the Dawn" to universal acclaim from critics who hailed it as "a terrific fusion of European disco and American R&B". The song became Williams' most successful single, peaking at number four on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, whilst also charting internationally at number forty-seven on the UK Singles Chart and number thirty-eight on the Hungarian Singles Chart before eventually being listed on Hungary's year-end singles chart. During the week of July 11, 2008, "We Break the Dawn" hit number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart. After the album's release date was delayed from September 12, 2008 to October 7, 2008, "The Greatest" replaced "Stop This Car" as the anticipated second single release, and was serviced to mainstream radio. Meanwhile, "Hello Heartbreak" was catered to dance clubs. "The Greatest" – described as a "fantastic pop ballad" – became Williams' second hit on the Billboard dance charts when it peaked at number-one the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, thanks to its numerous remixes, before being listed at number thirty-nine on the chart's decade-end list, just behind "Lose My Breath" which Williams recorded while a member of Destiny's Child 5 years prior. Gaining favorable reviews from critics, in October 2008 Unexpected debuted on the US Billboard 200 albums chart at number 42 and number 11 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with first week sales of 14,000 units.
  Speaking of her move from gospel music to secular pop/R&B with Unexpected in August 2008, Williams told noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul: "For me to sell the number of units that I did, and to get the amount of love and reception that I got, from doing gospel was great. It's just that, right now I'm ready to try something different and to get my name and face out there in a different way."
  Despite interviews and social media statements in 2009 promising a remix version of the album or a re-release, by November 1, 2009 no more confirmation had been made on any Unexpected re-releases, suggesting that all plans had been scrapped. As of April 2013 the album has sold 34,000 copies in the United States.
  On July 13, Williams began a limited six-week engagement at the Cambridge Theatre in Chicago, making her the first African-American to be cast in the West End production of the musical. On discussing Williams' acquiring of the coveted role of murderous chorus girl Roxie Hart, manager and Music World Entertainment executive Matthew Knowles said, "She's one of the greatest characters in the history of musical theater and it's both a challenge and a lot of fun to bring her to life on-stage. I hope that everyone who comes to the show enjoys it as much as I do, Michelle is a prime example of an all-round entertainer, she has enjoyed many successes as a music artist and now theater goers are going to experience her far reaching talents once again" whilst Williams is quoted as saying, "It's a real thrill to be given the opportunity to play Roxie Hart in the West End's spectacular production of 'Chicago'." Her run was extended and Williams continued appearing for three additional weeks for an extended engagement starting August 23 through September 12, 2009.
  On January 12, 2010, it was announced that Michelle had parted ways with Mathew Knowles (her manager) and Music World Entertainment. On February 8, 2010, Williams made a return to Broadway by commencing a seven-week limited engagement in Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre, replacing Ashlee Simpson. In April, producers Barry and Fran Weissler announced that Williams would extend her limited engageme
caption: Michelle performing on stage at J&R Musicfest, 2008
exif: {"Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "DMC-FZ20", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver1.0", "Image DateTime": "2008:08:21 05:24:16", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "418", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 14, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "6804", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8616", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "33/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:08:21 05:24:16", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:08:21 05:24:16", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "118/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2560", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1920", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "6652", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "142", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}