WILLOW

Willow Smith at Vanity Fair's Oscars after-party in March 2022, taken by Daniele Venturelli for Getty Images

### Family

Willard Carroll Smith II (father)
Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (mother)
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (brother)
Willard Carroll "Trey" Smith III (half-brother)
Adrienne Banfield-Norris (maternal grandmother)

### Facebook

OfficialWillow

**Willow Camille Reign Smith** (born 31 October 2000), known mononymously as **WILLOW**, is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Smith collaborated with YUNGBLUD on *"Memories"*.

Smith is a former actress who made her acting debut in *I Am Legend* starring alongside her father Will Smith, and later appeared in *Kit Kittredge: An American Girl* alongside Abigail Breslin. In 2010, Smith launched her music career with the single *"Whip My Hair"*, which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Video of the Year at the BET Awards of 2011. Smith later signed to Roc Nation, a record label owned by Jay-Z, and became the youngest artist signed to the label. She released the single *"21st Century Girl"* 3rd February 2011. In 2015, Smith released her debut album, *ARDIPITHECUS* including the single *"Wait a Minute!"*, which was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Smith later released her second album *The 1st* in 2017, and her third self-titled album *WILLOW* in 2019.

In 2018, Smith began co-hosting the Facebook Watch talk show *Red Table Talk* with her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith and her grandmother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris. It has earned her two NAACP Image Awards and two Daytime Emmy Award nominations. In 2021, Smith released her fourth album *lately I feel EVERYTHING*, which spawned the single *"t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l"* featuring Travis Barker. Later that year, she earned a US top 40 entry with the single *"Meet Me At Our Spot"* with Tyler Cole. In 2022, she released the single *"emo girl"* alongside Machine Gun Kelly. TIME magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021. That same year, she won Entertainer of the Year for her work on Red Table Talk at the EBONY Power 100 awards, and was placed on Billboard's 'Greatest Pop Stars of 2021' list, being named the 'Comeback Artist of the Year'. Smith was also placed on the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

## Early life

Willow Camille Reign Smith was born on 31 October 2000, in Los Angeles, California to Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, both actors and musicians. She has two older siblings: her brother Jaden Smith, also an actor and musician, and her half-brother Willard Carroll "Trey" Smith III, an actor and DJ. Smith and her siblings are youth ambassadors for Project Zambi, which, in conjunction with Hasbro, provides assistance for Zambian children orphaned by AIDS.

Smith attended Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles.

## Career

### 2007 – 2013: Acting and music endeavors

Smith made her acting debut in *I Am Legend* alongside her father. Her next film, *Kit Kittredge: An American Girl*, was released on 2nd July 2008. In 2008, she voiced the character of young Gloria the hippo in *Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa*, alongside her mother as Gloria the hippo.

In June 2009, Pinkett Smith announced in an interview on Lopez Tonight that Smith would be releasing an album. Smith then released her first single, *"Whip My Hair"*, which went platinum in the US and peaked at number eleven. In the UK the single peaked at number two. Smith soon after announced her next single, *"21st Century Girl"*. After she performed the song on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she released it the next day on 3rd February 2011. The video was released 9 March 2011. On 20 January 2011, Will Smith announced he was planning to produce a contemporary remake of the Broadway musical Annie starring Smith in the title role. However, Smith was deemed too old and the title role was given to Quvenzhané Wallis in February 2013.

On 6 October 2011, *"Fireball"*, a collaboration between Smith and rapper Nicki Minaj, was released. It was a commercial failure, failing to chart in any type of music market, except the US R&B chart, charting at #121. It was her first song to miss the Billboard Hot 100. Smith's producer announced that she were almost finished working on her debut album, and that it would be done soon. He also said it has a similar style to *"Whip My Hair"*. The title of the album was later announced to be *Knees and Elbows*. It was scheduled to be released around April 2012, but was later announced that it would be postponed for release later in the year. On 1 May 2012, she released a music video for *"Do it Like Me (Rockstar)"*,saying that it was her *"first video ever"*. On 2 July 2012, Smith released the *"I Am Me"* music video at the BET Awards, on 17 July, it was available via iTunes and Amazon.

In the summer of 2013, Smith and DJ Fabrega started a duo titled *Melodic Chaotic*. *"The Intro"* was released as the first work, *"Summer Fling"* was released as the second work of the two on 6 July 2013. The music video was directed by Smith and Mike Vargas who previously directed her single *"I Am Me"*. The song was widely criticized for its mature tone, the use of the word "fling", and the fake English accent she incorporates. On 16 September 2013, Smith performed *"Summer Fling"* on the series premiere of The Queen Latifah Show. During the performance, she said: *"Just for clarity, the word fling means something that's short lived...And this song is dedicated to all the kids around the world whose summer is never long enough."*

### 2014 – 2018: 3 EP, *ARDIPITHECUS*, and *The 1st*

On 24 October 2014, Smith and FADER announced that Smith would be releasing her debut EP, titled "3", on 31 October 2014 for free via Google Play for a limited time and 10 November 2014, but it was later pushed to 17 November 2014 via iTunes. The same day, she held a concert in New York City at The FADER Fort, where she performed select tracks from her new EP with SZA. She also performed the song *"5"* with her brother, as well as *"Summer Fling"* and a new rendition of her first famous hit *"Whip My Hair"*.

Smith released the single *"F Q-C #7"* on 7 May 2015. An accompanying music video was released the same day on Vevo. After release, on September, a video to the track *"Why Don't You Cry"* on i-D, Willow released her first album *ARDIPITHECUS* on 11 December. About her debut album's title, Willow said *"Ardipithecus Ramidus (sic) Sahelanthropus tchadensis is the scientific name of the first hominid bones found on earth. I wanted to name my musical compilation after it because, while I was making these songs, I was in such a transitional state. Digging deep in the soil of my heart and finding bits and pieces of my ancient self that tell stories, which end up being the lyrics to the songs."*

On her birthday, 31 October 2017, she released her second album *The 1st* which is praised for its musical development, particularly Willow's ability to create music following her 1990s R&B predecessors. She toured the album with Jhene Aiko alongside St. Beauty, Kodie Shane, and Kitty Cash through the end of 2017.

Along with her mother and grandmother, Smith hosts Red Table Talk, a web talk show for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination.

### 2019 – present: *WILLOW*, *THE ANXIETY*, and *lately I feel EVERYTHING*

On 24 June 2019, Smith announced her third studio album, *WILLOW*. It was released on 19 July 2019, and was co-produced by herself and Tyler Cole. The duo later released the collaborative album *THE ANXIETY* in 2020. On 27 April 2021, Smith released *"t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l"* featuring Travis Barker, a pop-punk song that was her first step into that genre. Smith released her fourth album titled *lately I feel EVERYTHING* on 16 July, featuring guests artists including Tierra Whack and Avril Lavigne. In late 2021, *"Meet Me At Our Spot"* from *THE ANXIETY* reached the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 21. In February 2022, Willow announced that she had to pull out of Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever World Tour due to "production limitations". On 8 April 2022, Smith featured on Camila Cabello's track *"Psychofreak"* from Cabello's third studio album *Familia*. A music video for the song was released on the same day, followed by a live performance on Saturday Night Live.

## Personal life

In June 2019, Smith came out as bisexual, stating *"I love men and women equally"*. She also mentioned her support of polyamorous relationships and her desire to be in one.

## Discography

* ARDIPITHECUS (2015)
* The 1st (2017)
* WILLOW (2019)
* THE ANXIETY (2020) (collaborative with Tyler Cole)
* lately I feel EVERYTHING (2021)

## Gallery

via WILLOW's Instagram (26 April 2022)via WILLOW's Instagram (26 April 2022)via WILLOW's Instagram story (17 December 2021)via YUNGBLUD's Instagram story (17 December 2021)
## See also

1. ↑ Black Entertainment Television (BET) — "Video of the Year │ BET Awards │ Shows │ BET". Retrieved 27 April 2022. Archived
2. ↑ Time — "'Red Table Talk' Hosts: TIME100 2021". Written by Tiffany Haddish. Retrieved 27 April 2022. Archived
3. ↑ HelloBeautiful — "Ebony Announces The Return of 'Ebony Power 100 Awards' For Their 75th Anniversary". Published 1 October 2021. Written by Samjah Iman. Retrieved 27 April 2022. Archived
4. ↑ Billboard — "Billboard's Greatest Pop Stars of 2021: Comeback Artist of the Year — Willow". Published 9 December 2021. Written by J'na Jefferson. Retrieved 27 April 2022. Archived
5. ↑ Yahoo! — "Olivia Rodrigo, Willow Smith, Fletcher And More Join Forbes '30 Under 30' Class Of 2022". Published 1 December 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2022. Archived