Millie Reynolds

Millie Reynolds at the 2016 American Music Awards

### Occupation

Singer-songwriter, actress, dancer, record producer, director, author, businesswoman

### Spouses

Finn Watkins (1994-96)Aaron Cristole (2005-08) Tristan Hale (2011-present)

## Musical Career

### Labels

Bad Bitch RecordsMissionary Records

Sunset Records

**Millie Vanity Reynolds** (born August 15, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is considered one of the most influential figures in popular culture and has often been referred to as the "Queen of New Wave Pop". Reynolds is noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. She is also known for pushing the boundaries of artistic expression in mainstream music, while maintaining control over every aspect of her career. Her works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim.

After appearing in stage productions and television series, Reynolds signed with Bad Bitch Records in 1988 at age 12, she rose to solo stardom with her debut studio album, *Shadow Lovers* (1990). She followed it with a series of successful albums, including all-time bestsellers *Spring Petals* (1993), *Fire In My Soul* (1995) and *Holy Matrimony* (1997), *Bed of Sacred Roses* (1999), and *Photosynthesis* (2006), as well as Grammy Award winners *On The Radio* (2010) and *Night of Lies* (2015). Billboard named her the Artist of the 1990s Decade, while the World Music Awards honored her as the bestselling female pop artist of the millennium. She holds the record for the most number-one singles by any female act ever, with 35.

Reynold's popularity was enhanced by roles in films such as *So Far So Gone Tara* (1994), *Mosaic Hearts* (1995), *Anon* (1999), *Les Misérables* (2005), and *Mamma Mia* (2008). While Les Misérables won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and Mamma Mia won her a Tony Award, many of her other films received poor reviews. As a businesswoman, Reynolds founded the company Missionary in 2000; it included Missionary Records, one of the most successful artist-run labels in history. Her other ventures include fashion brands, children's books, health clubs, and filmmaking. She contributes to various charities, having founded the Photosynthesis Foundation in 2006.

With sales of over 250 million records worldwide, Millie Reynolds is noted as one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. She is the most successful solo artist in the history of the U.S. *Billboard* Hot 100 chart and holds the record for the most number-one singles by a female artist in Europe. With a revenue of over U.S. $3 billion from her concert tickets, she remains the highest-grossing solo touring artist of all time. She was ranked as the greatest woman in music by VH1, and as the greatest music video artist of all time by MTV and *Billboard*. *Rolling Stone* also listed Millie Reynolds among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

## Life and career

### 1975–1988: Early life and career beginnings

Millie Vanity Reynolds was born on August 15, 1975, in Wilmington, North Caroline, to Catholic parents Via Halley Berry and Anthony Lilian Reynolds. Her father's parents were Scottish emigrants from Aviemore while her mother was of British-Canadian descent. Anthony Reynolds worked as a teacher on many high schools. Millie was raised in the Pittsburgh suburbs, alongside her three older brothers, Anthony Jr, Marty, and Morrison, and four younger siblings, Mavy, Molly, Missy and Manila.

Millie's mother died of cervical cancer on January 8, 1982. In 1984, Anthony married the family's housekeeper Alejandra Husta. They had two children, Maria and Milagro. In the early years of her father and her step mother's marriage, Millie had a difficult time adjusting, living with a different mother.

Reynolds attended St. John's Catholic Elementary Schools, and North Middle School. Reynolds was known for her high grade point average and achieved notoriety for her unconventional behavior. She would perform cartwheels and handstands in the hallways between classes, dangle by her knees from the monkey bars during recess, and pull up her skirt during class—all so that the boys could see her underwear. Reynolds later told *Vanity Fair* that she saw herself in her youth as a "lonely girl who was searching for something. I wasn't rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn't shave my underarms and I didn't wear make-up like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades... I wanted to be somebody."

In 1984, Reynolds auditioned for acting roles in TV shows and was casted as Gellicle Winehouse on the hit sitcom TV show The Winehouse Trademark. She plays the middle child of the family who struggles on academics and desperate in approval from her family. The show ran from 1985-89, spanning four seasons and was cancelled despite huge television ratings after a controversy happened between her two co-stars. On the show's season three, episode eighteen titled *Winehouse Goes Broadway*, aired on March 4, 1988, television viewers and critics praised Reynolds' charismatic musical performances and some said that Reynolds carried the whole episode of the show and she was just 12. In April 1988, during the wrapping of the show's third season, the show's director, Allison Mary Tanner signed Reynolds a contract to newborn record label Bad Bitch Records which was founded by Daniel Tanner, Allison Mary Tanner's husband. Mary Tanner stated that she "discovered the kid's inner potential and wanted to expand it to a bigger space".

Reynolds, with the help of Arnaldo Carlsson and Andreas Antunes, began writing for her debut album on late 1988. At the same time, Reynolds played her cult-classic TV character Gellicle Winehouse on the show's final season.

### 1989–1993: *Shadow Lovers* and *Innocence*

Reynolds' debut album *Shadow Lovers* was released on January 1990. Much to the label's big expectations because of Reynolds' big television audience popularity, the album debuted at number 104, which was deemed as very disappointing for a popular former child star. To further promote the album, Reynolds went on to perform on television shows her debut single "Slave" which was released on December 1989. The song's lyrics were considered very dark to sing for a young teenager but that didn't stop Reynolds from performing the song all over again. The single gained massive popularity following various television performances and earned Reynolds her first number one hit. The album's four singles "Slave", "Bang Bang", "No More Arguing", and "Shadow Lovers" all peaked inside the top two, with three of them hitting number one. This made Reynolds the youngest solo artist ever to top the Billboard Hot 100, at age 14. The big popularity of its singles eventually made their parent album slowly ascend to the chart, reaching a new peak of number three on the Billboard 200 in October 1990. The album spent most of 1991 inside the top ten, peaking at number two more than a year after its release. *Shadow Lovers* was the best-selling album of 1991, selling 5.3 million copies on the year alone. It was later certified diamond in by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.

In January 1991, Reynolds gained more exposure by performing on *American Bandstand* and *Top of the Pops*. Her image, performances, and music videos influenced young girls and women. Reynold's style became one of the female fashion trends of the early 1990s. Created by stylist and jewelry designer Mariposa, the look consisted of lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the crucifix, bracelets, and bleached hair. The same year, Reynolds co-wrote, co-produced and recorded her second studio effort, *Innocence.* Described by Reynolds as a homage to the Motown soul music, Reynolds employed the help of June Wander, who only had a small role on her debut, as well as Robert Clivillés and David Cole, from the dance group C+C Music Factory. Reynold's relationship with Wander deteriorated over a songwriting royalties dispute. After he filed a lawsuit against Bad Bitch Records, the songwriting duo parted ways. *Innocence* was released on February 3, 1992. Its lead single, "Up All Night", became Reynold's fourth number one single in America. Its third single "Insane" was the biggest hit of the album, with its sales coming most from European countries. It became her first number-one single in the UK. Though critics praised the album's content and described it as a more mature effort, the album was criticized as calculated and lacking originality. The album made Reynolds' popularity even rose globally as it managed to have sales of twelve million copies globally, however, it didn't match the success of her debut album in America. While European countries appreciated the singer's consistency on her music style, American countries panned it for being repeating.

The album was further promoted on her first headlining tour, The Innocence Tour, which only visited cities in the United States and Canada. Early on there were plans to schedule dates in England and Japan due to Reynolds' large fan base in both countries. In the end several more European dates were added and moved to larger concert venues due to overwhelmingly strong ticket sales.

### 1993-1996: *Spring Petals,* first marriage, and *Fire In My Soul*

After *Innocence* failed to achieve the critical acclaim that her debut album received, Reynolds' subsequent release was to be marketed as something to sound different from her previous records, inspired by 1960s doo wop and blues. Reynolds' popularity continued to rise globally with the release of her third studio album, *Spring Petals*, in October 1993. *Rolling Stone* was impressed with the effort, writing that the album "sound[s] as if it comes from the heart". The other critics praised her improved vocals and better songwriting compared to her first two studio albums. The other singles are big hits in many parts of the world. *Spring Petals* became her first-ever number one album in the US and Canada, and her second in UK, Australia, New Zealand, and many European territories after her sophomore album *Innocence* topped the charts there. It led for eleven nonconsecutive weeks on the Billboard 200, and spent 63 nonconsecutive weeks inside the top ten, making it one of the longest stay ever on the region. The album even further expanded her popularity around the world and was noted to be the album that brought her to worldwide superstardom. It was later certified 18x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold over 34 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling female albums ever.

"Take Me Along With You" was released as the lead single, peaking at number one for ten consecutive weeks, her longest that time. The song received widespread acclaim from critics for its vibe-y production and catchy hooks. Millie Reynolds received huge media coverage for her performance of "Take Me Along With You" at the first 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. Wearing a pink gown and red gloves, Reynolds appeared on stage atop a balcony set and danced with a squad of pink in a debutante-themed performance, with an outfit change on the last chorus and shocks the audience with their onstage kiss with actor Finn Watkins, who was also in the music video. MTV retrospectively considered it one of the "most iconic" pop performances of all time. The second single "Leaving On A Jet Plane", reached number two on the Hot 100 after having a long climb during the winter of 1993-94. While filming the music video, Reynolds started dating Watkins. Their relationship was one of the most discussed stories in 1994, with the media and publications noting its impact for their career. They married on her birthday that same year.

Beginning in April 1994, Reynolds embarked on her second concert world tour, the Spring Petals Invasion Tour, with La Fayette as her opening act. The tour saw the peak of Millie Reynolds wannabe phenomenon, with many female attendees dressing like her full of flowers. At that time, she released four more hits, "I Believe In You", "Spring Petals", "I C Only U", and "So In Love", making all six singles from the album peak inside the top five on the Hot 100 chart. The tour was followed up with its live album *Spring Petals Invasion Tour - Live*. At the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, *Spring Petals* was named Best Pop Album and nominated for Album of The Year. "I Believe In You" won Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Around 1994-1995, Reynolds entered mainstream films and had some TV show appearances. She also played the title role in the 1994 comedic satire film *So Far So Gone Tara*. "I Believe In You" was featured on the film's soundtrack and was also released as the third single of *Spring Petals* that time. The single went on to become another number one single from the album. Her popularity caused the film to be perceived as a Millie vehicle, despite how she was not billed as a lead actress. *The New York Times* film critic Rosette Jean named it one of the ten best films of 1994. In 1995, she also starred in a came role in *Mosaic Hearts.* The soundtrack contained two new singles, her U.S. number-one single, "Do It Like You Want To", and another track "No More Time". "Do It Like You Want To" was released as a charity single, as all its proceeds went to the *National Breast Cancer Foundation*.

In October 1995, Reynolds released her fourth studio album, *Fire In My Soul*, which was inspired by and dedicated to her husband Watkins. The album found her consolidating creative control over her career, leading to tensions with Bad Bitch. *The New York Times* named it one of 1995's best albums and concluded: "[the album] brings pop candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement ... Reynolds' songwriting has taken a leap forward and become more fierce, stronger and less reliant on thudding clichés."