caption associated_acts years_active birth_place label name background birth_date genre image article_title birth_name occupation
williams hills california on june 25 , 2015 at the rhythm & soul awards in beverly destiny 's child 1999 -- present rockford , illinois , u.s. columbia music world entertainment e1 light michelle williams solo_singer 23 july 1980 r & b gospel pop dance soul michelle_williams_2015 . jpg michelle williams -lrb- singer -rrb-
 tenitra michelle williams record producer singer -- songwriter previous wnba team owner
michelle williams -lrb- singer -rrb-

tenitra michelle williams -lrb- born july 23 , 1980 -rrb- , commonly known as michelle williams , is an american recording artist and songwriter .
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 their hiatus , she released her debut solo album `` heart to yours '' -lrb- 2002 -rrb- 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 '' -lrb- 2004 -rrb- which gained her a nomination for `` best gospel act '' at the 2004 mobo awards .
after destiny 's child 's disbanded in 2005 , williams released her first pop album , `` unexpected '' -lrb- 2008 -rrb- , which spawned the internationally-charting single `` we break the dawn '' and the us dance number-one `` the greatest '' .
her fourth studio album , `` journey to freedom '' -lrb- 2014 -rrb- was critically acclaimed and became her highest-charting charting album in the us ; preceded by lead single `` if we had your eyes '' which reached the us adult r&b top 20 and the soul train-nominated `` say yes '' , which charted internationally and topped the us hot gospel songs chart for 7 weeks .
`` journey to freedom '' was nominated for outstanding gospel album -lrb- traditional or contemporary -rrb- at the 46th naacp image awards and earned williams four nominations at the 30th annual stellar awards , winning music video of the year for `` say yes '' .
in 2015 , williams sang for u.s. president barack obama & first lady michelle obama at the white house .
williams has found success as a television , broadway and west end theatre actress , gaining a nomination for `` best lead female -- equity '' in 2008 at the 18th annual naacp theatre awards .
making her acting debut on broadway in `` aida '' -lrb- 2003 -rrb- , she has since starred in the sitcom series `` half & half '' -lrb- 2006 -rrb- and the musical productions ; `` the color purple '' -lrb- 2007 -rrb- , `` chicago '' -lrb- 2009-2010 -rrb- , `` what my husband does n't know '' -lrb- 2011 -rrb- and `` fela ! ''
-lrb- 2013 -rrb- .
furthermore , she was a featured judge on `` mtv 's top pop group '' , a contestant in series 8 of `` strictly come dancing '' and co-stars alongside deitrick haddon in the oxygen reality television series `` fix my choir '' .
she has earned several awards and accolades including but not limited to , a grammy award and star on the hollywood walk of fame with destiny 's child ; a solo mobo award and stellar award .
