At her 90s peak, the R&B star had her own sitcom and Barbie doll. Now she is back with a self-released album, and going her own wayWhen Brandy Norwood was 14 she went to see her idol Whitney Houston in concert. Stuck in the nosebleed seats, she decided to blag her way backstage at the end of the show. “I was just telling security: ‘I’m going to be a star someday, I’m going to pay all your bills if you just let me back, ’” she says via Zoom, her trademark husky voice frayed slightly by final sessions for her new album, B7. Amazingly, the charm offensive worked, but Houston had already gone. “I was crushed, ” she sighs. “My mom was like: ‘You’ll meet her when you put music out.’”That same year, 1993, Brandy signed to Atlantic Records. A year later, she released her Grammy-nominated, self-titled debut. By 1996, she was the star of the teen sitcom Moesha, and, in 1997, she was hand-picked by Houston to play the title role in a TV remake of Cinderella. “So I’m working with her side by side, ” she says, eyes wide. “It’s just something that’s still surreal to this day.” Continue reading...
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/14/brandy-music-is-my-therapy-i-dont-know-what-life-would-be-without-it