Crystal Waters (born November 19, 1961) is an American

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and

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singer and songwriter, best known for her 1990s dance hits " Gypsy Woman", " 100% Pure Love", and 2007's " Destination Calabria" with Alex Gaudino. All three of her studio albums produced a Top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In December 2016, ''

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'' magazine ranked her as one of the most successful dance artists of all time. Her accolades include six

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Songwriter awards, three

American Music Award The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

nominations, an

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

nod, four ''Billboard'' Music Awards and twelve No. 1 ''Billboard'' Dance Chart hits. Her hit song "Gypsy Woman” has been sampled hundreds of times. Though her music sales have yet to be re-certified, Waters has sold over 7 million records worldwide.

Life and career

Early life

Born in Deptford Township, New Jersey, Waters is the daughter of jazz musician Junior Waters and his wife Betty. Her great-aunt,

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...

, was one of the first black American vocalists to appear in mainstream Hollywood musicals. Her family moved to

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for a while but they again moved to

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At age eleven she began writing poetry and took her writing seriously enough to be inducted into the Poetry Society of America when she was 14, the youngest person ever to receive that honor. She studied business and

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, but her creative work as a musician dropped off as she found less time for it. After earning her college degree in 1989, Waters secured a job as a probation officer with the Washington, D.C. parole board, making a living that would support her two daughters. One of her daughters, Ella Nicole, is a singer-songwriter who was discovered in 2014 and managed by Samonee K. founder of Argo Vibes.

Music career

Waters' first job in the music world was as a backup singer at a local recording studio. She realized she wanted the creative control of writing her own music. Meeting the Basement Boys at a D.C. conference, they agreed to collaborate. Waters' self-described style was jazz and the Basement Boys was

. The first two songs she wrote for the 'Boys were " Makin' Happy" and " Gypsy Woman". Waters signed a writing contract with

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in 1989. Her single " Makin' Happy", with contributions by remixer

Steve "Silk" Hurley Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962), also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including th ...

, shot quickly to No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs. With her 1994 follow-up album, '' Storyteller'', Waters made a mainstream comeback with her hit single " 100% Pure Love", which hit number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs, and became one of the longest-charting singles on the Hot 100 at 45 weeks ("Gypsy Woman" had remained on the chart for 16 weeks). Along with the single, her second album ''Storyteller,'' sold over one million copies in the United States. Feminist scholar and social activist

bell hooks Gloria Jean Watkins (September 25, 1952 – December 15, 2021), better known by her pen name bell hooks (stylized in lowercase), was an American author, theorist, educator, and social critic who was a Distinguished Professor in Residence at Be ...

described Waters as "fierce and politically on the job" because of the singer's socially conscious lyrics. In 1996, Waters participated in the

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benefit album ''

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'', which was produced by the Red Hot Organization, performing the song "The Boy from Ipanema". In 2007, the mega European hit " Destination Calabria" by Alex Gaudino, featuring vocals by Crystal Waters, went to No. 1 on the European Pop Chart in over 30 countries. The track is a mashup, taking the instrumental from Rune's "Calabria" and the vocals from Alex Gaudino's and Crystal Waters' "Destination Unknown", both originally released in 2003. It was produced with the help of Maurizio Nari and Ronnie Milani (Nari & Milani), matching the saxophone hook/riff from "Calabria" to Crystal Waters' voice. "Destination Calabria" was released as a 12-inch single by the Italian label

Rise Records Rise Records is an American record label currently based in Beaverton, Oregon, mainly focusing on alternative rock, heavy metal, and punk rock music artists. History Rise was founded in 1991 by Craig Ericson in Nevada City, California. He relea ...

, and as a CD single on March 19, 2007 by British label

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. It originally charted in Australia in February 2004, peaking at No. 98 under the title "Destination Unknown" before being re-released as "Destination Calabria" and reaching No. 2 in 2007. In 2012, "Le Bump" with Yolanda Be Cool gave Waters another No. 1 on the

Beatport Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards disk jockey, DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that ...

House Chart. With DJ Chris Cox in 2013, the No. 1 Billboard Dance Club Songs hit "Mama Hey", was listed as one of ''Billboard'' "Top 50 Dance Songs of 2013". In November 2015, Waters released "Synergy", and in October 2016 she released "Believe". Both songs quickly rose to the No. 1 spot on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs. Her 2017 single "Testify" with Hifi Sean was released on

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and went straight to the A-List on

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and garnered another No. 1 spot on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs. Her third collaboration with Sted-E & Hybrid Heights, titled "I Am House", reached No. 1 in the club charts in Spring 2018, giving Waters a total of twelve No. 1 singles in the US ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs. In February 2020, she began a monthly radio/podcast show called "I Am House".

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Crystal 1961 births Living people 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American contemporary R&B singers American dance musicians American dance-pop musicians American house musicians Singers from Philadelphia People from Deptford Township, New Jersey Singer-songwriters from New Jersey Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Mercury Records artists AM PM Records artists Howard University alumni 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers