Shamari DeVoe ( Fears; born February 22, 1980) is an American singer. She is best known as the lead singer in the pop/R&B girl group

Blaque Blaque is an American girl group that charted from 1999 to 2004. Outside of the United States, they are known as Blaque Ivory. Their self-titled debut album ''Blaque'' sold more than 1 million copies and was certified Platinum. The group's d ...

. She also starred in the reality television series ''

The Real Housewives of Atlanta ''The Real Housewives of Atlanta'' (abbreviated ''RHOA'') is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on October 7, 2008. Developed as the third installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired fourteen season ...

''.

Early life

DeVoe was born on February 22, 1980, in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. She was raised in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, and graduated from

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...

in 2013 with a bachelor of arts degree in Sociology.

Career

She was discovered by American rapper

Lisa Lopes Lisa Nicole Lopes (May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002), better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper and singer. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Besides ...

, who mentored

. She formed Blaque with

Brandi Williams Blaque is an American girl group that charted from 1999 to 2004. Outside of the United States, they are known as Blaque Ivory. Their self-titled debut album ''Blaque'' sold more than 1 million copies and was certified Platinum. The group's d ...

and Natina Reed. The group made their first appearance in 1997, in the music video for

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of he ...

's " Not Tonight". Their debut album ''Blaque'' (1999) sold more than 1.5 million copies and was certified Platinum. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' named Blaque as the fourth "Best New Artist" in 1999. In 2000, DeVoe portrayed a cheerleader named Lava in the comedy film ''

Bring It On Bring It On may refer to: Books * ''Bring It On'' (book), by Pat Robertson * ''Bring It On!'' (manhwa), a romance manhwa by Baek Hye-Kyung Film and stage * ''Bring It On'' (film series), an American series of teen comedy cheerleading films capit ...

.'' Blaque went on hiatus until 2007 and eventually split in 2008. Natina Reed died after being hit by a car in 2012. DeVoe still performs with fellow group member Brandi Williams. In November 2018, DeVoe joined the cast of the

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

reality television series ''

'' for the show's eleventh season. On September 26, 2019, it was announced that DeVoe would not be returning for the twelfth season. She is working on a collaboration with her husband

Ronnie DeVoe Ronald Boyd DeVoe Jr. (born November 17, 1967), is an American singer, rapper, and actor known as one of the members of the R&B/ pop group New Edition, and the R&B/ hip hop group Bell Biv DeVoe. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Career De ...

called Me & Mari. The duo released a single called "Love Comes Through" on December 7, 2018.

Personal life

On March 10, 2006, she married

New Edition New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a 'new edition' of the Jackson 5. The group reached its height of popularity in the 198 ...

and

Bell Biv DeVoe Bell Biv DeVoe, also known as BBD, is an American music group from Boston, Massachusetts, formed from members of New Edition, consisting of Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe. The band is best known for their debut album, the multi-pl ...

. The couple have twin boys, Ronald and Roman born in 2017. DeVoe became a member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

sorority in December 2014.

Discography

Album appearances

Filmography

Film

Television

Music video appearances

References

External links

* 1980 births 21st-century American singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century African-American women singers Living people American contemporary R&B singers Blaque members Singers from Detroit 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century African-American women singers {{US-RnB-singer-stub