William Madison Taylor III (born March 29, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a contestant from

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

Making the Band 4 ''Making the Band'' is an ABC/MTV reality television series that exists in separate iterations, each focusing on a specific music act. It spawned musical acts O-Town, Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie Klang. Except for the first iterati ...

'', where he was chosen by Diddy to be a member and one of the main vocalists of the band

Day26 Day26 is an American male R&B music group formed in August 2007 by Sean "Diddy" Combs in a handpicked selection at the end of MTV's ''Making the Band 4.'' The group consists of Robert Curry, Brian Angel, Willie Taylor, Qwanell Mosley and Michael ...

on August 26, 2007.

Early life

Taylor was a member of the Chicago-based group Kwiet Storm. Their music video, "Leave Me Alone", appeared on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's ''Midnight Love'', ''Cita's World'', ''Hits from the Street'', and as a New Joint of the Day on ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

''. After ten years with Kwiet Storm, Taylor left to start a solo career. Taylor has worked with well-known artists such as

Avant AVANT, also known as AVANT street art guerrilla collective, was the artist group active in New York City from 1980 to 1984. By 1984 AVANT had produced thousands of acrylic on paper paintings and plastered them on walls, doors, bus-stops and gallerie ...

(with whom he co-wrote two songs on ''

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

'': "So Many Ways" and "With You"),

Ginuwine Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (born October 15, 1970), better known by his stage name Ginuwine, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He began his career as a member of Swing Mob in the early 1990s. Signing to Epic R ...

, Jagged Edge, and

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

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Career

''Making the Band 4'' and ''Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood''

After leaving "Kwiet Storm" Taylor began a solo career, putting his first album on hold to audition for ''

Making The Band 4 ''Making the Band'' is an ABC/MTV reality television series that exists in separate iterations, each focusing on a specific music act. It spawned musical acts O-Town, Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie Klang. Except for the first iterati ...

''. The second season of ''Making The Band 4'' revolved around

Danity Kane Danity Kane was an American girl group whose original and most well-known lineup comprised Aubrey O'Day, Aundrea Fimbres, Dawn Richard, Shannon Bex, and Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett. Its most recent iteration included O'Day and Richard as a duo ...

, and

Donnie Klang Donald Joseph Klang (born January 23, 1985) is an American singer. He won ''Making the Band 4'' and was awarded his own solo contract by Diddy. He released his debut album, '' Just a Rolling Stone'', in late 2008. Life and career Klang was b ...

competing to see who can make a better album. In the season finale Diddy announced that ''Making The Band 4'' would have another season. This time it would revolve around

, and

touring. He premiered the video for his new single "Sex Conversation" from his mixtape ''Sex Tape''. A new Day26 album titled Forever in a Day was released in April 2009. He is also the CEO of Noivak Music Group. On September 7, 2015, Taylor, his wife Lashanda and two children were featured on the second season of the VH1 spin-off show '' Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood''.

Discography

With Kwiet Storm

*2004: ''In The Mist Of The Storm''

Solo album

*2006: ''On My Way''

Solo Projects

*2010: '' Sextape'' *2012: ''The Re-Introduction of Willie Taylor'' *2014: "Sextape 2"

Singles

*"What I Need" (2006) *"Sweat" (2006) *"Pushin Beauty" (2006) *"Sex Conversation" (2010) *"Blast Off" (2014) *"Though I Knew Myself" (2015) *"Jackpot" (2016)

Guest appearances

Filmography

Note to Self 2012

Television

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Willie 1981 births Living people American contemporary R&B singers Participants in American reality television series 21st-century American singers