Shanice Lorraine Wilson-Knox (née Wilson; born May 14, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. Shanice had the ''

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 adverti ...

'' hit singles " I Love Your Smile" and " Silent Prayer" in 1991 and " Saving Forever for You" in 1993. In 1999, Shanice scored another hit song, " When I Close My Eyes", which peaked at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Shanice is recognized for her

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...

voice and her ability to sing in the whistle register."American Music Channel: Shanice."

Early life

Shanice Wilson was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

with her mother Crystal, and her aunt Penni. Her mother and aunt went to Los Angeles in pursuit of careers in the music industry. They shifted their focus to Shanice and formed the management company Crystal Penni to cultivate and promote her talents. Shanice was nine years old when she appeared in a

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, wit ...

commercial with the legendary

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

vocalist

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. In 1984, she was part of the regular cast in the first thirteen episodes of the children's program '' Kids Incorporated.'' Shanice competed on ''

Star Search ''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versio ...

'' as an eleven-year old, and later signed with

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

."8 Artists Who Made it Big After Performing on ‘Star Search’."
''www.atlantablackstar.com'', December 26, 2013. Retrieved October17, 2019.

Recording career

In 1987, at the age of 14, A&M Records released her debut album, ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discove ...

''. It produced two top-ten R&B hits, "(Baby Tell Me) Can You Dance" and "No ½ Steppin'"."Shanice: Singles Chart History."
'' billboard.com''. Retrieved August 7, 2008. Shanice went on to sign a deal with

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

in the summer of 1990, releasing '' Inner Child'' in late 1991, which included her best-known hit single " I Love Your Smile". It reached the top ten in 22 countries, including the U.S. ''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

and No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album also featured a cover of

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single " Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use ...

's 1974 hit "

Lovin' You "Lovin' You" is a song recorded by American singer Minnie Riperton from her second studio album, ''Perfect Angel'' (1974). It was written by Riperton and Richard Rudolph, produced by Rudolph and Stevie Wonder, and released as the album's fourth s ...

", a rendition that brought attention to her three-and-a-half octave vocal range. After ''Inner Child'', Shanice continued to record albums, including 1994's '' 21… Ways to Grow'' with producer Rhett Lawrence, a Los Angeles

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

and

Earth Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million rec ...

guitarist Dick Smith. This effort was followed by a move to

LaFace Records LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achiev ...

in 1997, who later released the 1999 album '' Shanice.'' While she has not achieved significant commercial success with subsequent albums, she has contributed to various

film soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s, such as ''

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

'' ("Don't Wanna Love You") and '' The Meteor Man'' ("It's for You"). Shanice also achieved success with her top-ten hit " Saving Forever for You", from the '' Beverly Hills 90210 Soundtrack''. She later recorded "

If I Never Knew You "If I Never Knew You" is a song by American singers Jon Secada and Shanice, from Disney's 1995 animated feature film, ''Pocahontas''. The song was written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and originally recorded by American ...

", a duet with

Jon Secada Juan Francisco Secada Ramírez (born October 4, 1961), better known as Jon Secada, is a Cuban-born American singer. He has won two Grammy Awards and sold 15 million records, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. His music f ...

, for the original soundtrack of Disney's 1995 film ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

.'' While still with Motown, she also recorded a cover version of " If I Were Your Woman" by

Gladys Knight and the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

Tami Roman Tamisha Akbar (born April 17, 1970) better and professionally known as Tami Roman, is an American television personality, model, businesswoman and actress. Roman first gained fame on '' The Real World: Los Angeles'' in 1993. After making cameo ap ...

and the fellow members of her 90's R&B group quartet, ''Female'', provided the backing vocals in the song, released via the

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats * Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in S ...

soundtrack on May 2, 1995, weeks before the Pocahontas soundtrack was released on May 30, 1995. Shanice occasionally does

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

for other artists; she can be heard on

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won ...

's "Come on Over Here" and "

Un-Break My Heart "Un-Break My Heart" is a song by American singer Toni Braxton for her second studio album, '' Secrets'' (1996). The song was written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster. It was released as the second single from the album on October 7, 1 ...

", as well as

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** F ...

's "Bedtime". In 2010 she performed vocals on the track " Behind the Mask", from

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

's posthumous album ''

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

''. Shanice recorded the song "A Midnight Rendezvous" for the 2012

Kinect Kinect is a line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB cameras, and infrared projectors and detectors that map depth through either structured light or time of fli ...

game '' Rhythm Party''. She also performed "Love Is the Gift", the English theme song for the video game '' The Bouncer''. Shanice returned to recording after a five-year hiatus and released her fifth studio album '' Every Woman Dreams'' on her own label Imajah (named for her two children). The album peaked at No. 30 on the R&B Albums Chart. In 2019, Shanice returned with the new single "He Won't". In 2022, she was selected to sing the theme song of the

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

spinoff series

Mecha Builders ''Mecha Builders'' (also known as ''Sesame Street Mecha Builders'') is a computer-animated children's television series and a spin-off of ''Sesame Street'', that began production in May 2020. The series is co-produced by the United States organiz ...

, alongside

Eric Bellinger Eric Aldwin Bellinger Jr. (born March 26, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles. He began songwriting in 2010, and his co-writing credits including "Lemme See" by Usher, " New Flame" by Chris Brown, "You D ...

Acting and other appearances

In addition to singing, Shanice is also an actress, first appearing in "Rock Enroll", a season five episode of ''

Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers, ...

''. In 1997, she became the first Black performer to star in the role of Eponine in the musical ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. In 2001, Shanice made an appearance as a singer on her husband Flex's TV show One on One. That same year, she starred in the

made-for-TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

'' One Special Moment,'' an adaptation of

Brenda Jackson Brenda Jackson (February 2, 1953) is an American novelist who writes contemporary multicultural romance novels. She was the first African-American author to have a novel published as part of the Silhouette Desire line, and has seen many of her n ...

's 1998 novel of the same name. In 2011, Shanice joined Niecy Nash and Frenchie Davis for the 21st Annual "Divas Simply Singing" HIV/AIDS charity event. Shanice and her husband, Flex, also starred in the

OWN Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

reality show '' Flex & Shanice'', which premiered on November 1, 2014.

Personal life

On February 19, 2000, Shanice married actor/comedian

Flex Alexander Mark Alexander Knox (born April 15, 1970), better known as Flex Alexander or Flex, is an American actor, comedian and dancer. He has had a lot of guest-starring roles on many television sitcoms before portraying single father Flex Washington on ...

. They have two children, daughter Imani Shekinah Knox (born August 23, 2001) and son Elijah Alexander Knox (born March 5, 2004).

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

'' (1987) * '' Inner Child'' (1991) * '' 21... Ways to Grow'' (1994) * '' Shanice'' (1999) * '' Every Woman Dreams'' (2006)

Awards

Grammy Awards

The

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

(originally called the Gramophone Awards) — or Grammys – are presented annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

of the United States for outstanding achievements in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

. The awards ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and some of the awards of more popular interest are presented in a widely viewed televised ceremony.

Golden Lion Award

Soul Train Music Awards

The

Soul Train Music Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of '' Soul Train'', the p ...

is an annual award show aired in national

television syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States wher ...

that honors the best in

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series ...

'', the program from which it takes its name, and features musical performances by various R&B and hip hop music recording artists interspersed throughout the ceremonies.

References

External links

* * *
All about Shanice
{{Authority control 1973 births Living people 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers African-American actresses 20th-century African-American women singers African-American women singer-songwriters American child singers American contemporary R&B singers American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American soul singers American sopranos American musical theatre actresses Dance-pop musicians Musicians from Pittsburgh Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Singers with a five-octave vocal range Motown artists A&M Records artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century African-American women singers