Marie Antoinette Wright (born February 7, 1968), better known by her stage name, Free, is an American media personality, television producer, choreographer and philanthropist. She rose to fame as the first host of
BET's ''
106 & Park''. She was later a disc jockey at
KKBT 100.3 The Beat in Los Angeles, morning drive co-host at
WPGC-FM in
Washington, D.C., and is the former co-host of the Ed Lover Morning Show on
Power 105.1 in New York City. She currently lives a private life.
Career
Born Marie Antoinette Wright, she is of African American descent. She became involved in the arts as a child in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
, Massachusetts. She attended the
Roxbury Roxbury may refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Roxbury, Nova Scotia
* Roxbury, Prince Edward Island
;United States
* Roxbury, Connecticut
* Roxbury, Kansas
* Roxbury, Maine
* Roxbury, Boston, a municipality that was later integrated into the city of Bosto ...
Center for Performing Arts for 11 years and traveled and toured as part of a young
dance troupe. Inspired by hometown group
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 19 ...
, she was part of a few groups in Boston performing and winning talent shows, while honing her singing and
rap skills. One of her biggest breaks in her dancing career was performing in the 1991 rap music video ''Good Vibrations'' by
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch was an American hip-hop group formed in 1991 by Mark Wahlberg (alias Marky Mark), Scott Gee, Hector the Booty Inspector, DJ-T, and Ashey Ace. The group's best known song is " Good Vibrations", which made it to numbe ...
.
Free left Boston to immerse herself in her true passion: music. One of Free's stepping-stones was an
internship
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements i