Vivian Sakiyyah Green (born May 22, 1979) is an American R&B singer-songwriter and pianist.

Early life

Green was born May 22, 1979 in the East Oak Lane neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and took an interest in singing, playing the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, and songwriting at a very young age. At the age of thirteen, she became a member of a female

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

called Younique. She is a graduate of what is now Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice. Green has credit for writing "Dear God" by

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...

, from their 1997 album ''

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

''. Green received her big break at the age of nineteen when she became a

backup singer 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 used ...

for Jill Scott, who took her on an international tour. She signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in late 2000.

Career

2001–2003: ''A Love Story''

In 2002, Green released her debut album, '' A Love Story'', which featured the number-one single " Emotional Rollercoaster". In the meantime, Green made a cameo appearance in the

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

biopic ''

De-Lovely ''De-Lovely'' is a 2004 American musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with his wife, Linda Lee Thomas, ...

'' singing a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of Porter's 1930 song " Love for Sale", which made the film's soundtrack album. She also played

Brenda Holloway Brenda Holloway (born June 26, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter, who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the soul hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts", " When I'm Gone", and " You've Ma ...

in an episode of the first season of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's drama series ''

American Dreams ''American Dreams'' is an American drama television series that ran on NBC for three seasons & 61 episodes, from September 29, 2002, to March 30, 2005. The show tells the story of the Pryor family of Philadelphia during the mid-1960s, with many ...

'', entitled "The Carpetbaggers" (originally aired on April 6, 2003), performing a rendition of Holloway's 1964 hit "

Every Little Bit Hurts "Every Little Bit Hurts" was originally a 1964 hit single for Motown soul singer Brenda Holloway, written by Ed Cobb. Background Though she was against recording the song again (she recorded it a couple of years before signing with Motown), she ...

2004–2006: ''Vivian''

In 2005, she appeared on

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

's ''

The Body Acoustic ''The Body Acoustic'' is the ninth studio album released by American singer Cyndi Lauper in 2005. It consists of ten previously released songs which have been re-recorded and re-arranged acoustically, as well as two new songs. The album title is ...

'' album on the tracks "I'll Be Your River" and "

Sisters of Avalon ''Sisters of Avalon'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper. It was released in Japan on October 15, 1996 and worldwide on April 1, 1997, by Sony Music Entertainment. Thematically the album expounded on the issue of complacency ...

". During the spring of 2005, three years after the release of her debut album, Green released her second studio album '' Vivian''. It featured the lead single " Gotta Go Gotta Leave (Tired)", which peaked at No. 24 on the R&B chart and No. 1 on the dance charts The song also charted No. 1 on the Hot Adult Airplay. The track known as "I Like It (But I Don't Need It)" followed up as the album's second single. The song followed up the previous single's success by also reaching #1 on the dance charts.

2007–2011: ''Beautiful''

In 2007, Green appeared on

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

's album '' Jazzmatazz, Vol. 4: The Hip-Hop Jazz Messenger: Back to the Future'' on the track "Fine and Free". While performing at a gig in support of her second album, Green announced that she is currently recording her third full-length album on

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

. In April 2009, she signed a 3-album deal with

E1 Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

with the first album under the deal set to be released in Summer 2009. Her third album titled ''

Beautiful Beautiful, an adjective used to describe things as possessing beauty, may refer to: Film and theater * ''Beautiful'' (2000 film), an American film directed by Sally Field * ''Beautiful'' (2008 film), a South Korean film directed by Juhn Jai-h ...

'' was released April 6, 2010. The songs explore the ins and outs of love from a variety of perspectives, from the youthful romanticism of "Somewhere" to the playful insight of "So Good" and "Better Man" to the hard-won intensity of "Masterpiece" and "Beautiful." In contrast to her first two albums, which were recorded in a variety of studios with multiple producers, Vivian approached the recording of Beautiful in a more intimate, organic manner. With the exception of "Save Me," which she cut with Jason Farmer (

Keyshia Cole Keyshia Myeshia Cole Johnson; born October 15, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Born and raised in Oakland, California, Cole began her career as a backing vocalist for MC Hammer. After signing with A&M Records ...

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

) in the producer's seat, Vivian recorded the entire album with Grammy-nominated producer Anthony Bell, a longtime friend and collaborator who made key production contributions to her first two albums, and whose extensive resume also includes work with

Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B and soul singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, her debut album, ''Fearless'' was released in 2008. The record topped ''Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certifie ...

, Jewel,

Musiq Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by the stage name Musiq Soulchild or simply Musiq (pronounced "music") is an American singer and songwriter whose style blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and Gospel music, gospel influ ...

, Raheem DeVaughn and Jill Scott. In 2011, she collaborated with Phoe Notes for a winter single titled "Missing You". It was released digitally on December 9. Phoe Notes and Green shot a video for the track on December 16. Additionally, she recorded the track "Keep On Going" for the ''Good Times – London'' and "Let It Burn" for the ''Birds Eye Riddim'' compilations.

2012–2013: ''The Green Room''

In 2012, her single, "Oh Freedom" for the ''Soundtrack for a Revolution'' was released on January 3, 2012. Later in the year, she did a couple of collaborations which included "Love" (w/Zion) for the album ''Legacy'', "La La Means I Love You" (w/Bob Baldwin) for the album ''Betcha By Golly Wow: The Songs Of Thom Bell'', and "Still Here" (w/Brian Culbertson) for the album ''Dreams''. On August 7, 2012, Green released "Anything Out There" the lead single from her fourth album ''The Green Room''. The album was released on October 9, 2012. In 2013, she undertook a few festivals and concerts in addition to TV appearances 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 ...

and Centric's music series.

2014–2016: ''Vivid''

In 2014, Green became the first artist signed to rapper/producer Kwamé's record label, Make Noise Recordings. ''

Vivid Vivid may refer to: Music * Vivid (band), a Japanese rock band * "Vivid" (song), by Electronic, 1999 *"ViViD", a 2016 song by Loona from '' HeeJin'' Albums * ''Vivid'' (Vivian Green album), 2015 * ''Vivid'' (Crystal Kay album), 2012 * ''Vivi ...

'', her fifth studio album was distributed via

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. ...

. On April 7, 2015, the first single released from the album was "Get Right Back to My Baby". The song went to No. 2 on Billboard's UAC chart. In 2015, Green was nominated for a

Soul Train Award 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 ...

. In 2016, she released "Grown Folks Music (Work)", which went to the top 15 on Billboard's UAC chart.

2017–2019: ''VGVI''

On July 7, 2017, Green released the first single off her sixth album ''VGVI'', titled "I Don't Know". The song became a top-10 hit on Billboard's Adult R&B chart. ''VGVI'' was released on October 6, 2017.

2020–Present: ''Love Absolute''

In October 2019, Green and Kwamé signed with the SoNo Recording Group through Kwamé's record label, Make Noise Recordings. Her seventh studio album, ''Love Absolute'', was released on November 13, 2020.

Personal life

Between her first and second albums, she took a three-year hiatus. In 2004, she gave birth to her son Jordan. Green became an advocate for

special needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in ...

children, publicly speaking about her experiences.

Discography

;Studio albums * '' A Love Story'' (2002) * '' Vivian'' (2005) * ''

'' (2010) * '' The Green Room'' (2012) * ''

'' (2015) * ''VGVI'' (2017) * ''Love Absolute'' (2020)

Award history

BET Awards *2003: Best R&B Female Artist (nominated) Lady of the Soul Train Awards *2003: Best Solo R&B/Soul Single "Emotional Rollercoaster" (nominated) *2003: Best Solo R&B/Soul Album of the Year ''A Love Story'' (nominated) *2003: Best Solo R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist: Vivian Green (nominated) Soul Train Awards *2015: Centric Certified Award (nominated)

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Vivian African-American women singer-songwriters African-American pianists American women pianists American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Columbia Records artists Living people American neo soul singers Musicians from Philadelphia Rhythm and blues pianists 1979 births Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania American contemporary R&B singers Ballad musicians 21st-century American pianists 21st-century African-American women singers