Jody Watley is a GRAMMY award winning multi-platinum singer/songwriter/producer recognized as a style icon and one of the architects of 21st century Pop/R&B/Dance music, an inductee into the Women’s Songwriters Hall Of Fame, listed in Billboard as one of the Top 60 Female Artists of All Time, Top 25 Dance Artists of All Time, Top 100 Black Solo Artists Of All Time, Crossover Music Icon from Black Music Honors 2017 with a diverse music discography spanning R&B / Pop / Dance /Hip Hop / Electronic / Jazz / Adult Contemporary 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s, 20s.
The versatile songstress and Chicago native has appeared on Broadway as the iconic character Rizzo in the musical GREASE, the first black actress to do so, and was recognized by People Magazine in their 50 Most Beautiful People Issue, one of many ongoing milestones in her solo career.
Jody Watley can now add radio host to her vast resume, with the launch of “The Jody Watley Show” on Sirius XM’s The Groove Channel debuting in March 2023 during Women’s History Month. The monthly show is centered around good music, good vibes and conversation with public figures in music, TV, Film, Sports, Fashion, and Business, guests have included Emmy winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, NBA Hall of Fame billionaire businessman Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, best selling actor Tabitha Brown, award winning singer/actresses Vanessa Williams, Deborah Cox and more.
As a solo artist, the Pop and R&B singer-songwriter has 6 Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten Singles, 7 Number 1 Dance Singles, 2 R&B Number 1’s, 15 Top 40 Singles, Gold and multi-platinum albums in the USA alone.Her vast discography also includes million selling greatest hits video compilation and fitness video (a first for a black woman in the genre). Watley’s eventual fusion of jazz, and deep house music made her a long time staple in underground club culture.
The ease with which she crosses genres opened the doors for greater acceptance of black women thinking outside the box in music and fashion is notable. Watley was honored as Women of Excellence ‘Legend’ April 2024 by WDAS in Philadelphia at their 8th Annual Women of Excellence Luncheon as their signature award honoree.
Jody Watley was 2017 recipient of the Black Music Honors ‘Crossover Music Icon’ Award for her early cultural influence and impact as a solo artist; other accolades include 2007 Billboard Dance Lifetime Achievement Award, along with nominations from the American Music Awards, MTV Awards, NAACP Awards and Soul Train Awards In 2018 Billboard Magazine included Jody Watley in the Top 60 Hot 100 Female Artists Of All Time and Top 25 Top Female Dance Artists Of All Time. Jody Watley kicked off her solo career appearing the the historic Band Aid UK charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas.”
Watley has proven her knack of reinvention and longevity, with other businesses that also include her independent label Avitone.
With her latest release the internationally embraced “EVERLASTING” which reach #2 on the UK Soul Chart in February of 2024, written and produced by Watley along with longtime collaborator jazz musician and former musical director Rodney Lee with additional production and remix by Italy’s renowned Alex Di Cio a favorite of UK Soul radio; Jody Watley continues to exemplify longevity and after long ago shattering the glass ceiling imposed upon her in a male dominated industry and exceeding limited perceptions long after her days as one of the most popular and influential dancers in her teen years on the iconic show Soul Train.
Jody Watley is an inductee into the Women’s Songwriters Hall of Fame. Her vast ongoing influence and contributions to contemporary music and pop culture includes the signature Jumbo hoop earrings, yes she did that. The hoops remain a style staple for many in film, TV, reality stars. wanna be stars and fashionistas. It was Jody Watley who coined the phrase “Hasta La Vista Ba-by’ later popularized by superstar actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the blockbuster action film “Terminator: Judgement Day.”
From her groundbreaking marriage of rap & R&B (1989’s “Friends,” a collaboration with hip-hop legends Eric B. & Rakim pairing that is the first to crossover R&B/Hip-Hop, Pop and Dance into the Billboard Top 10 “Friends,” to her vision-forward marriage of high fashion, street fashion and music in the ‘80s (long before it became the norm), to her fusion of jazz and underground club culture with keen pop instincts, and the ease with which she crossed and still crosses genre, Jody Watley forged the template that is now everybody’s playbook.
The versatile songstress and Chicago native was honored with Jody Watley Day and a Presidential Award at the Georgia State Capital, receiving an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business in 2022. Jody Watley’s fashion forward “Real Love” directed by Academy award winning director David Fincher remains one of the most nominated in the history of the MTV Music Awards. Watley has nominations from the American Music Awards, NAACP Image Awards and Soul Train Awards.
Jody Watley appeared on Broadway as the iconic character Rizzo in the musical GREASE, the first black actress to do so, and was recognized by People Magazine in their 50 Most Beautiful People Issue. The first black woman to appear on a Japanese Fashion Magazine, supported by a massive television commercial and ad campaign throughout Japan are some of the of many ongoing milestones in an ongoing career full of reinventions and diverse endeavors.
June 2022 the multi platinum music icon was honored with Jody Watley Day at the Georgia State Capitol and received the prestigious Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award and became a 2022 inductee into the Women’s Songwriters Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C.
Watley received her first Honorary Doctorate in March 2022. The honor was bestowed upon the iconic singer-songwriter-businesswoman before she addressed the graduating class of 2022 in Stone Mountain, Georgia. She received an Honorary Doctorate Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Entrepreneurship & Business Administration from the T.I.U.A. School of Business, an affiliate of Trinity International University of Ambassador. She was also presented the Women of Distinction Award from United Nations Global Women Foundation during the academic ceremony.
In 2021 Jody Watley was named as First Ambassador to the National Museum Of African American Music In Nashville and in 2022 Watley received her first Honorary Doctorate in Business.
The founder of independent music label Avitone Recordings, Watley has proved to be a true renaissance woman continuously growing and expanding her brand, adding to a continued relevance, legacy and as inspiration to others. Watley is also at the helm of Avid Music Inc. Management and Touring.
Watley’s activism has seen her involved in various causes over the decades promoting empowerment for women, LGBTQ rights and organizations focused on promoting HIV-AIDS Awareness and Prevention. She has served as Governor on the Los Angeles Chapter of The Recording Academy on various advocacy groups impacting change in the legislative realm as well as working with the Grammy U Program.
Her vision-forward marriage in personal branding of couture styles, vintage and black girls outside the box street-wear visuals, her introduction of signature oversized hoop earrings all paired perfectly with her music showing the relationship between high fashion, club culture with breakthrough editorials in Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue Italia including the historic “The Black Issue” has quietly made Jody Watley one of music’s most influential women in music.
Watley has also been featured in various Rolling Stone music and fashion editorials along with various groundbreaking ad campaigns. Saks 5th Avenue featured Jody Watley in an unprecedented 15 pages in their popular fall catalogue. She was also named as one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful issue among a long list of other accomplishments and breakthroughs in the fashion and beauty industry as a solo artist.
The Chicago native’s eclectic repertoire – R&B, hip-hop, House, jazz, pop, drum & bass, ambient, spoken-word – is built on a positive vision and a strong taste for artistic and aesthetic risk. Appointed as the first Ambassador to The National Museum of African American Music in 2021.
Jody Watley is a multi-generational artist with a career filled with ongoing firsts and is cited as an influence and inspiration from young designers (A,Potts, Malan Breton and French shoe designer Jerome Rosseau who named a boot after Watley).
A range of artists including Tionne “T-Boz” from supergirl group TLC and renowned creatives in the art world such as Mickalene Thomas’ (“Better Nights” Art Basel Miami Installation), Cassandra Lane (We Are Bridges) and beyond. Producer Andre Cymone recently noted many female artists have taken notes from Watley.
“Everything I’ve ever done has been to be distinctively Jody Watley,” says the pop icon herself, “from my first solo album through right now. Everything that I will ever do always has to be authentic to me, work that I can always be proud of first and foremost. It’s not so much about, ‘Oh, this is going to be popular,’ or ‘Oh, this is going to be a big hit.’ It’s always been so personal to me, everything that I do. And the fans can feel that. They connect with the honesty.”
Watley’s ongoing musical output and sustained occupational stamina continues to defy the odds and go beyond expectations and narrow boxes often found in the music business.
Jody Watley continues to shine her ‘Wattage’ to illuminate the world.
Visit Jody Watley Music Discography Page for more about her diverse catalog
Watley’s award and nominee tally include, Honorary Doctorate TIUA School of Business, Grammy’s, American Music Awards, MTV Awards (“Real Love” directed by David Fincher remains one of MTV’s Most Nominated of All Time), NAACP Image Award Nominee, Billboard Life Achievement In Dance Music, Ranked as One of Billboards’ Greatest Dance Artists Of All Time in 2016, Black Music Honors Cross Over Music Icon 2017, 2018 Added to Billboard Magazine List of Top 60 Hot 100 Female Artists of All Time and Top 25 Dance Artists of All Time, Vanguard Award LGBTQ MusicFest 2019, Inductee Women Songwriters Hall Of Fame 2022, added at #59 to Billboard Magazine Top 100 Black Solo Artists Of All Time chart rankings.
The Historic The Black Issue, VOGUE Italia 2008
People’s Magazine 50 Most Beautiful
Harper’s Bazaar Magazine America’s 10 Most Beautiful
GAP, first celebrity ad campaign
LA Eyeworks, first celebrity ad campaign
Dance to Fitness, First Number 1 Fitness Video by a woman of color and recording artist
First woman of color to play Rizzo on Broadway in the hit musical GREASE!
SPUR Japan, first woman of color to appear on the cover of a Japanese fashion magazine for the lauch of SPUR.
Fashion layouts include: Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bazaar, Saks Fifth Avenue Fall Catalog.
Jody Watley was a part of the historic Band Aid charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas”
Style Icon Since the 70’s as a teenaged dancer on the iconic TV show Soul Train:
“….with Jody emerging as a late 70’s style icon. She could rock silver shorts and red glitter converse sneakers, vintage 1940’s inspired dresses with pumps or her prom dress. Her hair was an ongoing adventure, sometimes filled with tons of ribbons, sometimes long ponytails, or a 1940’s hairdo..” – Nelson George from his book “The Hippest Trip In America – Soul Train and the evolution of culture and style – Harper Collins Books / William Morrow
One Of The Defining Artists of the 80s
Life Section, (February 16, 1996) Best Bets Jody Watley Greatest Hits – “..who set standards for fashion and music in the late 80’s.” USA Today
Pioneer, Influence and Connection to Hip Hop / R&B / Pop Crossover
Watley’s collaboration ‘Friends’ with Eric B and Rakim was the first to popularize the 16 bar rap solo coupled with Pop/R&B. This formula became a staple in contemporary music: Icons of Hip-Hop Culture: An Enclyclopedia of the Movement, Music, Culture, Vol. 1 2007 Greenwood Press by Mickey Hess ISBN-10: 0313339031
” With a respectful Kangol tip to Chaka Khan and Melle Mel and their Grammy winner ‘I Feel For You’ the successful team up of Eric B and Rakim would make permanent the now formulaic Pop/R&B singer X featuring a rapper X a prerequisite for a Billboard chart topper”. To The Break of Dawn: A Freestyle On The Hip-Hop Aesthetic by William Jelani Cobb, 2007 NYU Press Page 142 ISBN 0814716709, 9780814716700
“Chaka Khan’s 1984 single ‘I Feel For You’ famously included a rap intro from Melle Mel and Jody Watley enlisted the rhyme skills of none other than Rakim for an interlude on 1989’s “Friends”. In short order , the rap bridge became a standard part of the R&B song structure. “The Billboard Book of Number Two Singles Christopher Feldman, Jody Watley ‘Larger Than Life/Real Love” Publisher Watson-Guphill , ISBN 0823076954, 9780823076952000 The track ‘Friends’ was one of the first collaborations with a Pop/R&B singer and a hard-core rapper.
Harpers Bazaar May 1989, Photographed by Francesco Scavullo Pages 126-127 Jody Watley is making a substantial dent in the annals of hot pop history..her smashing good looks and style have not hurt her.. GAP Ad Campaign 1989 Individuals Photographed by Herb Ritts Subsequently released as a part of the GAP: Individuals “Portraits of The GAP Collection” Book Chronicling the ads used over the years. Publisher: Melcher Media 2006 Harpers Bazaar September 1990, “Americas Ten Most Beautiful Women” Issue Photographed by: Matthew Rolston Page 180-183 “The Hot Beauty” Watley is a student of style. She creates her own video concepts and styling .
Jody Watley combines seemingly contradictory elements with ease – the soulful with the mundane, the outrageous with the classic. ” – Anna McDowell People Magazine: America’s 50 Most Beautiful People May 09, 1990 http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20063273,00.html Rolling Stone Fall Fashion: Italian Collection Pages 9-13 Photographed by William Laxton Harpers Bazaar- November 1991, Photographed by Andrea Blanch Pages 142-145 “Irreverent, Irrestible Dance Diva Jody Watley has always brought bravura style and energy to the Pop-Soul party...
Watley’s reputation has rested on a rebellious fashion sense and a taste for uptempo.. “Affairs of The Heart” marks a shift in emphasis..” – Alan Light