Celebrating a milestone 🎶✨
Released March 27, 1989 — the platinum-certified second solo album “Larger Than Life” from Jody Watley.
A defining project of the late ’80s, the album delivered three Billboard Top 10 hits, with Watley contributing once again to the song narratives co-writing 9 of the 10 songs produced by Andre Cymone:
“Real Love” (Gold-certified), also her second R&B #1, “Friends,” and “Everything.”
“Real Love” — directed by Oscar-winner David Fincher— became one of MTV’s most nominated videos, pushing visual storytelling and fashion-forward aesthetics while cementing Watley as a true music and style trailblazer.
The groundbreaking “Friends” featuring Eric B & Rakim helped pioneer the fusion of R&B, hip-hop, pop, and dance (Source: Okayplayer), becoming one of the first crossover collaborations to hit the Top 10 across multiple charts. The video also featured voguing, street dance, with a cast of true New York club kids and sub culture icons such as Connie Fleming. The album also showcased emotional depth with the timeless ballad “Everything.”
Album Cover: Steven Meisel
Art Direction & Design: Lynn Robb | Jody Watley
Recognized among the greatest visuals in music history, Larger Than Life is featured in 1000 Record Covers by Taschen.
Stream Larger Than Life and explore the ongoing music discography of Jody Watley across your favorite digital platforms.
About the Artist:
Jody Watley is a GRAMMY® Award–winning Best New Artist and 3x nominee, multi-platinum singer, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur, and style icon.
Renowned as one of the most defining female artists of the 80s and 90s with Top 10 hits including the iconic “Looking for a New Love,” “Don’t You Want Me,” “Friends” ft. Eric B. & Rakim, and the gold-certified “Real Love,” she has built a genre-spanning, critically acclaimed catalog across R&B, Pop, Dance, Jazz, Electronica, 80s, 90s, 2000s-Present including 2025’s #1 iTunes Dance Electronic Album “Let’s Dance Vol.1”
To date she has 6 Hot 100 Top 10 Singles, 13 Number 1 Dance Singles, 2 Number 1 R&B Singles, 15 Top 40 Singles, 3 Number 1 Dance Electronic Albums in the 2000s, numerous UK Soul Chart Top 5 singles in her ongoing independently released music.
An award-winning songwriter (BMI Medal of Honor, Women’s Songwriters Hall of Fame), Watley is ranked by Billboard among the Top 25 Dance Artists of All Time and Top 65 Hot 100 Female Artists of All Time. Her honors include Black Music Honors Crossover Icon and the 2022 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award + more. A former member of the group Shalamar (1977-1983), Jody Watley was a part of the Band Aid #1 UK charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas.
She was the first artist to brand herself and release a #1 Fitness Video to her music, in 1989, the first artist and black woman to appear on the cover of a Japanese fashion magazine, with the launch of SPUR that same year.
Celebrated as a fashion and cultural trailblazer, Watley has features in GAP, VOGUE, Harper’s Bazaar, Rolling Stone, People Magazine (Most Beautiful Issue) and more.
A pioneer at the intersection of music and style. Her multi-decade, multi-generational career continues to evolve since her early Pop R&B era with MCA (1986-1994) through progressing into her independent label Avitone era 1995 into the present.