6.29.09 - Check out
Public Broadcasting's feature on Vanessa!
6.22.09 - Check out Vanessa's exclusive interview with The Associated Press at
The Reading Eagle!
6.17.09 - Don't forget to tune in to A&E on June 21 to watch Vanessa's never-before-seen performance for
A&E's Private Sessions!
6.07.09 - Hey there!
I've been running like crazy promoting The Real Thing. Thanks so much for passing the word along! My favorite video we did was Close To You. We may also do a live version video of The Real Thing because it rocks!
The LIFEbeat listening party was packed and we performed five songs live! Lady Bunny and even Randy the Cowboy from The Village People showed up! Check out the party pics I posted for you in the Events section of my
photo gallery!
Thank you for all your support! I won't be in L.A. 'til I perform for Wavefest in September at The Greek. So come see us!
Love,
V.
6.01.09 - June is a major month for Vanessa and she wants you to be part of all her exciting events surrounding the release of her new album,
The Real Thing! Tomorrow, June 2, be sure to catch her on
Good Morning America,
Entertainment Tonight and
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon! If you're in the New York City area, meet Vanessa for an exclusive album release signing at 7pm at
Borders Columbus Circle!
On Wednesday, June 3rd, catch Vanessa in the morning on ABC's
The View and meet her later that afternoon at 6pm at
J&R Park Row for their special album release signing! And, join Vanessa later that night at her private New York City album release celebration sponsored by
LIFEbeat! Details can be found by clicking
here!
Be sure to pick up the June 15, 2009 issue of
People magazine, on newsstands June 7, for their exclusive At Home feature on Vanessa!
Last, don't forget to tune in or set your DVRs for her other new upcoming TV appearances, including:
-
Entertainment Tonight - June 7 (rebroadcast of June 2 episode with extended footage*) on CBS
-
Logo's New Now Next Awards - June 13 at 9pm
-
A&E's Private Sessions - June 21 at 9am EST
5.30.09 - Don't forget to watch Vanessa celebrate the release of The Real Thing with new appearances on Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on June 2nd! Then catch her again on The View June 3rd!
5.29.09 - People magazine has moved their exclusive At Home feature on Vanessa to its June 15, 2009 issue and, therefore, will be on newsstands next week! In the meantime, check out their review of The Real Thing in their June 8 issue on newsstands now!
5.28.09 - LIFEbeat and Vanessa invite you to her exclusive NYC album release party on June 3rd! Tickets are limited and details can be found
here!
5.27.09 - Vanessa's Los Angeles album signing for June 10th at Borders has been CANCELLED! Should the event be rescheduled, details can be found at vanessawilliams.com! We are sorry for the disappointment!
5.26.09 - Check out Vanessa's exclusive interview with
Out.com!> And, be sure to pick up the June 15, 2009 issue of People magazine next week to read Vanessa's exclusive At Home feature!
5.18.09 - Check out ExpressSuccessCampaign.com to learn about the new charitable, not-for-profit education campaign Dress for Success, spearheaded by Vanessa, honoring and helping disadvantaged women succeed in the workforce. Watch Vanessa's exclusive campaign video
here!
5.15.09 - Be sure to tune in to the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on August 30th on the CW Network as Vanessa's been nominated in the category of Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for her role as the voice of Mama Mirabelle in
National Geographic's Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies! The series is also nominated for Outstanding Preschool Television Series AND Vanessa will also host the star-studded event from The Historic Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles!
5.14.09 - Check out my brand new video
Just Friends exclusively at
AOL Music!
And come meet me for an album signing release Tuesday, June 2nd at 7pm at Borders (Columbus Circle) in New York and Wednesday, June 3rd at 6pm at J&R (23 Park Row) in New York!
5.8.09 - Be sure to check out the new album cover for The Real Thing on VanessaWilliams.com! Pre-order your copy of the new album and watch the exclusive video clip for Breathless only at Amazon.com!
5.5.09 - Jersey Area Fans: Don't miss the exclusive opportunity to watch Vanessa perform new songs from her forthcoming album THIS WEEKEND at Atlantic City's Tropicana Showroom! Get your
tickets now!
4.30.09 - Watch Vanessa's exclusive Ugly Betty feature at
ET Online!
4.17.09 - Check out the brief article about my new album at
KBS Radio!
4.15.09 - Vanessa will perform at
Point Foundation’s Annual New York Benefit honoring Ugly Betty Creator Silvio Horta! Joining her at the April 27 ceremony are America Ferrera, Mark Indelicato, Ana Ortiz, Tony Plana, Michael Urie, West Side Story stars Matthew Cavenaugh & Josephina Scaglione, Susan Lucci and many others. Point Foundation is the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students of merit.
4.13.09 - Vanessa will share the stage with Natasha Bedingfield, Barry Manilow, and the cast of Sesame Street at this year's 29th Annual Independence Day Celebration -
A Capitol Fourth! Celebrate America's Independence with Vanessa if you're in the DC Area!
4.10.09 - Be sure to catch Vanessa in Walt Disney Pictures'
Hannah Montana The Movie in theaters today!
4.08.09 - Watch Vanessa on
The Tyra Banks Show this Friday, April 10, with the cast of Hannah Montana The Movie!
4.04.09 - Check out the
LA Times article about Hannah Montana The Movie with exclusive quotes from Vanessa!
4.03.09 - Be sure to watch Vanessa on Good Morning America this Monday, April 6th!
3.29.09 - Be sure to check out O Magazine's April 2009 issue for its one-page feature on Vanessa!
3.14.09 - Check out the brief article
USA Today posted about Vanessa!
3.04.09 - Vanessa will celebrate the release of her new album,
The Real Thing, in Atlantic City, NJ at the Tropicana Showroom May 8th and 9th! Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 6, at
Tropicana's Box Office and
Ticketmaster. Be sure to get your ticket to take part in a night full of classic hits and exclusive performances!
2.20.09 - Vanessa's new album has been completed! Titled The Real Thing, the album is full of brand new recordings and will be available for purchase June 2nd! Check in with vanessawilliams.com for the latest album news and information, including track listing, song snippets, photographs, videos and concert dates!
2.5.09 - Vanessa is among the many celebrities who've donated unique autographed items for a fundraiser benefitting project Philly Earthship. The fundraiser will take place March 2 in Philadelphia. For more information, go to philly.earthship.net.
1.30.09 - Vanessa will join other celebrities, Olympic and professional athletes, and senior government leaders in Idaho from February 7 – 13 to attend the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Many of the guests will participate in the opening and closing ceremonies, Global Youth Rally and other events that week, helping cheer on the nearly 2,500 athletes from more than 100 countries competing in the games. For more information, go to 2009worldgames.org.
1.18.09 - Vanessa will be appear on Extra with Rick Fox Monday and Tuesday for their exclusive inauguration coverage. Be sure to check your local listings for time and channel and tune in!
1.9.09 - Mark your calendars! Hannah Montana: The Movie will hit US theaters April 10, 2009. Walt Disney Pictures turns the Disney Channel hit into a feature film extravaganza. Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus) juggles school, friends and her secret pop-star persona. When Hannah Montana’s soaring popularity threatens to take over her life - she just might let it! Vanessa joins the cast as Hannah's pushy publicist.
1.7.09 - NAACP has nominated Vanessa for Best Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series for her role as Wilhelmina Slater on ABC's Ugly Betty. The 40th Annual NAACP Image Awards will air live February 12, 2009 from Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium at 8pm on Fox!
1.3.09 - Be sure to tune in to ABC Thursday at 8/7 central for a brand new episode of
Ugly Betty!
12.2.08 - Vanessa and her son Devin signed the Allstate Parent-Teen Driving Contract today, publicly launching Allstate’s national Home for the Holidays teen safe driving campaign. “As a mother of two older daughters, I’ve given them the car keys and worried whether they would make it home safe. The fact is that our teens are more likely to die in a car crash than from anything else, so having the safe driving talk with your teen is just as important as talking about drugs and sex,” Vanessa said. “As the holidays arrive, parents and teens should use the Allstate Parent-Teen Driving Contract as way to begin a conversation that can be a gift of life.” Listen to Vanessa's audio clip
here. Vanessa will also shoot an Allstate commercial for TV with her son this month to coincide with the campaign.
Vanessa Williams is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in entertainment today. She has conquered the musical charts, Broadway, music videos, television and motion pictures. She has sold over four million albums worldwide and her skills as an actress on stage, in film and on television have earned praise from the most seasoned of critics.
Performing – and music in particular – has always played an important role in Vanessa’s life. Born in Millwood, New York, Vanessa’s early years were spent surrounded by music. Her parents were music teachers who recognized her musical gifts early on and encouraged her to pursue her love of the arts. When she was young, she acted, danced, played piano and French horn in her high school orchestra, concert band and marching band and she sang in the concert choir and chorus. Her early interest in performing led to a passion for musical theatre. She won an NFAA scholarship was a finalist for a Presidential Scholarship in acting in 1981 and chose to continue her education at Syracuse University, where she majored in musical theatre. While at college in 1983, Vanessa was sought after by local talent scouts who invited her to participate in the Miss Greater Syracuse Pageant. Three months later, Vanessa won the 1983 Miss America title and the $30,000 scholarship that accompanied it. The controversy that followed only left Vanessa stronger and more empowered in her commitment to a career in the world of entertainment.
Vanessa launched her recording career in 1988 with her first album, “The Right Stuff,” which went gold and earned her first three Grammy Award nominations. Her 1991 multi-million selling follow-up, “The Comfort Zone,” which featured the unforgettable “Save the Best For Last,” and her third album, “The Sweetest Days,” each yielded multiple hits and Grammy nominations. She was nominated for yet another Grammy for her hit single “Colors of the Wind,” from Disney’s “Pocahontas,” which went on to win an Academy Award, Golden Globe and the Grammy for Best Song in a Motion Picture. Her numerous recordings also include two holiday-themed albums, “Star Bright” and “Silver & Gold;” “Vanessa Williams Greatest Hits: The First Ten Years;” “Our Favorite Things,” with Tony Bennett, Placido Domingo and Charlotte Church and “Everlasting Love,” a romantic collection of her favorite love songs from the 1970’s.
In 1994, Vanessa realized a life-long dream, taking Broadway by storm when she replaced Chita Rivera in “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Her performance won critics over and was a box-office sensation, firmly establishing Vanessa as a multi-talented triple-threat. Vanessa also garnered rave reviews and was nominated for a Tony Award in the 2002 revival of Stephen “Into the Woods,” taking a brief break from the production to headline a limited special engagement of the classic, “Carmen Jones,” at the Kennedy Center, playing to sold-out houses and achieving glowing notices. Previously, Vanessa captivated theatre-goers off-Broadway in “One Man Band” and in the Los Angeles production of Ron Milner’s “Checkmates.” She also starred in the Encore! Series staged concert production of “St. Louis Woman,” which was also released as a cast recording.
Vanessa made her film debut in 1986 in “Under the Gun” and she appeared in the films “The Pick-Up Artist,” “Another You” (with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder) and “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man” (with Mickey Rourke). She starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Warner Bros.’ action thriller, “Eraser,” followed by a leading role opposite Laurence Fishburne and Andy Garcia in “Hoodlum” and an NAACP Image Award winning performance with the box-office hit, “Soul Food.” She has starred in the romantic dance-musical “Dance With Me,” “Light It Up,” “The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland” and “Shaft,” opposite Samuel L. Jackson. She recently starred in the independent features, “My Brother” and “And Then Came Love,” and co-starred in “Johnson Family Vacation” with Cedric the Entertainer and Steve Harvey.
Vanessa has also played diverse roles on television, in such productions as “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “The Boy Who Loved Christmas” and “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” for which she won an NAACP Image Award. She commanded rave reviews for her performance in ABC’s revival of “Bye, Bye Birdie” and starred in the mini-series “Nothing Lasts Forever” and the Emmy-nominated “The Odyssey,” which also garnered impressive ratings and an Image Award nomination for Vanessa. Vanessa starred opposite John Lithgow in TNT’s “Don Quixote” and she executive produced and starred in “The Courage to Love” for Lifetime Television. She starred in the VH1 Original Movie, “A Diva’s Christmas Carol,” which was the highest rated movie ever for VH1, their second highest rated telecast overall of in 2000 and their fourth highest rated telecast of all time. She co-starred in the Showtime movie “Keep the Faith, Baby”and the UPN drama, “South Beach.” She currently stars on ABC’s new hit series, “Ugly Betty,” which won the Golden Globe Award for Best TV Series, Comedy.
Among Vanessa’s many awards and honors, she was nominated for an Emmy in 2007 for her role of Wilhelmina Slater on ABC's TV series Ugly Betty. That same year she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1996, she received the coveted Lena Horne Career Achievement Award at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. Vanessa’s charitable contributions are many and varied, embracing and supporting such issues as education, homelessness, abuse, women’s issues and health concerns, AIDS and anything having to do with children. Specifically, she is actively involved with such organizations as Green Chimneys, a working farm in Westchester County that provides educational and residential programs to help troubled inner-city adolescents; The Open Door, which provides walk-in medical care for homeless families; The Cottage School for displaced young women and the Special Olympics, among many others.
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