Karyn White

Karyn White
Background information
Birth name Karyn Layvonne White
Born (1965-10-14) October 14, 1965
Origin Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres R&B, soul, new jack swing
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter
Years active 1985–2007
2012–present
Labels Warner Bros. (1986–1999)
KW Entertainment (2011–)
Associated acts Michel'le, Jeff Lorber, Michael Jeffries, Bobby Brown, Jody Watley, Cherelle, Tevin Campbell, Babyface, Johnny Gill

Karyn Layvonne White (born October 14, 1965) is an American singer who was popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s. She is known for several hit singles including "Superwoman" (1988), "Secret Rendezvous" (1989), "The Way You Love Me" (1988), and the US Hot 100 number one single "Romantic" (1991).

Early life

White was born in Los Angeles to Vivian and Clarence White. She is the youngest of five children. She sang in a church choir and worked as a backing singer, then sang on Jeff Lorber's 1986 "Private Passion" single "Facts of Love", "True Confessions" and "Back in Love" before signing to Warner Bros. Records.

Career

White's self-titled debut album Karyn White was released in 1988. It was produced by L.A. Reid and Babyface and achieved platinum status in the US. The album contained the Hot 100 hit singles "The Way You Love Me", "Secret Rendezvous", and "Superwoman" as well as the #1 R&B hit "Love Saw It", a duet with Babyface. White was nominated in the Best R&B/Urban Contemporary New Artist category for the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards which was won by Al B. Sure. She was also received nominations for two Grammy Awards. She became the first female artist to have the first three solo releases from their debut album hit #1 on the R&B charts.

Her follow-up album was Ritual of Love in 1991. It had songs produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and featured the hit single "Romantic", which hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Other singles from the album include "The Way I Feel About You" (U.S. #12), "Walkin' the Dog," and "Do Unto Me" (the last two did not chart). The photographer and director Matthew Rolston directed the video for the hit single "Romantic". Michael Walls, who was credited as stylist on Ritual of Love, worked with White on the look for the Ritual of Love album sleeve, and three of the music videos released for the album. Walls had the idea for the Chanel inspired pearls and black dress used on the album cover, the french maid look and multiple wardrobe changes for video of "The Way I Feel About You", and the "Walkin' the Dog" video, which was based on a scene from the film Sweet Charity.

Her next album was Make Him Do Right in 1994. The album did not sell well, although she did chart with the singles "Hungah" and the Babyface-penned "Can I Stay With You", which became her final U.S. R&B Top 10 hit in early 1995. "I'd Rather Be Alone", her last chart single to date, peaked at #50 on the same chart later that year.

White left Warner Bros. Records in 1999, and dropped out of the music public eye for many years to start a family.

In 2006, she recorded a new album, titled Sista Sista; which was slated for release in 2006, but was shelved. Two tracks, "All I Do" and "Disconnected", were later released on the best of compilation album, Superwoman: The Best of Karyn White. She was also slated to appear on the Soul Train Music Awards in 2009 as a tribute to Babyface Edmonds. However, this performance was canceled when Edmonds and Reid withdrew from the Soul Train ceremony, declining the honor. In 2011, she was slated to have shot a pilot for a reality series with R&B singers Shanice and Debelah Morgan.

White released her first album after a seventeen-year break, Carpe Diem, in March 2012.[1] The album featured the singles "Sista, Sista" and "Unbreakable" both of which received music videos.

In 2017, White landed a recurring role on the BET Centric television series "Beauty and the Baller" as trophy wife Kym Banks.[2][3] She also returned with new music and her first feature film role, in Gale and the Storm directed by Derrick Muhammad.[4] The soundtrack for the film was released on September 4 and included her latest single "Blind Man Walking."[5][6] The film made its premiere on October 12, 2017.

She earned a 2017 UB Honors nomination for Gale and the Storm soundtrack in the "Best Independent R&B Album Release" category.[7]

In July 2018, Karyn White released her single "Lame Excuses".

Personal life

White married Terry Lewis in 1992 and together they had a daughter, Ashley Nicole (currently a reporter at WTVR in Richmond, Virginia) and adopted son Brandon. Lewis brought to the marriage children Trey and Chloe.[8] They eventually divorced in 1999, and she later married producer/musician Bobby G.

White resides in Rocklin, California, a suburb of Sacramento, and runs a successful interior design and real estate business.[9]

Film

White starred in the feature film Gale & The Storm Directed by Derrick Muhammad released in 2017.[10][11]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold)
US
[12]		 US
R&B
[12]		 CAN
[13]		 JPN
[14]		 NLD
[15]		 UK
[16]
1988 Karyn White 19 1 20 — — 20
1991 Ritual of Love
  • Release Date: September 10, 1991
  • Label: Warner Bros.
 53 7 — 18 62 31
1994 Make Him Do Right
  • Release Date: September 27, 1994
  • Label: Warner Bros.
 99 22 — 17 — —
2012 Carpe Diem
  • Release Date: March 24, 2012
  • Label: KW Enterprise / Lightyear
 — — — — — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

Year Album details Peak positions
JPN
[14]
1995 Sweet & Sensual
  • Release Date: April 10, 1995
  • Label: WEA Japan
 29
2007 Superwoman: The Best of Karyn White —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
US
[19]		 US
R&B
[19]		 US
Dan
[19]		 US
A/C
[19]		 AUS
[20]		 CAN
[13]		 IRE
[21]		 NLD
[15]		 NZ
[22]		 UK
[16]
1988 "The Way You Love Me" 7 1 5 38 — — — 22 48 42 Karyn White
"Superwoman" 8 1 — 12 — 16 20 — — 11
1989 "Love Saw It" (with Babyface) — 1 — — — — — — — —
"Secret Rendezvous" 6 4 1 — — 14 — 83 — 52
"Slow Down" — 36 — — — — — — — —
"Secret Rendezvous" (re-release) — — — — — — — — — 22
"The Way You Love Me" (re-release) — — — — — — — — — 82
1991 "Romantic" 1 1 6 37 50 16 29 52 — 23 Ritual of Love
"The Way I Feel About You" 12 5 — 35 — 13 — — 47 65
1992 "Walkin' the Dog" — 34 — — — — — — — —
"Do Unto Me" — 24 — — — — — — — —
1994 "Hungah" 78 18 10 — — — — — — 69 Make Him Do Right
"Can I Stay with You" 81 10 — — — — — — 34 —
1995 "I'd Rather Be Alone" 120 50 — — — — — — — —
2012 "Sista, Sista" — — — — — — — — — — Carpe Diem
"Unbreakable" — — — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Year Title Artist Peak chart positions Album
US
[19]		 US
R&B
[19]		 US
Dan
[19]		 UK
[16]
1986 "Facts of Love" Jeff Lorber 27 17 9 95 Private Passion
"Back in Love" Jeff Lorber w/
Michael Jeffries		 — — — —
1987 "True Confessions" Jeff Lorber — 88 — —
"We Never Called It Love" Pauli Carman — — — — It's TIme
1989 "Not Thru Being with You" Michael Jeffries — 32 — 99 Michael Jeffries
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Music videos

Song Year Director
"Superwoman" 1989 N/A
"Secret Rendezous" Paul Hunter
"Romantic" 1991 Matthew Rolston
"Walkin' The Dog" 1992 Julien Temple
"Sista Sista" 2012 Gregory Everett
"Unbreakable" Markeda Shorter

Awards and nominations

YearAward
1989American Music Award nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
1989Soul Train Music Award nomination for Best New Artist, Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Single, Female and Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Album, Female
1989Billboard Music Award win for No. 1 R&B Single of the Year ("Superwoman")[23]
1989Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("The Way You Love Me").
1990Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("Superwoman")
1990American Music Award nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B Album (Karyn White)[24]
2017UB Honors nomination for Best Independent R&B Album Release (Gale and the Storm - Soundtrack)

See also

References

  1. ↑ kiera ·. "The Return of Karyn White". Soul Train. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  2. ↑ http://www.abnewswire.com/pressreleases/legendary-songstress-karyn-white-makes-debut-in-new-sitcom-beauty-and-the-baller-premiering-on-bet-centric_130038.html
  3. ↑ https://www.soultracks.com/first-listen-karyn-white-blind-man-walking
  4. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6461088/
  5. ↑ http://urbanbridgez.com/ubgblog/2017/08/02/karyn-white-to-release-new-album-film-gale-the-storm-streamnow/
  6. ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Man-Walking-Gale-Storm/dp/B07645ZCWS/
  7. ↑ http://urbanbridgez.com/ubgblog/2017/11/18/vote-ubhonors-2017/
  8. ↑ http://www.tvoneonline.com/shows/life_after/life-after-stars/karyn-white-.html
  9. ↑ Superwoman: The Best Of liner notes
  10. ↑ "Karyn White To Debut Film & Music". sacobserver.com. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  11. ↑ Muhammad, Derrick (2017), Gale and the Storm, Karyn White, Damien Lewis, Anthony M. Bertram, retrieved 2017-11-09
  12. 1 2 "US Albums Charts > Karyn White". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  13. 1 2 "CAN Charts > Karyn White". RPM. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  14. 1 2 "JPN Charts > Karyn White". Oricon. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  15. 1 2 "NLD Charts > Karyn White". MegaCharts. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  16. 1 2 3 "UK Charts > Karyn White". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  17. 1 2 "UK Charts > Karyn White". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  18. ↑ "UK Certified Awards Search > Karyn White". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "US Singles Charts > Karyn White". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  20. ↑ David Kent (1993). Australian Charts Book 1970—1992. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  21. ↑ "IRE Charts Search > Karyn White". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  22. ↑ "NZ Charts > Karyn White". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  23. ↑ "Information Not Found". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  24. ↑ Archived September 5, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
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