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| Early life and career beginnings | 3>
SWV (an abbreviation for Sisters With Voices) was formed by three friends: Cheryl Gamble, Tamara Johnson and Leanne Lyons (the group's founder).[3] SWV got its start after the three friends sent a five song demo to record labels in the United States. Soon after, they were signed to a record deal with RCA Records in 1992 after producer Teddy Riley, a former member of Guy, heard the demo.
[edit] | Tags:New York City,New York,United States,Genres,R&b,Labels,Rca,Mass Appeal Entertainment,E1 Music,Teddy Riley,Cheryl Coko Clemons,Tamara Taj Johnson-george,American,Gospel,Weak,Right Here/human Nature,I'm So Into You,Edit,Cheryl Gamble,Tamara Johnson,Rca Records,Guy,1992 In Music,Triple Platinum,Riaa,Michael Jackson,The Remixes,Blackstreet,New Beginning,You're The One,Hot 100,Hot R&b Singles,The Neptunes,Waiting To Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album,E-40,P. Diddy,Missy Elliott,Foxy Brown,Lil' Cease,Lil' Kim,Snoop Doggy Dogg,Redman,Jaco Pastorius,Portrait Of Tracy,Soundtrack For,Jamie Foxx,The Notorious B.i.g,Les Mccann,Coko,Israel And New Breed,Tears In Heaven,Eric Clapton,Jennifer Holliday,Patti Labelle,Tramaine Hawkins,The Clark Sisters,Faith Evans,Fantasia Barrino,Lil Mo,Bet,Wal-mart,The Vagina Monologues,Sherri Shepherd,Star Jones,Vanessa L. Williams,Ford Modeling Agency,Eddie George,Belmont University,After 7,Bobby Brown,New Edition,Tv One,Bet Awards,Alicia Keys,Virginia Beach,Atlanta,Nashville,Survivor: Tocantins,James J.t. Thomas, Jr.,Vagina Monologues,The Mo'nique Show,Patti Labelle's,If Only You Knew,She Ain't You,Co-sign,I Missed Us, 1992–95: | 3>
It's About Time is the debut studio album by American female R&B trio SWV, released by RCA Records on October 27, 1992 (see 1992 in music). It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for more than three million copies shipped to store.[4] SWV's first single, "Right Here", was released in the fall of 1992, reaching #16 on the R&B charts. Their second single, "I'm So Into You," peaked at #2 on R&B and reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The third single, "Weak", reached #1 on both the R&B and Hot 100 charts. "Right Here/Human Nature," the fourth single and a remix of their first single, "Right Here", featured samples of Michael Jackson's hit "Human Nature." "Right Here/Human Nature" peaked at #1 on R&B and #2 on the Hot 100. It was followed up with the additional Top10 R&B hits, "Downtown" (#2), and "Always On My Mind" (#8).[4][5] The album peak at 8 on the US Billboard 200.
Following the success of their first album, SWV appeared on the soundtrack for the 1994 film Above the Rim. The single, "Anything", became a Top Ten R&B hit and reached #18 on the Hot 100 in the spring of 1994. That same year, SWV released The Remixes, which went gold by the end of the year. In the summer of 1995, the trio lent vocal harmonies to Blackstreet's Top 40 R&B hit "Tonight's the Night."
[edit] | Tags: 1996–97: | 3>
New Beginning is the second album from R&B group SWV. The first single, "You're the One", became one of their signature songs peaking at number five on Billboard's Hot 100 and topped the Hot R&B Singles. The second single, "Use Your Heart", saw the debut of the super producers The Neptunes. This song peaked at twenty-two on the Hot 100 and number six on the R&B chart. The last single, "It's All About U", found Taj taking most of the lead as opposed to Coko. The album was certified platinum for shipping 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone.[6] Also, in 1995 SWV appeared on the Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album, recording the track, "All Night Long".
Release Some Tension is SWV's third album. Guest appearances are made by E-40, P. Diddy, Missy Elliott, Foxy Brown, Lil' Cease, Lil' Kim, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Redman. The album features hits like "Rain" (which samples Jaco Pastorius's classic "Portrait of Tracy"), "Someone", "Can We" (which was originally included on the soundtrack for the Jamie Foxx film Booty Call), and canceled single "Lose My Cool". "Someone", although featuring one of the biggest producers/artists of the year, Puff Daddy, only reached #19 on the Billboard charts which sampled The Notorious B.I.G's "Ten Crack Commandment's & Les McCann's "Valantra" also the flowing "When U Cry" sampling Tyrone Davis "In The Mood". The album was certified gold for shipping 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone. RIAA Database A few months later A Special Christmas was released in the United States on November 18, 1997 by RCA Records. It is a holiday album featuring both cover versions and original material. A Special Christmas would be the penultimate album the trio recorded together before they disbanded in 1998. Coko, the group's lead singer, released her first solo album in 1999.
[edit] | Tags: 1998–2007: Hiatus and reuniting of SWV | 3>
The group split in 1998. The members began leading their own careers. After SWV disbanded, Coko went on to release her first solo album under RCA, titled Hot Coko, released August 1999. The first single, "Sunshine," which was dedicated to her son Jazz, reached the Top 40 position in the R&B charts that summer. However, both the album and singles did not gather the same mainstream success as Coko once did with SWV. Meanwhile, Coko was working on a second solo album titled Music Doll in early 2001, but RCA closed the black music division and the project was shelved. Since then, she has concentrated more on her family, and eventually married gospel producer and drummer for Israel and New Breed, Mike "Big Mike" Clemmons, the father of her second son, Jaylon. She currently resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia.[citation needed] In 2001, Coko and her Mother Lady "Clyde" Tibba Gamble did a remake of the song "Tears in Heaven" (originally recorded by Eric Clapton) on the album Rhythm and Spirit: "Love Can Build a Bridge". The album featured other artists such as Jennifer Holliday, Patti Labelle, and Tramaine Hawkins. Clemons sang on the Brent Jones & TP Mobb single "Midnite" in 2002. She also appeared on Youthful Praise's 2003 gospel album Thank You for the Change singing lead on "Up There".
Coko's full gospel solo debut, Grateful, was released in the United States on October 31, 2006[7] and debuted at #5 on Billboard's Top Independent albums chart.[8] Grateful includes an all-star cover of The Clark Sisters' "Endow Me" which features R&B singers Faith Evans, Fantasia Barrino and Lil Mo.[9] An alternate version, minus Faith Evans was performed on BET's Celebration of Gospel '07. A special edition of Grateful only available through Wal-Mart includes two bonus tracks "I Wish" and Brent Jones' "Midnite" featuring Coko on lead vocals.
Coko was reported to have joined an all-black touring cast performing the critically acclaimed play The Vagina Monologues, along with Sherri Shepherd, Star Jones, Vanessa L. Williams, and others.[10] In June 2008, Coko performed in Japan for the Billboard Live Tour. She sang some of her solo hits "Sunshine", "Clap Your Hands", and the SWV song "Right Here/Human Nature".
After SWV officially disbanded in 1997, Johnson-George was signed to a two-year contract with the Ford Modeling Agency. Shortly after this contract ended, Johnson-George began dating Tennessee Titan Eddie George, whom she'd met at a shopping mall in 1994.[11] Johnson-George contributed to the anthology Souls of My Sisters: Black Women Break Their Silence, Tell Their Stories and Heal Their Spirits, which was published in 2000. In 2002, Johnson-George enrolled in Belmont University in Nashville, earning a Bachelor's of Business Administration in May 2004.[12] The following month, Johnson-George married Eddie George in Rockleigh, New Jersey. Their son, Eriq Michael, was born in 2005[13] after a difficult pregnancy that left Johnson-George bedridden for the first five months of her pregnancy.[14] Johnson-George is also the stepmother of Eddie's first son, Jaire David, whom she refers to as her oldest son,[15] and the godmother of Coko's oldest son, Jazz.[16] Along with her friend Katrina Chambers, Johnson-George wrote the book Player hateHER: How to Avoid the Beat Down and Live in a Drama-Free World in 2007. That same year, Johnson-George and husband Eddie George starred in the reality TV show I Married a Baller, which depicted five weeks in the George household over a course of nine shows. The show focused on Johnson-George and her marriage to Eddie George, her struggle to lose her "baby weight,"[17] and performing with SWV, who came together to perform the theme song of the show. Baller also highlighted Visions with Infinite Possibilities, the Georges' not-for-profit charity for survivors of domestic violence and their children.
In 2005, SWV reunited and announced plans to record a new album the following year[4] (the album has not materialized). In 2007, the group performed dates with After 7, Bobby Brown, New Edition, and Blackstreet.[18] In 2007, Johnson-George appeared in the TV One reality series I Married a Baller which documented her life with husband Eddie George, former NFL player and present Nashville entrepreneur.[19] SWV members Coko and Lelee (who sing the theme song along with Taj) appear in a couple of the show's episodes. On June 24, 2008, SWV made a special appearance at the BET Awards of 2008, performing "Weak" with Alicia Keys. Coko currently resides in Virginia Beach, Lelee in Atlanta and Taj in Nashville.[citation needed]. Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George was a contestant on Survivor: Tocantins, in which she came in fourth place. She was blindsided by her former alliance of James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. and Stephen Fishbach. She became the sixth Jury Member.[20] She participated in a 2009 national tour of the Vagina Monologues with an all-black cast, most of whom are also former reality show contestants.[21] SWV appeared on The Mo'Nique Show on February 2, 2010, performing Patti LaBelle's "If Only You Knew". Lelee and Coko provided the lead vocals.
[edit] | Tags: 2011-present: | 3>
As of 2011 SWV has recently signed a record deal with Mass Appeal Entertainment and E1 Entertainment. On June 10, 2011, SWV was featured on the official remix of Chris Brown's remake of their Right Here/Human Nature song, "She Ain't You". SWV released their first single "Co-Sign" [22] on December 15, 2011 via iTunes[23] I Missed Us off their fourth studio album is now set to be released on April 17, 2012 via eOne Music and Mass Appeal Entertainment [24]
According to VH-1's 100 Greatest: Women in Music, SWV was ranked #88. Billboard named SWV the #7 R&B Act and the #2 Top Selling/Airplay R&B Female Group of the 1990s.
The track listing for SWV's I Missed Us was released on Amazon.com.[25]
SWV appeared on the television talk show The Wendy Williams Show on April 17, 2012 to promote the release of I Missed Us and to perform the hit song "Co-Sign". As of April 17, 2012, SWV has the #1 R&B album on iTunes. Their next single to be released from I Missed Us is "All About You".
[edit] | Tags: Personnel | 2>
Cheryl "Coko" Clemons - (born June 13, 1970), New York, New York
Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George - (born April 29, 1971), Brooklyn, New York
Leanne "Lelee" Lyons - (born July 17, 1973), New York, New York
[edit] | Tags: Studio albums | 3>
1992: It's About Time
1996: New Beginning
1997: Release Some Tension
1997: A Special Christmas
2012: I Missed Us
[edit] | Tags: Compilation albums | 3>
1999: Greatest Hits (RCA)
1999: Greatest Hits (Simitar)
2001: Best of SWV
2003: Platinum & Gold Collection
2004: The Encore Collection
[edit] | Tags: Tours | 2>
Weak (1993, UK)
SWV World Tour (1996, USA, Europe, South Africa, Asia, New Zealand)
Sistaz Only (1997)
Release The Tension (1997, USA)
New Jack Swing Tour (2005, USA, Canada)
Billboard Live Tour (June 16–21, 2008 Japan)
Billboard Live Tour (January 12–13, 2009 Japan)
SWV and Faith Evans (December 5–10, 2010 United Kingdom)
[edit] | Tags: Opening acts | 3>
SWV featured a number of successful female groups as opening acts throughout their various touring engagements. Those groups included such contemporaries as Xscape, Jade, Total, 702, and Destiny's Child.[citation needed]
[edit] | Tags: Awards and nominations | 2>
Year
Result
Award
Category
1993
Nominated
American Music Award
Favorite New Artist - Pop/Rock
1993
Nominated
Favorite Band, Duo or Group - Soul/Rhythm & Blues
1993
Nominated
Favorite Album - Soul/Rhythm & Blues for It's About Time
1993
Nominated
Favorite New Artist - Soul / Rhythm & Blues
1993
Win
Kids Choice Awards
Female Group Of The Decade
1993
Win
Billboard Music Award
Top Hot 100 Singles Artists - Duos/Group
1993
Win
Top R&B Artists - Duos/Group
1993
Win
Top R&B Singles Artists - Duos/Group
1993
Win
Top Pop Artists - Duo/Group
1993
Win
Top New Pop Artist
1993
Win
Top Hot 100 Singles Artist
1993
Win
Top Hot 100 Airplay Track for "Weak"
1993
Win
Top R&B Artist
1993
Nominated
Top New R&B Artist
1993
Nominated
Top R&B Album Artists - Duos/Group
1993
Nominated
Top R&B Singles Artist
1994
Nominated
Top R&B Singles Artists - Duos/Group
1994
Nominated
Top R&B Artists - Duos/Group
1997
Nominated
Soul Train Lady of Soul Award
Best R&B Soul single by a Group, Band, or Duo
1997
Nominated
Soul Train Lady of Soul Award
Best Soul/R&B album by a Group, Band or Duo
1998
Nominated
Soul Train Lady of Soul Award
Best Soul/R&B album by a Group, Band or Duo
1998
Nominated
Soul Train Lady of Soul Award
Best Soul/R&B single by a Group, Band or Duo
1994
Nominated
Grammy Award
Best New Artist
[edit] | Tags: See also | 2>
Book: SWV
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.
List of best selling music artists
Top Heatseekers
List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (United States)
List of performers on Top of the Pops
Girl Group
[edit] | Tags: References | 2>
^ SWV Online
^ "Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years: 51–100". Rockonthenet.com. http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2004/toppop2.htm.
^ "All about Leanne "Lelee" Lyons". http://www.swvonline.com/lelee.htm. "With her love for singing, and sparse support from her family as motivation, Lelee's desires to put together a group were fueled. Lelee was initially responsible for putting SWV together, but success did not come easily."
^ a b c "SWV Biography". mtv.com. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/swv/artist.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
^ "SWV: Billboard chart history". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?JSESSIONID=9nR7LDJQmWTwwQKk8ZphSlVPbGGVp9mhBGNDT9xmh7yMdL9g1qDm!1389172043&model.vnuArtistId=22544&model.vnuAlbumId=375556.
^ "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
^ "Interview with Coko: A New Beginning". GospelFlava.com. http://www.gospelflava.com/articles/cokointerview2006.html.
^ "Coko Debuts At #5 On Billboard Chart". GospelCity.com. 2006-11-08. http://www.gospelcity.com/dynamic/industry-articles/industry_news/345.
^ Bonner, Gerald. "Grateful Album Review". GospelFlava.com. http://www.gospelflava.com/reviews/coko.html.
^ "Star Jones, Sherri Shepherd in 'Monologues': New black version of 'Vagina Monologues' to begin tour next month.". EURweb. 2008-01-09. http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur39840.cfm.
^ "Eddie & Taj George". TCA INTV. 2007. http://video.aol.com/video-detail/eddie-and-taj-george-tca-intv/342879776/?icid=VIDLRV04.
^ "SWV's Tamara "Taj" Johnson". HHNLive.com. http://www.hhnlive.com/features/more/430.
^ "Taj Gives Birth!". SWV Online. http://www.swvonline.com/news.htm#news15.
^ "The Longest Yard". The Nashville News. March 17, 2005. http://www.nashvillescene.com/2005-03-17/news/the-longest-yard/5.
^ episode #3 ("Road Trippin'"). I Married a Baller. "I got my sons with me...my youngest is hyped. He's ready and excited, and my oldest is just excited to be on a bus."
^ "Coko Talks About SWV Breakup". Yahoo! Music. July 21, 1999. http://new.music.yahoo.com/various-artists/news/coko-talks-about-swv-breakup--12058363.
^ episode #7 ("California Dreamin'"). I Married a Baller. "I'm still trying to get my little 17-month-old son's weight off!"
^ Murray, Jawn (2 April 2007). "Candidly Coko". blackvoices.com. http://www.blackvoices.com/black_entertainment/bvbuzzcanvas/_a/april-2-2007/20070402143709990001. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
^ Original Shows - I Married a Baller, TV One
^ "Brazilian Wacks". TV Guide. 2009-01-13. pp. 40–41.
^ "Reality Stars Will Perform in the Vagina Monologues". Reality Blurred. February 5, 2009. http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/related_news/2009_Feb_05_vagina_monologues.
^ ""Co-SIGN" is officially live NOW on iTunes". http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=213731605373542&id=368183310894.
^ ""I Missed Us" on iTunes". http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/co-sign-single/id489925812?ls=1.
^ "SWV to Release I Missed Us". Amazon.com. February 21, 2012. http://www.amazon.com/I-Missed-Us-Swv/dp/B007ADKQ8G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329813739&sr=8-1/. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
^ "I Missed Us: Swv: Music". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ADKQ8G/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
[edit] | Tags: External links | 2>
SWV at the Internet Movie Database
SWV at Allmusic
SWV Online Fansite
The Real SWV Official Website
v
t
e
SWV
Cheryl "Coko" Clemons
Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George
Leanne "Lelee" Lyons
Studio albums
It's About Time
New Beginning
Release Some Tension
A Special Christmas
I Missed Us
Other releases
The Remixes
Compilations
Greatest Hits (RCA)
Greatest Hits (Simitar)
Best of SWV
Platinum & Gold Collection
The Encore Collection
Singles
"Right Here"
"I'm So into You"
"Weak"
"Right Here/Human Nature"
"Downtown"
"You're Always on My Mind"
"Anything"
"You're the One"
"Use Your Heart"
"It's All About U"
"Can We"
"Someone"
"Rain"
"Co-Sign"
Tours
Weak
SWV World Tour
Sistaz Only
Release the Tension
New Jack Swing Tour
Billboard Live Tour
Related articles
SWV discography
Book:SWV
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SWV&oldid=493412585"
Categories: African American singersAmerican rhythm and blues musical groupsGirl groupsAmerican pop music groupsRCA Records artistsAmerican girl groupsHidden categories: Articles with hCardsAll articles with unsourced statementsArticles with unsourced statements from March 2010Articles with unsourced statements from October 2008Articles with unsourced statements from January 2009
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