Tenitra Michelle Williams (born July 23, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in the 2000s as a member of R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling female groups of all time with over 60 million records, of which more than 35 million copies sold with the trio lineup that included Williams. During her time in the group she earned several accolades including a Grammy Award and star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. During the group's two-year hiatus, 2001–2003, Williams released her debut solo album Heart to Yours (2002) which topped the US gospel album chart and became the best-selling gospel release of the year. That same year, Billboard named Williams the fifth best-charting gospel artist of the year and she received a MOBO Award for "Best Gospel Act". Following this, she released her second solo album Do You Know (2004). After Destiny's Child's disbandment in 2006, Williams released her first pop album, Unexpected (2008), which spawned the singles "We Break the Dawn" and the US Dance number-one "The Greatest". Her fourth studio album, Journey to Freedom (2014), received positive reviews and became her highest-charting album in the US; it includes the singles "If We Had Your Eyes", and "Say Yes" which topped the US Hot Gospel Songs chart for seven weeks, and won the Stellar Award for Music Video of the Year. Williams has found success as a television, Broadway and West End theatre actress, gaining a nomination for "Best Lead Female – Equity" in 2008 at the 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards. Making her acting debut on Broadway in Aida (2003), she has since starred in the sitcom series Half & Half (2006) and the musical productions The Color Purple (2007), Chicago (2009–10), What My Husband Doesn't Know (2011) and Fela! (2013). She was a featured judge on MTV's Top Pop Group, a contestant on season 8 of Strictly Come Dancing in the United Kingdom, and starred in the Oxygen reality television series Fix My Choir. She has also appeared on the American, British, and Australian versions of The Masked Singer. Life and career 1979–1999: Early life Tenitra Michelle Williams was born in Rockford, Illinois, on July 23, 1979, to Anita Williams (née Washington) and Dennis Williams III (1952–2020). She has three siblings: elder brother Erron, who is also a musician, elder sister Cameron, and younger sister Danielle. Williams made