Crystal Waters (born November 19, 1961) is an American house and dance music singer and songwriter, best known for her 1990s dance hits "Gypsy Woman", "100% Pure Love", and 2007's "Destination Calabria" with Alex Gaudino. All three of her studio albums produced a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as one of the most successful dance artists of all time. Her accolades include six ASCAP Songwriter awards, three American Music Award nominations, an MTV Video Music Award nod, four Billboard Music Awards and twelve No. 1 Billboard Dance Chart hits. Her hit song "Gypsy Woman” has been sampled hundreds of times. Though her music sales have yet to be re-certified, Waters has sold over 7 million records worldwide. Life and career Early life Born in Deptford Township, New Jersey, Waters is the daughter of Junior Waters, a famed jazz musician, and his wife Betty. Her great-aunt, Ethel Waters, was one of the first black American vocalists to appear in mainstream Hollywood musicals. Her family moved to New Jersey for a while but they again moved to Washington, D.C. At age eleven she began writing poetry and took her writing seriously enough to be inducted into the Poetry Society of America when she was 14, the youngest person ever to receive that honor. She studied business and computer science at Howard University, but her creative work as a musician dropped off as she found less time for it. After earning her college degree in 1989, Waters secured a job as a probation officer with the Washington, D.C. parole board, making a living that would support her two daughters. One of her daughters, Ella Nicole, is a singer-songwriter who was discovered in 2014 and managed by Samonee K. Music career Waters' first job in the music world was as a backup singer at a local recording studio. She realized she wanted the creative control of writing her own music. Meeting the Basement Boys at a D.C. conference, they agreed to collaborate. Waters' self-described style was jazz and the Basement Boys was house. The first two songs she wrote for the 'Boys were "Makin' Happy" and "Gypsy Woman". Waters signed a writing contract with Mercury Records in 1989. Her single "Makin' Happy", with contributions by remixer Steve "Silk" Hurley, shot quickly to No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs. With her 1994 follow-up