Billy Lawrence (born on January 20, 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a female R&B\songwriter from the ’90s.
She got her start in the music biz as a background singer for Jamaican singer, Jimmy Cliff. Not long after that, Billy was signed to EastWest Records and recorded her debut album.
In 1994, Billy’s debut album, “One Might Say” which didn’t appear to make the Billboard charts at all.
Her first single, “Happiness” peaked at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #61 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 10 weeks.
The follow-up single “Boyfriend” didn’t chart at all. She was featured on the 1995 movie soundtrack “Panther” on the song “Freedom.”
In 1997, Billy released her sophomore album “Paradise” which peaked at #57 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart.
The first single from the album, “Come On” featuring rapper MC Lyte, peaked at #44 on the Billboard Hot 100, #14 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Top 40 chart, #18 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart, and #19 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 20 weeks.
The song became Billy’s highest solo chart appearance on the Hot 100 and was featured on the 1996 movie soundtrack, “Set it Off.”
She was featured on rapper & labelmate, Rampage’s song, “Take it To the Streets” which peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #11 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 20 weeks.
The follow-up single from Billy’s second album, “Up & Down” which peaked at #92 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #47 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 13 weeks.
After the release of her second album, Billy was featured on rapper Mase’s debut album, “Harlem World” and (along with her brother, Kyra Lawrence), she wrote & sang background vocals on singer Jennifer Lopez’s debut album, “On the 6.”
Billy also wrote & sang background vocals for R&B group Allure. Rapper Charli Baltimore recruited her to be on her debut album “Cold as Ice” on a song called “Pull the Alarm,” but the album was never released. She even wrote Blaque’s song, “Bring it All to Me.”
In 1999, Billy worked with R&B band, TLC on their album, “FanMail” and wrote four songs out of 40 that were recorded during the album-making phase, but none of the songs made the final cut.
Billy was also recording for her next album, “Too Many Times.” The first single was going to be the title track featuring TLC and the album was scheduled for release in November, but it was pushed back until Elektra Entertainment was bought out by Warner Music Group & eventually the album was shelved.
After leaving the label, Billy signed with Epic Records. She wrote & sung background vocals for two songs on Mandy Moore’s debut album “So Real.”
After that, it seemed as if she faded into obscurity, but these days, Billy resides in Atlanta, Georgia and her niece, Kylie is a singer as well. It also appears that she is still active with her music career.
To see Billy’s official Facebook page, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/BillyLawrencemusic
To follow Billy on Twitter, go to:
https://twitter.com/_BillyLawrence
To see the music video for “Happiness,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByIcNCQUaRw
To see a fan-made video for “Boyfriend,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5SZseRB7Ho
To see the music video for “Come On,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eq32q8bawM
To see a fan-made video for “Up & Down,” go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jehp41edK-Y
To see the music video for “Take it To The Streets” with Rampage, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLzUogfsqJI
[updated on 04\17\2016]