Kiely Alexis Williams (born July 9, 1986) is an American singer, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is best known for being a member of former girl groups 3LW and The Cheetah Girls. 1999-2002: 3LW
In 1999, Williams along with Adrienne Bailon, and Naturi Naughton formed the girl group 3LW. The initial formation of the 3LW was pulled together by Michelle Williams, also known as Mici Williams, older sister and guardian of Kiely. Williams has two younger sisters, Tasia Williams (born 1988) and Tia Williams (born 1990), who wanted a singing outlet for her daughter. 3LW released their first single "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)" in fall 2000, which became a top 30 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. And the album's next single "Playas Gon' Play" which was released in early 2001. Their debut album, released in 2000, went Platinum.
In 2001, Kiely also played herself in an episode of The Jersey, where she switched bodies with a boy.
In the summer of 2002, Naughton left the group due to internal disputes and creative differences. The remaining 3LW members released their second album A Girl Can Mack, which sold poorly. 3LW later replaced Naughton with Jessica Benson and briefly attempted a comeback in 2006, with the single "Feelin You'", but the single failed to make impact. Williams and Bailon attempted to participate in both girl groups (The Cheetah Girls and 3LW) but after complications with the release of the record, 3LW was dropped by So So Def and disbanded. Williams, along with Bailon, decided to continue with the current more successful of the two groups The Cheetah Girls full
2003-2009: The Cheetah Girls
The Cheetah Girls began work on their debut album in January 2006. However, when filming and recording for The Cheetah Girls 2 came up, the album was put on hold. In an interview with Billboard about the postponed album, Sabrina Bryan stated that the girls worked on writing for the album on their Party's Just Begun tour and that they hoped to gather an audience of older fans while simultaneously staying true to their younger fan base.[1] Bryan also stated that the girls would work with producers they've worked with in the past as well as exploring new producers, such as Timbaland.[1]
The album was originally titled Who We Are,[2] and set to be released on June 19, 2007[3] but this was postponed to September 25, 2007, with a release name of TCG.
The track "So Bring It On" was released as the album's first single. "Fuego" was released as the second single from the album.[4] The Girls recorded their own version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for the holiday compilation album, A Disney Channel Holiday, which was released on October 16, 2007.
The girls began filming their third Cheetah Girls movie, entitled The Cheetah Girls: One World, in March 2008. It is the only movie to not feature Raven-Symoné and premiered on August 22, with its soundtrack released on August 19. The movie debuted with 6.2 million viewers, the lowest-ever rated premiere for the series. In the fall of 2008, the group went on tour to support the One World movie, which would be their last tour together. In January 2009, the group disbanded. The girls are currently pursuing solo projects.
2009-present: Solo career
During the summer of 2008, Williams began quietly working on a solo singing project separate from work in her girl group The Cheetah Girls. She filmed the music video for her first single "Make Me a Drink" in New York City in November 2008.[5] In August 2009, a preview of Williams' debut solo "Make Me a Drink" (which was written by Young Money recording artist Shanell, who has also written for Lil Wayne's upcoming record) appeared on YouTube, "Make Me A Drink" has never been released.
She completed a starring role in the independent film Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale and is slated to star in The Science of Cool, another independent feature that will be released in 2010. More recently, Kiely began work on Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming. The role of Kandi Kane, in Elle, required Kiely to record several songs for the film and the accompanying soundtrack and learn extensive choreography. Stomp the Yard 2 and Elle are slated for a 2010 release.
Williams and former Cheetah Girl band-mate and close friend Sabrina Bryan are also collaborating together on a talk show which Williams described as "a young version of The View".[6]
On October 28, 2009 Williams official website released the instrumentals of her first single, titled "Spectacular", a song written by Williams and produced by Mike City. The single was released exclusively to club DJs the first week on November. Williams was in talks with major labels to sign a joint deal along with her family's own Nine Lives Entertainment brand, which she has been signed to since 1999. The single was released to the public on January 15, 2010, and the accompanying music video was released to YouTube on April 05, 2010.[7]
In April of 2009, there were rumors that she was pregnant and had an abortion. If the rumors were true, sources suspect it would have been from Williams' boyfriend at the time. Shortly after rumors came out, the couple broke up. Williams said it was due to issues that needed to be resolved.
Albums with 3LW Main article: 3LW 2000: 3LW 2002: A Girl Can Mack 2002: Naughty or Nice
Main article: The Cheetah Girls discography 2003: The Cheetah Girls (soundtrack) 2005: Cheetah-licious Christmas 2006: The Cheetah Girls 2 (soundtrack) 2007: In Concert: The Party's Just Begun Tour 2007: TCG 2008: The Cheetah Girls: One World (soundtrack)
Solo singles 2010: "Spectacular"[8] 2009: "Make Me a Drink"
Other solo songs 2008: "Circle Game" (from The Cheetah Girls: One World)
FilmographyFilm Year Film Role Notes 2008 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 Yaffa Waitress Cameo The House Bunny Lily One of the Zeta Alpha Zeta's 2010 Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale Kandi Kane post-production Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming Brenda out now The Science of Cool TBA pre-production Television Films Year Title Role Notes 2003 [[The Cheetah Girls (film)Aquanette Walker The Cheetah Girls]] Aquanette Walker Disney Channel Original Movie; Aquanette Walker
filmed in Canada. 2006 The Cheetah Girls 2 Disney Channel Original Movie filmed in Barcelona, Spain. 2008 The Cheetah Girls: One World Disney Channel Original Movie filmed in India Television Year Title Role Notes 2004 The Cheetah Girls Aquanette Walker ABC pilot; never picked up. Television guest appearances Year Title Role Notes 2001 Taina Leah 1 episode 2007 Disney Channel Games Herself Blue Team 2008 The Suite Life of Zack & Cody Herself (with The Cheetah Girls) Guest star; 1 episode Studio DC: Almost Live Guest star Disney Channel Games Herself The Lightning/Blue Team
