Jody Watley started dancing on the TV show Soul Train when she was just 14. By the time she was 17, she and her dance partner, Jeffrey Daniel, were two of the most popular dancers on the show, earning them both invites to join Shalamar, a group created by Soul Train Records, a label associated with the show. Shalamar reeled off a bunch of R&B hits (including the #1 "The Second Time Around"), but Watley was mostly just a backup singer and dancer, getting only a handful of lead vocals. She quit the group in 1983 because she wanted to do much more.
After leaving Shalamar, Watley moved to England and did modeling work. In 1984, she was part of Band Aid, the all-star collective that recorded the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" She and three members of Kool & the Gang were the only American performers, and Watley was the only Black woman.
Her debut album, released in 1987 four years after she left Shalamar, was a smashing success, with the hit singles "Looking For A New Love" and "Some Kind Of Lover." It earned her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
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