Alyson Williams

Alyson Williams has spent virtually her whole life making people smile with her music. Born into a musical family – her father was bandleader Bobby Booker -- Williams began performing as both a singer and a dancer at a young age. After college, she began her career as a noted background singer for a number of major acts such as Melba Moore, Bobby Brown and Evelyn Champagne King, and also was part of the singing group High Fashion. But her hook work on several early hip-hop songs made a name for her in the music business, and led to her signing by the Def Jam label’s Russell Simmons in the late 80s.

It was following Williams’ move to the front of the stage as a solo singer that she set her place in musical history. Her 1989 album Raw became a smash, yielding major hits with “Just Call My Name,” “I Need Your Lovin’” and “My Love Is So Raw” and staying on the Billboard charts for over a year. Williams managed to garner both hip-hop and more traditional soul fans with her powerful voice and excellent material. She returned three years later with a self-titled album and the top 10 hits “Just My Luck” and “Can’t Have My Man.”

Williams returned to her first love, the stage, performing in several plays over the next several years. It was more than a decade before Williams issued her third album, appropriately titled It’s About Time, which didn’t make the waves of its predecessors.

Williams later took her talents to radio, where she became an on air personality on Harlem’s WHCR-FM, hosting the show “Love Notes with Alyson Williams,” and extremely popular show to this day.

She has also continued to record from time to time, and last year issued the very nice single “Summer Nights In Harlem,” featuring a bevy of jazz greats behind her. It was a welcome return of a great vocalist, still sounding fantastic