VGVI Vivian Green

Adult contemporary R&B vocalist Vivian Green grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she started singing at an early age. She began playing the piano at age eight and writing songs when she was 11. At 13, she joined a girl group called Younique. She spent her teens writing, sending out demos, and singing wherever she could. Her break came when she was hired as a backup singer for Jill Scott, who took her on tour internationally. That connection eventually led to record company interest, and Green signed to Columbia in November 2001. Her debut album, A Love Story, was released one year later and narrowly missed the Top 50 of the Billboard 200 album chart. Vivian followed in May 2005 and reached number 18. Though it was a little pop-slanted, the follow-up featured collaborations with many of the same producers, including James Poyser. Beautiful, dominated by songs written with producer/songwriter Anthony Bell and released on eOne, followed in 2010 and debuted at number 101 on the Billboard 200. For 2012's The Green Room, Green's second album for eOne, the singer worked with Vidal Davis, Steve McKie, Phillip "Phoe Notes" Randolph, and Brian Culbertson. She collaborated with Kwamé Holland for 2015's Vivid, released on the producer's Make Noise label. They teamed up again for her sixth album, VGVI, which arrived in the fall of 2017. ~ William Ruhlmann