Elisabeth Withers is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Neo-soul and R&B singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

.

Biography

Withers was born in Joliet, Illinois

Joliet, Illinois

Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...

, and studied at the Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...

 and then at New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

. She sang as a backup vocalist for Celine Dion

Celine Dion

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

 and Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

, among others, and released several dance

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 singles under the name Elle Patrice, including "Rising" and "Emotions". After hearing these singles, Nick Ashford asked her to audition for a Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production of The Color Purple

The Color Purple

The Color Purple is an acclaimed 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker. It received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction...

, where she won the part of Shug Avery. In 2007, she released a full-length album on Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...

.

Discography

Studio albums

• It Can Happen to Anyone
  It Can Happen to Anyone
  It Can Happen to Anyone is the debut studio album by American Neo Soul and R&B singer-songwriter Elisabeth Withers, released by Blue Note Records on January 30, 2007.-Tracklisting:-Charts:...
  
  (2007)
• No Regrets
  No Regrets (Elisabeth Withers album)
  No Regrets is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Elisabeth Withers, released by E1 Records on September 14, 2010. The album features contributions by Toby Gad , Gordon Chambers, Carvin & Ivan, Barry Eastmond, Peter Lord, Clarence Blakely and Bob Antoine.-Track...
  
  (2010)

Singles

• "Be With You" (2006) U.S. R&B #43
• "Simple Things" (2007) U.S. R&B #53