Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is a singer, actor, and fashion designer from the United States. When she was elected Miss America in 1984, she made history as the first African-American woman to hold the title. She resigned from her position as a result of a public backlash over naked photos of her published in Penthouse magazine. Williams was issued a public apology for the incidents 32 years later during the Miss America 2016 contest.
After the controversy, Williams went on to have a successful career as a singer and actor. In 1988, she released her debut studio album The Right Stuff, which featured the title track and “Dreamin’,” which charted at number 8 in the United States in 1989.
She saw continued commercial success and received multiple Grammy Award nominations for her second and third studio albums, The Comfort Zone (1991) and The Sweetest Days (1994), which included her number-one single and signature song, “Save the Best for Last,” which she performed live at the 1993 Grammy Awards ceremonies. Everlasting Love (2005) and The Real Thing (2006) are two of her later studio albums. (2009).
