Heather: Yeah I was surprised that he was young, and I met him before I met his song. Were you surprised how young he was and how was it to work with him?
I knew we were going to get every other song on the album, like the heartbreaker song, and I could always write things in.ĪHHA: You had Ne-Yo do “I Didn’t Mean To.” He’s kind of the it boy right now. Heather: The most personal song to me was the gospel song, because I started the project telling everybody that I had to have the song on the album, and that I wasn’t going to close up shop before that happened. I’m just really happy that they got on the album, and it was a joy to do that.ĪHHA: This album was a really personal album, and even on your website you give the inspiration behind each song, but is there any song in particular that was the most personal to you, that you just had to have on the album? I think Vybz worked on his in Jamaica, and I think Shaggy worked on it exclusively with me, but I did meet him and got to do that. Heather: It was great you know I met with Shaggy, but they kind of worked on their side of the separately from me. And for the next album I’m already thinking about it, and I want to do even more.ĪHHA: I see that you got back to your West Indian roots and had both Shaggy and Vybz Cartel on the album. But yeah I think it’s an eclectic group and its a lot of different people represented, but I don’t know I think that’s how I like it. You know a lot of those guys who’s not going to say if Babyface want to produce – you’re going to be like, Okay lets do it. He’s just so great, and I wanted an opportunity to work with him. People keep bringing us great songs, or they end up writing some and that’s how it ended up happening.
Heather Headley: With me, I like great songs and I don’t like to be pigeon holed. What made you decide to use such a wide range of collaborators for the album? Heather took some time to speak with us about her new album, recent marriage, and her pending return to Broadway.Ī Alternatives: I noticed that on your album you had quite an eclectic mix of artists. The very introspective album features a diverse set of collaborators, with everyone from producer Lil’ Jon to gospel singer Warren Campbell. Now with her second album, In My Mind, Heather Headley is on her first major tour with Anthony Hamilton.
She won a Tony award for her performance in 2000, and that same year, she was named one of People Magazines ∵0 Most Beautiful People and released her Grammy nominated debut solo album The Way That I Am. In 1997, she landed the role of Nala in the Broadway hit The Lion King, and in 1998 she took the lead role in Elton John and Tim Rice’s breakthrough Broadway epic Aida. The Trinidadian born Headley got her start performing during her stint at Northwestern University in plays like Dream Girls and Ragtime. Tony award winning and twice Grammy nominated is not an accolade many R&B singers can hold to their names, however Heather Headley can.