Carla Marie Williams is a British

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and singer. Notable songs she has written or co-written include

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's "

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...

", Naughty Boy's " Runnin'" and

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage producti ...

's " Private Show". In 2016, Williams was nominated for two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for her work on Beyoncé's '' Lemonade'' album. She is the founder of Girls I Rate.

Early life

Williams grew up in Wealdstone Harrow, London, England. At the age of 10, she formed girl group "The Likkle Mentions". They entered local singing competitions and appeared on local radio. Williams completed her GCSEs and studied her

A-Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

Bentley Wood High School Bentley Wood High School is an all-girls secondary academy school in Stanmore, Harrow, England. History BWHS was originally called Heriots Wood Grammar School. About the school Bentley Wood High School is a multi-cultural girls' comprehensive s ...

, an all-girls

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is re ...

in Harrow. After completing her A-Levels she worked as a youth mentor for four years to help young musicians and songwriters.

Career

Williams moved to full-time songwriting in 2006 after losing her voice from muscular tension. She was signed to Xenomania as a songwriter by

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 2005. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 but as the 26th since 2013, includes Buffalo and N ...

. Williams has written tracks for Girls Aloud,

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Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

and

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She gained recognition in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B, garage and hip hop group Mis-Teeq. The group disbanded ...

. Most notably she co-wrote Girls Aloud's " The Promise", for which she received a BRIT Award. Since leaving Xenomania, Williams has founded her own writing collective, New Crowd Media.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Carla Marie British songwriters Living people People from Harlesden People educated at Bentley Wood High School Xenomania British women songwriters British women record producers Year of birth missing (living people) British people of Jamaican descent