Carla Maria Williams , known professionally as Carla Marie Williams, is a British

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

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, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's "

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

Naughty Boy Shahid Khan (; born 1 January 1981), known professionally as Naughty Boy, is an English DJ, record producer, music programmer and songwriter. In 2012, Khan signed a three-year publishing deal with Sony ATV, as well as a recording contract wit ...

'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 has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

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

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for her work on Beyoncé's ''

Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

'' 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 the girl group the Likkle Mentions. They entered local singing competitions and appeared on local radio. Williams completed her

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

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 ...

at Bentley Wood High School, an all-girl

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 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 restricted on the basis ...

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

. 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 Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenomania has w ...

as a songwriter by

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American former politician who was the U.S. representative for , from 2005 until 2024. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 and as the 26th from 2013 to 2024, included ...

. Williams has written tracks for

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud are a British-Irish pop music, pop girl group that was created through the ITV (TV network), ITV talent show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, N ...

the Saturdays The Saturdays are an English-Irish girl group based in London, England. The group formed during the summer of 2007 and has been on hiatus since 2014. The lineup consists of Frankie Bridge, Una Healy, Rochelle Humes, Mollie King, and Vanessa Whi ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

and

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B / UK Garage group Mis-Teeq, who had seven UK top 10 hits, ...

. 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. Williams was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2024 New Year Honours The 2024 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

for services to music.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Carla Marie Living people People from Harlesden People educated at Bentley Wood High School Xenomania 21st-century Black British women singers 21st-century British women singers British women songwriters British women record producers Year of birth missing (living people) English people of Jamaican descent Members of the Order of the British Empire