Stephanie Edwards (born May 13, 1975), better known by her stage name Sparkle, is an American
R&B singer from
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. She began her career in 1998 as a
protégé of fellow Chicago native
R. Kelly. Sparkle is best known for her 1998 R&B debut hit single "
Be Careful".
Career
Sparkle first started singing in her family's gospel music group. Sparkle met singer R. Kelly in 1989. Sparkle was the first and only successful artist to release an album on Kelly's
Rockland label. Sparkle's début album, the self-titled ''
Sparkle'', was released on May 19, 1998. The album debuted at No. 3 on the
''Billboard'' 200 and No. 2 on the
R&B charts and was certified gold soon after its release. The album is best known for the single "
Be Careful," a 1998
duet
A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...
with R. Kelly, which made it to two of Billboard's major airplay charts, peaking at No. 3 on the Rhythmic Top 40 and charted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B Airplay for six consecutive weeks, while also reaching No. 7 in the
UK.
Despite the success of her début album, Sparkle and R. Kelly began to have creative differences while working on her second album, which led to her asking to be released from Rockland/Interscope. She then signed with
Motown Records, where she would release her second album ''
Told You So'' in 2000. However, the album didn't do as well because of lack of promotion, only making it to 121 on the Billboard 200, while scoring a minor hit with the single "It's a Fact". On August 13, 2012, Sparkle released her first music video in 12 years called "So Bad"; however, the single is currently not available for purchase on iTunes or any digital music outlet.
Works
Sparkle has worked with several artists, including
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...
(backing vocals on
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number album),
R. Kelly on ''
R'';
Mary J. Blige on ''
Share My World'';
on "Loving You Remix";
Avant on the remix of "Separated" which features
Kelly Rowland;
Joe on "Woman's Heart", Jimmy Sommers; and Tank. Sparkle also has sung background vocals for
Toni Braxton
Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven ...
in her Las Vegas stage show ''Toni Braxton Revealed''.
Personal life
In 2002, the Chicago Police and a writer for the ''
Chicago Sun Times'' showed Sparkle a videotape allegedly of her young niece, then approximately 14, and R. Kelly engaging in sexual acts. Sparkle identified the young girl as her niece. Sparkle testified against R. Kelly in a subsequent criminal trial on charges of child pornography in 2008.
However, in the end, the jury found Kelly not guilty in the case. Years later, her niece testified against R. Kelly. In 2022, her niece (referred to as "Jane" in court documents) claimed her aunt Sparkle introduced her and her parents to Kelly
Discography
Albums
Singles
* "
Be Careful" (featuring
R. Kelly) (1998)
* "Time to Move On" (1998)
* "What About" (1998)
* "Lovin You" (1999)
* "It's a Fact" (2000)
* "Good Life" (2001)
* "So Bad" (2012)
* "We Are Ready" (2018)
* "Easy" (2020)
* "Open Letter" (2021)
References
External links
2019 ''New York Times'' article on Sparkle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparkle
American contemporary R&B singers
1975 births
Living people
Singers from Chicago
African-American women singer-songwriters
American women singer-songwriters
Interscope Records artists
Motown artists
Place of birth missing (living people)
21st-century African-American women singers
21st-century American women singers
20th-century African-American women singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from Illinois