Willow Smith

The daughter of superstars Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith attempted to follow in her parents' footsteps through acting roles in "I am Legend" (2007) and a nascent music career that included the Top 20 single "Whip My Hair" (2009). Born Willow Camille Reign Smith in Los Angeles, California, she hailed from a globally recognized show business family: her parents were actor/musician Will Smith and actor/producer Jada Pinkett Smith, while her brother, Jaden, and half-brother, Trey, both pursued careers in performing. She made her acting debut at the age of seven in "I Am Legend," playing the young daughter of her father's sole surviving human in a post-apocalyptic world. For the next two years, acting was her sole outlet, and included voice-over work as the younger version of Gloria, the hippo voiced by her mother in "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" (2008) and recurring appearances on the Nickelodeon series "True Jackson, VP" (2008-2011) as star Keke Palmer's character in flashback sequences. But in 2009, she released her first single, the pop/R&B anthem "Whip My Hair," which shot to No. 11 on the Billboard singles chart. Though minted by more enthusiastic critics as a pop star in the making - a notion supported by New Artist laurels and nominations from the NAACP Awards and BET Awards, respectively- Smith's subsequent efforts failed to echo the success of "Whip My Hair": a second single, "21st Century Girl" (2011), issued by Jay-Z's Roc Nation label, rose no higher than No. 99, and its follow-up, "Fireball," recorded with Nicki Minaj, failed to break into the Top 100. A proposed debut album titled Knees and Elbows never materialized, and Smith's team-up with DJ Fabrega as the duo act Melodic Chaotic was criticized for its overtly mature tone on the single "Summer Fling" (2013). Undaunted, Smith released an EP, 3, before finally issuing her debut album, Ardipithecus, the following year. The LP, which featured production by her half-brother, Trey, earned mixed reactions from critics and rose no higher than No. 15 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Two years later, her second album, The 1st (2017), debuted without making any ripples on the charts, though Smith performed throughout the year on a package tour with other young female artists, including Jhene Aiko. She also returned to acting with voice-over roles on the animated series "Neo Yokio" (Netflix, 2017) and "Adventure Time" (Cartoon Network, 2010-2018).