Ray J

Background

William Ray Norwood Jr., a.k.a. Ray J., was born on January 17, 1981, to Willie and Sonja Norwood in McComb, Mississippi. His career started at quite a young age, as he was a child actor first before becoming a celebrated artist. When he was just a boy, he moved to Los Angeles, California, with his family. The Norwoods lived a reasonably normal life before stardom. The proximity to Hollywood ignited his passion for performance arts. In 1989, he booked his first commercial at eight years old, after multiple auditions. When his sister, Brandy, starred in the T.V. show “Moesha,” he was given the role of Dorian, a.k.a. D-Money, whom he played from 1999 to 2001.

He took an interest in music and introduced his performing alter-ego, Ray J., to the world with his debut album “Everything You Want” in 1995, after he signed with Elektra Records. After this, he released a few more songs despite being dropped from the label. His second album dropped in 2001, with his third, “Raydiation,” being released in 2005. Things took a different turn for him after a pornographic video of him and former girlfriend Kim Kadarshian was released in February 2007. However, he got back in the studio and released his fourth album, “All I Feel,” in April 2008. There was no backing down, and at the beginning of 2009, he started his reality dating show, “For the Love of Ray J.” A year later, the artist premiered a reality series with his superstar sister Brandy called “Brandy and Ray J: A Family Business.”

From music to music and reality T.V., Ray J. has done it all. In 2016 he got married to his “Love & Hip Hop Hollywood” co-star, Princess Love, and they have two beautiful kids together. However, in May 2020, Love filed for divorce.