Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer. Sometimes referred to as "The Empress of the Blues," Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s.^[1] She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on subsequent jazz vocalists.^[2]

Whintey Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and former fashion model. A relative of several prominent soul singers, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick and godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing at her New Jersey church as a member of a junior gospel choir at age eleven.^[1] After she began performing alongside her mother at night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis.

Houston released her debut album Whitney Houston in 1985, which became the best-selling debut album by a female artist at the time of release.^[2] Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.^[2] Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts as well as her prominence on MTV enabled several African-American women to follow in her success.

Mechad Brooks

Mehcad Jason McKinley Brooks (born October 25, 1980) is an American actor and former fashion model. Brooks was born and raised in Austin, Texas. He attended L.C. Anderson High School there. After graduating from high school in 2000, he attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television. From 2005 to 2006, Brooks played the role of Matthew Applewhite on the ABC TV drama Desperate Housewives. He appeared in Glory Road, portraying Harry Flournoy, an athlete at Texas Southern University, and in the 2007 film In the Valley of Elah. He guest starred opposite Tia Mowry on the TV series The Game in 2008. In 2009 he appeared on FOX's TV series Dollhouse. Brooks played Benedict "Eggs" Talley in the second season of HBO's True Blood. Beginning January 2010, he appears as attorney Malcolm Bennet in the ABC series The Deep End.

Fantasia Barrino

Fantasia Monique Barrino (born June 30, 1984), commonly known as Fantasia, is an American R&B/soul singer, Broadway and television actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the television series American Idol in 2004. She has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. After playing the part of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, she is cast to be in the film adaptation of the musical.