Vivian Green

Adult contemporary R&B vocalist Vivian Green grew up in Philadelphia, where she started singing at an early age. She began playing the piano at age eight and writing songs when she was 11. At 13, she joined a girl group called Younique. She spent her teens writing, sending out demos, and singing wherever she could. Her break came when she was hired as a backup singer for Jill Scott, who took her on tour internationally. That connection eventually led to record company interest, and Green signed to Columbia in November 2001. Her debut album, A Love Story, was released one year later and narrowly missed the Top 50 of the Billboard 200 album chart. Vivian followed in 2005 and reached number 18. Though it was a little pop-slanted, the follow-up featured collaborations with many of the same names, including James Poyser, whose input went into the debut. Beautiful, dominated by songs written with producer/songwriter Anthony Bell and released on E1, followed in 2010.