Ledisi

Over the course of more than two decades, classically trained R&B singer-songwriter Ledisi has earned more than a dozen Grammy nominations. • Born into a musical family in New Orleans, Ledisi moved to Oakland when she was 10. In high school, she studied piano and opera at U.C. Berkeley’s Young Musicians Program, and during her college years, she shifted to jazz. • After seven years in the long-running San Francisco musical revue “Beach Blanket Babylon,” she formed the acid-jazz group Slide 5, followed by soul-jazz-funk outfit Anibade. • Alongside producer and musician Sundra Manning, Ledisi formed LeSun Records and released her debut album, Soulsinger, in 2000. • Ledisi’s 2002 sophomore album, Feeling Orange but Sometimes Blue, won Outstanding Jazz Album at the California Music Awards. • She found more success with her 2005 album Lost & Found, which earned her Grammy nominations for Best R&B Album and Best New Artist. • Ledisi returned in 2009 with Turn Me Loose, which brought her two more Grammy nominations, including Best R&B Album. • In 2011, Ledisi cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart for the first time with Pieces of Me. The album earned her three additional Grammy nominations. • Ledisi portrayed gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in the 2014 film Selma. • Her 2017 album Let Love Rule yielded three more Grammy nominations, bringing her career total to 12. Ledisi made it 13 in 2020, when “Anything for You”—off that year’s The Wild Card—was nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance.