Willow Camille Reign Smith was born on October 31, 2000 and is known mononymously as Willow (stylized in all caps) and is an American singer and actress.
Willow was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of the actress-musician Jada Pinkett Smith and actor-musician Will Smith. She has two older siblings: her brother Jaden Smith, an actor and musician, and her half-brother Willard Carroll “Trey” Smith III, an actor and DJ. Smith and her siblings are youth ambassadors for Project Zambi, which, in conjunction with Hasbro, provides assistance for Zambian children orphaned by AIDS.
Smith attended Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles.
Smith made her acting debut in I Am Legend alongside her father. Her next film, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, was released on July 2, 2008. In 2008, she voiced the character of young Gloria the hippo in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, alongside her mother as Gloria the hippo.
In June 2009, Smith’s mother Jada Pinkett Smith announced in an interview on Lopez Tonight that Smith would be releasing an album. Smith then released her first single, “Whip My Hair”. Smith soon after announced her next single, “21st Century Girl”. After she performed the song on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she released it the next day on February 3, 2011. The video was released March 9, 2011. On January 20, 2011, Will Smith announced he was planning to produce a contemporary remake of the Broadway musical Annie starring Smith in the title role. However, Smith was deemed too old and the title role was given to Quvenzhané Wallis in February 2013.
On October 6, 2011, “Fireball”, a collaboration between Smith and rapper Nicki Minaj, was released. Smith’s producer announced that she was almost finished working on her debut album, and that it would be done soon. He also said it had a similar style to “Whip My Hair”. The title of the album was later announced to be Knees and Elbows. It was scheduled to be released around April 2012, but was later announced that it would be postponed for release later in the year. On May 1, 2012, she released a music video for “Do it Like Me (Rockstar)”, saying that it was her “first video ever”. On July 2, 2012, Smith released the “I Am Me” music video at the BET Awards. On July 17, she released her fourth single, “I Am Me” via iTunes and Amazon.
In the summer of 2013, Smith and DJ Fabrega started a duo titled “Melodic Chaotic”. “The Intro” was released as the first work, “Summer Fling” was released as the second work of the two on July 6, 2013. The music video was directed by Smith and Mike Vargas who previously directed her single “I Am Me”.
On October 24, 2014, Smith and FADER announced that Smith would be releasing her debut EP, titled “3”, on October 31, 2014 for free via Google Play for limited time and November 10, 2014, but it was later pushed to November 17, 2014 via iTunes. The same day, she held a concert in New York City at The FADER Fort, where she performed select tracks from her new EP with SZA. She also performed the song “5” with her brother, as well as “Summer Fling” and a new rendition of her famous hit “Whip My Hair”.
Smith released the single “F Q-C #7” on May 7, 2015. An accompanying music video was released the same day on Vevo. After release, on September, a video to the track “Why Don’t You Cry” on i-D, Willow released her first album Ardipithecus on December 11.
On her birthday, October 31, 2017, she released her second album The 1st which was praised for its musical development, particularly Willow’s ability to create music following her 1990s R&B predecessors, despite not having been alive during the time. She toured the album with Jhene Aiko alongside St. Beauty, Kodie Shane, and Kitty Cash through the end of 2017.
Along with her mother and grandmother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, Smith hosts Red Table Talk, a web talk show for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination.
On June 24, 2019, Smith announced her third studio album, Willow. It was released on July 19, 2019, and was co-produced by herself and Tyler Cole. The duo later released a collaborative album titled The Anxiety in 2020. On April 27, 2021, Smith released “Transparent Soul” featuring Travis Barker, a pop-punk song that was her first foray into that genre. Smith released her fourth album Lately I Feel Everything on July 16, featuring guests artists including Tierra Whack and Avril Lavigne.
In February 2022, Willow announced that she had to pull out of Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever World Tour due to production limitations. On April 8, 2022, Smith featured on Camila Cabello’s track “Psychofreak” from Cabello’s third studio album Familia. A music video for the song was released on the same day, followed by a live performance on Saturday Night Live.
Coping Mechanism is the fifth studio album by Smith. The album was released on October 7, 2022, through Roc Nation and Polydor, and features Yves Tumor.
In June 2022, Smith broadcast “Maybe It’s My Fault”, the first single from her fifth studio album.
In July 2022, Smith published the album art as well as the release date for the album. The following month, the singer put out “Hover Like a Goddess”.
In June 2019, Smith revealed that she is bisexual and that she supports polyamorous relationships and she also has a desire to be in one.
