Ashanti Biography

Fast Facts

• Danced in the 1989 Disney TV-movie Polly; which was directed and choreographed by Debbie Allen
• Signed her first recording contract with Jive records at the age of 14, but ended their relationship after a year
• Was offered a track scholarship to Hampton University but turned it down to pursue her career as a recording artist
• In 2002, became the first artist since the Beatles to have three singles on the Billboard Top 10 chart at the same time
• Received the 2002 Soul Train Aretha Franklin Award for Entertainer of the Year, which sparked controversy: a petition started by a California high-school student was signed by 30,000 people, who agreed that she was too new to deserve the award
• Received a key to the city of Glen Cove, NY, and May 3, 2003, was declared Ashanti Douglas Day by Nassau County
• Launched a perfume line in 2005 called Precious Jewel
• Her 2008 The Declaration CD made three of Billboard's Top 10 charts
• Took part in the "Stand Up to Cancer" fund-raising effort and TV special in 2008, and was among the artists who recorded a CD single for the drive
• The following year, she was dropped from her record label, The Inc
• , as label head Irv Gotti cited professional differences between the two
• Also in 2009, she made her stage debut when she joined the cast of The Wiz
• She portrayed Dorothy