Heather Headley

Heather Headley was born and raised on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. Her family moved to the United States in the early 90's, where Heather's love for the arts continued. In 1997 Heather won the role of Nala in the original Broadway cast of the Elton John and Tim Rice's hit Tony Award-winning musical The Lion King. While still in The Lion King, Heather was asked to audition for the title role in the writing duo's next Broadway venture together, Aida. Her portrayal of the Nubian princess, Aida, won her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. That year she was listed as one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Essence magazine's 30 Women To Watch. Heather continued her musical success on the pop charts with her 2002 debut album This Is Who I Am and earned numerous accolades including Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Heather returned in January 2006 with In My Mind, her long-awaited second solo album. In 2009 Heather released Audience of One, for which she won the Grammy Award for the Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album, and in 2012 she released Only One In The World.

In 2012 Heather made a triumphant return to the stage, starring in The Bodyguard in London's West End, and in 2016 she made her return to Broadway, starring in the Tony Award winning production of The Color Purple as Shug Avery. In 2018 Heather had a recurring role on Chicago Med playing the formidable Gwen Garrett. Heather can currently be seen as a series regular in Sweet Magnolias on Netflix.

Most recently, she appeared as The Witch, in the City Center production of Into the Woods.