Who is Meshell Ndegeocello?

Born: Michelle Lynn Johnson, Aug. 29, 1968, in Berlin, Germany.
Raised in the Washington DC area. Some sources state that she was born Mary Johnson, but according to Wikipedia, her true birth name has been confirmed as Michelle.

Meshell Ndegéocello is pronounced MEE-shell N-duh-GAY-o-chel-o. Her first name, at various times, has been spelled Me'Shell, Meshell and Me'shell. And according to the singer, Ndegeocello is Swahili for "free like a bird."

Meshell was born in Germany to Jacques Johnson, an Army lieutenant/saxophonist, and Helen Johnson, a health care worker. The family moved to Virginia in the early 1970s. Growing up, she learned to play the bass guitar and as a teenager, she began to play regularly in clubs in and around Washington DC. Eventually she settled in New York City after a stint of studying music at Howard University. After unsuccessfully auditioning for several local bands (including the African-American rock group Living Colour), she concentrated on being a solo artist. In the early 1990s she was signed to Madonna's Maverick label.

Meshell released her first five albums on the Maverick label, however her commercial success has been modest due to various reasons, including her complex, personal lyrics and diverse musical style, which is inspired by funk, soul, jazz, pop and rock. Her biggest hit song to date was a duet with rock singer John Mellencamp in 1994, a remake of Van Morrison's "Wild Night." She had another modest hit with "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)," from her 1993 debut album, Plantation Lullabies. Her most successful album to date is 1996's Peace Beyond Passion, which reached No. 63 on Billboard's album chart.

Meshell is a very well-regarded bassist, and has been lauded by her musical peers as perhaps the best female bass guitar player ever. She was the first woman to be featured on the cover of Bass Player magazine and remains one of few women bandleaders who write music. As of 2009, she had received a total of 10 Grammy nominations throughout her career, but has never won. She has performed with the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Alanis Morrisette, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Billy Preston and Chaka Khan, among others.

2009: Devil's Halo (Downtown Records)
2007: The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams (EmArcy Records).
2006: The Article 3 (EmArcy).
2005: The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of the Infidel (Shanachie Records)
2003: Comfort Woman (Maverick Records)
2002: Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape (Maverick)
1999: Bitter (Maverick)
1996: Peace Beyond Passion (Maverick)
1993: Plantation Lullabies (Maverick)

"Looking at the media today, I'm quite ashamed of myself, of things I've participated in. Everything is marketed to sex and gossip and it's just a shame that those are the things at the forefront, on people's minds, those are the things that make you popular, what you have on or how little you have on and it has nothing to do with music, nothing to do with sports it has nothing to do with the things so many communities put their faith in. It's just a sad place to be." - Meshell Ndegeocello.