Christopher Williams (singer)

Christopher Williams (born Troy Christopher Williams on August 22, 1967, in The Bronx, New York, U.S. is an American R&B singer and actor.

Music career

Williams, who emerged during the late 1980s as a recording artist for Geffen Records, has scored many hit singles, notably "Promises, Promises" (1989), "Talk to Myself" (1989), and "Every Little Thing U Do" (1993). The single "I'm Dreamin'" (1991), from the New Jack City soundtrack, became a #1 single on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts. After a six-year hiatus from recording music, he returned to the music scene with Real Men Do on the indie label Renegade, in 2001. It received a glowing, flattering review in Ebony Magazine that summer.

In 2005, it was reported that Williams died of an unknown illness, but this ended up just an Internet hoax.

In between solo pursuits, he has been a contributor to Alex Bugnon's "As Promised," with a smooth jazz version of Mary J. Blige's "All That I Can Say", featured on "In Your World" with Twista & The Speedknot Mobstas, a very up-tempo track on the soundtrack of "Doctor Dolittle", and on the Cafe Soul All-Stars CD with a single entitled "Used To Be." Other soundtrack contributions include: "Tha 2 of Us" from the film "Bulletproof", "Superhero" from the film "Butter", "Boom and the Bang" (featuring R&B songstress Monifah) and "I'm Yours" from the soundtrack of the stage play "Men Cry in the Dark", and "Stranger In My Life" from the film "Gunmen". Additional collaborations throughout his career include: "Round and Round" and "No Sunshine" from the CD "Phuture Flava", "Love You More Than Words Can Say" from the CD "Soul Blitz Allstars", the duet with Mikki Howard, "I Hope That We Can Be Together Soon", the duet with Shae, "You Are So Fine", "Can't Wait To Be With You" from the DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince release "Code Red", "I Wanna B Ure Lover" from the F.S. Effect release "So Deep It's Bottomless", and "Sexual Healing", the duet with reggae dancehall queen Patra. Although he has been considered "out of the game" by some, there are countless artists from several genres who give full credit to him for writing lyrics, performing, producing, editing, collaborating, and simply "doing a favor for a friend."

Acting career

Williams appeared in the 1991 film New Jack City. He portrayed the role of Kareem Akbar, one of Nino Brown's assistants. He also had a cameo appearance in the 1990s police drama, New York Undercover as "the singer," performing "Stranger In My Life," in the episode entitled "The Shooter." He had another cameo in Gunmen, starring Christopher Lambert and Mario Van Peebles, singing a song entitled "Stranger In My Life".

He has also starred or co-starred in several successful off Broadway theatre productions during the 2000s, including A Good Man is Hard to Find, A House is Not a Home, Men Cry in the Dark, and The Man He Used to Be. Recently, Williams played a main character in the stage play The Clean Up Woman, written by JD Lawrence, and played alongside actress Telma Hopkins and Jackee. Williams also appeared in plays Guilty Until Proven Innocent, starring K-Ci & JoJo, and The Man of Her Dreams, starring Shirley Murdock and Dave Hollister of Blackstreet fame.

He also played the role of "Ned" in the Reuben Rox 2002 B movie comedy/horror/thriller film "Revenge of the Unhappy Campers" (bootleg alternate title "Night of the Unhappy Campers"), with the tagline: "Tonight they get EVEN." Unfortunately, this particular work has not been released to DVD for sale, though it can be rented in some larger markets.

Personal life

Williams is the nephew of legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. Williams has a son Austin, who was born in 1991, with actress Stacey Dash. He also has a daughter, Cierra Barnes-Williams (1993) from a relationship with Heather Barnes.

In the late '80s or early '90s, Christopher Williams was the boyfriend of Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry. After Halle Berry told interviewers that an abusive ex-boyfriend struck her so hard that she lost most of the hearing in her right ear, many people assumed that Williams was the unnamed ex-boyfriend. Williams defended himself to Eurweb, the entertainment news website, denying that he ever harmed Berry, and suggesting that Berry has been referring to actor Wesley Snipes. He said, "The stuff they wrote about me and Halle was totally false. It's been said I busted her eardrum, and I'm tired of it. I never said it before but I'm so tired of people thinking I'm the guy who did it. Wesley busted her eardrum, not me." Halle Berry is on record denying that Wesley Snipes ever hit her.

Williams also said that the twice-married Berry may have personality problems which have contributed to her broken marriages and relationships. He stated, "I have men come up to me like, 'How could you just leave Halle Berry?' I'm like, 'how could you just leave the last relationship you were in?'" And further, "They would probably crucify Jesus again just to get with her. It's funny, because the stars that get all of the good write-ups, you go and meet them and they are total assholes. She is just a woman, but because her name is in lights, people are damned near ready to bare their souls."

Discography

Albums

• 1989: Adventures In Paradise 1989 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums #23,
• 1992: Changes 1992 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums #12, The Billboard 200 #63
• 1995: Not a Perfect Man 1995 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums #13, The Billboard 200 #104
• 2001: Real Men Do 2001 Renegade

Singles

References

External links

• Christopher Williams at the Internet Movie Database
• Christopher Williams at Allmusic