June Deniece Chandler known by her stage name Deniece Williams is an American Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

-winning singer, songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s. Williams, whose music has been influenced by Soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 and Funk, is known for her hits such as "Free

Free (Deniece Williams song)

"Free" is a popular song by Deniece Williams which was included on her album This Is Niecy. Written by Williams, Hank Redd, Nathan Watts and Susaye Greene and produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney...

", "Let's Hear It for the Boy", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle

It's Gonna Take a Miracle

"It's Gonna Take a Miracle" is a popular song written by Teddy Randazzo, Bob Weinstein, and Lou Stallman. It was first an R&B hit in 1965 for The Royalettes, who reached the Top 30 on the U.S. R&B chart and peaked at #41 on the U.S. pop chart...

", and for her many vocal duets with Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis

John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...

.
Born in Gary, Indiana

Gary, Indiana

Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city is in the southeastern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area and is 25 miles from downtown Chicago. The population is 80,294 at the 2010 census, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. It borders Lake Michigan and is known...

,) Williams attended Morgan State University

Morgan State University

Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...

 in Baltimore, Maryland in the hopes of becoming a registered nurse and an anesthetist but dropped out after a year and a half.