Crystal Waters facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Crystal Waters
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Waters performing in 2012
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| Born | November 19, 1961 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Labels |
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Crystal Waters, born on November 19, 1961, is an American singer and songwriter. She is famous for her dance hits from the 1990s. These include "Gypsy Woman" and "100% Pure Love". She also had a big hit in 2007 called "Destination Calabria" with Alex Gaudino.
All three of her main albums had a song that reached the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In December 2016, Billboard magazine said she was one of the most successful dance artists ever. Crystal Waters has won many awards. She has received six ASCAP Songwriter awards and four Billboard Music Awards. She also had twelve No. 1 songs on the Billboard Dance Chart. Her song "Gypsy Woman" has been used in hundreds of other songs. Crystal Waters has sold over 7 million records around the world.
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Crystal Waters' Early Life
Crystal Waters was born in Deptford Township, New Jersey. Her father, Junior Waters, was a jazz musician. Her great-aunt, Ethel Waters, was a famous singer. Ethel was one of the first Black American singers in big Hollywood movies.
Her family moved to Washington, D.C. when she was young. At age eleven, Crystal started writing poetry. She was very good at it. When she was 14, she joined the Poetry Society of America. She was the youngest person ever to get this honor.
Crystal studied business and computer science at Howard University. During this time, she had less time for music. After college in 1989, she worked as a probation officer. This job helped her support her two daughters. One of her daughters, Ella Nicole, is also a singer-songwriter.
Crystal Waters' Music Career
Crystal Waters started her music journey as a backup singer. She soon wanted to write her own songs. She met a music group called the Basement Boys at a conference. They decided to work together. Crystal's style was jazz, and the Basement Boys made house music. The first two songs she wrote for them were "Makin' Happy" and "Gypsy Woman".
In 1989, Crystal Waters signed a contract with Mercury Records. Her song "Makin' Happy" quickly became No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.
Big Hits and Albums
In 1994, Crystal Waters released her second album, Storyteller. This album brought her back into the spotlight. Her hit song "100% Pure Love" reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. This song stayed on the Hot 100 chart for 45 weeks, which was a very long time. Her first hit, "Gypsy Woman," had been on the chart for 16 weeks. The album Storyteller sold over one million copies in the United States.
In 1996, Crystal Waters sang "The Boy from Ipanema" for the Red Hot + Rio album. This album helped raise money for AIDS research.
In 2007, she had a huge hit in Europe called "Destination Calabria" with Alex Gaudino. This song reached No. 1 on the European Pop Chart in over 30 countries. The song combined music from Rune's "Calabria" and vocals from Alex Gaudino's and Crystal Waters' "Destination Unknown."
In 2012, her song "Le Bump" with Yolanda Be Cool also reached No. 1 on the Beatport House Chart. In 2013, "Mama Hey" with DJ Chris Cox became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Billboard magazine even named it one of the "Top 50 Dance Songs of 2013."
Crystal Waters continued to have success. In November 2015, she released "Synergy." In October 2016, she released "Believe." Both songs quickly went to No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.
Her 2017 song "Testify" with Hifi Sean was very popular. It went straight to the A-List on BBC Radio and became another No. 1 hit on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.
In 2018, her song "I Am House" with Sted-E & Hybrid Heights reached No. 1 on the club charts. This gave Crystal Waters a total of twelve No. 1 songs on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.
Since February 2020, she has hosted a monthly radio show and podcast called "I Am House."
Music Albums
Studio Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
AUS |
AUT |
GER |
NED |
SWI |
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| 1991 | Surprise
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197 | 171 | 23 | 45 | 81 | 24 | |
| 1994 | Storyteller
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199 | 55 | — | — | — | — |
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| 1997 | Crystal Waters
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— | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" means the album did not appear on that chart or was not released there. | ||||||||
Compilation Albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1998 | The Best of Crystal Waters
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| 2001 | Gypsy Woman – The Collection
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| 2001 | 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Crystal Waters
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Music Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
AUS |
AUT |
FRA |
GER |
IRE |
NED |
NZ |
SWI |
UK |
|||||
| 1991 | "Gypsy Woman" | 8 | 11 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 50 | 1 | 2 |
|
Surprise | |
| "Makin' Happy" | — | — | — | 17 | — | 22 | 27 | — | 22 | 18 | ||||
| "Surprise" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Megamix" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 39 | Megamix! | |||
| 1992 | "You Turn Me On" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Encino Man soundtrack | ||
| 1994 | "100% Pure Love" | 11 | 2 | 26 | — | 33 | 30 | 15 | 44 | 20 | 15 |
|
Storyteller | |
| "What I Need" | 82 | 130 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Ghetto Day" | — | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 40 | ||||
| 1995 | "Relax" | — | 133 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | |||
| 1996 | "In de Ghetto" (with David Morales & the Bad Yard Club) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 35 | non-album single | ||
| "The Boy from Ipanema" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Red Hot + Rio | |||
| 1997 | "Say... If You Feel Alright" | 40 | 152 | — | — | — | — | — | 32 | — | 45 | Crystal Waters | ||
| "Just a Freak" (with Dennis Rodman) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2001 | "Come On Down" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DJ Escape: Party Time 2002 | ||
| "Enough" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | |||
| "Nights in Egypt" (with Sunseeker) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Various Artists: Club Base Vol. 9 | |||
| 2003 | "My Time" (with Dutch) |
— | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | My Time: Remix EP | ||
| 2004 | "Destination Unknown" (with Alex Gaudino) |
— | 98 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | ||
| "Lies" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DJ Boom: Electro Compilation | |||
| 2006 | "Destination Calabria" (with Alex Gaudino) |
— | 3 | 55 | 6 | 30 | 2 | 14 | 35 | 50 | 4 |
|
non-album single | |
| 2008 | "Dancefloor" (with Speakerbox) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dancefloor: Remix EP | ||
| 2009 | "Never Enough" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | ||
| "Gypsy Woman 2009" (vs. Tristan Garner) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | 76 | — | — | — | Gypsy Woman 2009: Remix EP | |||
| "Gypsy Woman 2010" (vs. DJ Flava) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | |||
| 2010 | "When People Come Together" (with Bellani & Spada) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2011 | "Say Yeah" (vs. Fred Pellichero) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Le Bump" (with Yolanda Be Cool) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Masquerade" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2012 | "Long Day" (with Inaya Day Allstars) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Love I Call My Own" (with Nicola Fasano & Steve Forest) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Love I Call My Own: Remix EP | |||
| 2013 | "Oh Mama Hey" (with Chris Cox and DJ Frankie) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | ||
| "Blow" (with Armand Pena, Harry Romero, and Alex Alicea) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Gypsy Woman 2013" (with Musique Boutique) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Gypsy Woman 2013: Remix EP | |||
| 2014 | "Be Kind" (with StoneBridge) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Be Kind: Remix EP | ||
| "Every Day" (with Murk) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | |||
| 2015 | "Let Me Be the One" (with David Tort & Nick Marsh) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Synergy" (with Sted-E & Hybrid Heights) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2016 | "Believe" (featuring Sted-E & Hybrid Heights) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2017 | "Testify" (Hifi Sean featuring Crystal Waters) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 38 | |||
| 2018 | "I Am House" (with Sted-E and Hybrid Heights) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Merry Christmas All" (Hybrid Heights, Sted-E, John J-C Carr, Stacy Kidd) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2019 | "United in Dance" (with R-NALDO) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2020 | "Party People" (with DJ Spen and DJ Micfreak) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" means the song did not appear on that chart or was not released there. | ||||||||||||||
Awards and Nominations
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Category | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | "Gypsy Woman" | American Music Awards | Favorite Single – Dance | Nominated | |
| Herself | Favorite Artist – Dance | Nominated | |||
| Favorite New Artist – Dance | Nominated | ||||
| 1992 | "Makin' Happy" | Billboard Music Video Awards | Best Dance Video – Female | Nominated | |
| 1994 | Herself | Billboard Music Awards | Top Hot Dance Music Club Play Artist | Nominated | |
| Top Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales Artist | Nominated | ||||
| "100% Pure Love" | Top-Selling Hot Dance Music Club Play Single | Won | |||
| Top Hot Dance Music Maxi-Single Sales | Nominated | ||||
| MTV Video Music Awards | Best Dance Video | Nominated | |||
| Storyteller | Vibe's Music Poll | Best Album – Club/Dance | Won | ||
| 1996 | "100% Pure Love" | ASCAP Pop Music Awards | Most Performed Song | Won | |
| 2004 | "My Time" (with Dutch) | International Dance Music Awards | Best House/Garage Dance Track | Nominated | |
| The listed years are for the award ceremonies, which usually happened the year after the music was released. | |||||
See also
In Spanish: Crystal Waters para niños
- List of Billboard number-one dance club songs
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart
