Famed American singer and songwriter, who also features in The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kandi Burruss has a reported net worth of £28 million.
Kandi Burruss was born to Joyce Jones and Reverend Titus Burruss Jr. on May 17, 1976 in College Park, Georgia. Her first appearance on-screen was at age 15, for the talk show Teen Summit. Joining the girl band Xscape in 1991, Kandi Burruss was their contralto. While singing for Xscape, she co-wrote songs for stars such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Pink, Alicia Keys, Usher and Faith Evans, and also the bands TLC, Boyz II Men, Destiny’s Child and ‘N Sync.
How did Burruss become a multi-millionaire?
Following the end of Xscape as a group in 1998, Burruss and groupmate Tameka “Tiny” Cottle wrote the song “No Scrubs” for TLC in 1999, which went on to win a Grammy. She also wrote Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills” among several other songs for the group the same year, and was consequently awarded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ Songwriter of the Year (Rhythm & Soul) in 2000—the first African-American woman to be honoured so. That year, she saw the release of her debut album Hey Kandi… by Columbia Records which featured the hit song “Don’t Think I’m Not”.
Burruss also wrote the hit song “4,5,6” (released in 1999) for rapper Sole, and was part of the chorus and music video too. She then penned the song “Pop Ya Collar” for Usher’s third studio album 8701 (released in 2001), and sold over 4 million copies.
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In the song “Jane Doe” from her 2001 debut album Songs in A Minor (12xPlatinum worldwide), Alicia Keys utters Burruss’ name (Kan-di collabo) in recognition of Burruss’ contribution towards writing the track and crooning in the background.
In 2007, she and Atlanta rapper Rasheeda formed the duo Peach Candy.
From 2009 onwards and into its second season, Burruss has been starring in Bravo’s reality TV series The Real Housewives of Atlanta. For her co-star Kim Zolciak, she rewrote and executive produced “Tardy for the Party”. At the time she was starring in the show Burruss also recorded her second album Kandi Koated, which went on to be released in December 2010. Burruss reportedly draws a salary of $450,000 per season and is touted to appear as one of the main housewives in the ninth season.
Along with four friends, Burruss began a web series on sex and relationship called Kandi Koated Nights, which began airing on TV in 2011. She has her own sex toy company, Bedroom Kandi.
Her appearances on other series include Single Ladies, Thicker Than Water: The Tankards, Chef Roblé & Co. and Let’s Stay Together. She’s also credited with her own off-shoots such as The Kandi Factory (2013), Kandi’s Wedding (2014) and Kandi’s Ski Trip (2015).
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