Willow Camille Reign Smith (born October 31, 2000), known mononymously as Willow (stylized in all caps), is an American singer-songwriter and actress. The daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, she has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, an NAACP Image Award, a BET Award, and nominations for two Daytime Emmy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. Smith made her acting debut in 2007 in the film I Am Legend along with her father Will Smith, and later appeared in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl alongside Abigail Breslin. In 2010, Smith launched her music career with the platinum-certified single "Whip My Hair", which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Smith later signed to her mentor Jay-Z's record label Roc Nation, becoming the youngest artist signed to the label, and released the single "21st Century Girl" the following year. Smith's debut album, Ardipithecus, was released in 2015. Its single "Wait a Minute!" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Smith would later release her second album The 1st (2017), and her third album Willow (2019). Smith began co-hosting the Facebook Watch talk show Red Table Talk in 2018, which has earned her two NAACP Image Awards and two Daytime Emmy Award nominations. In 2021, Smith released her fourth album Lately I Feel Everything, which spawned the single "Transparent Soul", which was certified gold in the US. Later that year, she earned another top 40 entry on the Billboard Hot 100 with the single "Meet Me at Our Spot" as part of The Anxiety with Tyler Cole.
On April 27, 2021, Smith released "Transparent Soul" featuring Travis Barker of Blink-182, a pop-punk song that was her first foray into that genre. Smith released her fourth album Lately I Feel Everything on July 16, featuring guest artists including Tierra Whack and Avril Lavigne. In late 2021, "Meet Me at Our Spot" from The Anxiety reached the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 21. That same year, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Also in 2021, she won Entertainer of the Year for her work on Red Table Talk at the EBONY Power 100 awards, and she was placed on Billboard's 'Greatest Pop Stars of 2021' list, being named the 'Comeback Artist of the Year'. Smith was also placed on the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
In June 2022, Smith broadcast "Maybe It's My Fault", the first single from her fifth studio album.
In July 2022, Smith published the album art as well as the release date for the album. The following month, the singer put out "Hover Like a Goddess".
Coping Mechanism is the fifth studio album by Smith. The album was released on October 7, 2022, through Roc Nation and Polydor, and features Yves Tumor. In 2023, she released the single "Alone." Her latest album, “empathogen” was released in May 2024.
She initially performed on Saturday Night Live and made her debut as a cameo when Camila Cabello was also the musical guest for her 2nd appearance on April 9, 2022, the seventeenth episode of 47th season of Saturday Night Live, hosted by actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She performed the song "Psychofreak". This makes her the first member of the Smith family to appear on SNL.
She made her an official musical guest debut and her second SNL appearance on October 8, 2022, the second episode of 48th season of Saturday Night Live, hosted by the Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, where she performed her two songs "curious/furious" and "ur a <stranger>" from her fifth studio album Coping Mechanism.
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