Mary Vesta Williams (December 1, 1957 – September 22, 2011) was an R&B singer. Originally credited as Vesta Williams, sometimes she went by the name of just Vesta from the 1990s forward. Vesta never had a certified gold album or any Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, Vesta managed to score six Top 10 hits on the Billboard R&B chart from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s. Vesta was best known for the hits, "Once Bitten,Twice Shy","Sweet Sweet Love", and her two biggest hits "Congratulations" and "Special".
Vesta secured a recording contract with A&M Records which released her debut album Vesta in 1986. The album became a modest seller on the R&B Albums Chart and it featured her first Top 10 R&B hit "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", which also became her only UK hit. Vesta's 1988 sophomore release, Vesta 4 U, produced the Top 10 R&B hits "Sweet Sweet Love", "4 U", and "Congratulations", with the latter peaking at #55 on the Hot 100 chart, her only single to appear in that chart. This would also be her most successful album, and her only album to appear on the US Billboard 200, peaking at #131. In 1991, Williams released her third album entitled Special, and the title track as a single. That single became her highest charting song on the R&B chart at #2, but sales of the album were less than that of Vesta 4 U. Her next album, 1993's Everything-N-More, produced only the minor R&B hit "Always".
In 1989,Polygram Records purchased A&M Records. Vesta released a 1998 album Relationships which was released under the Polygram name, and didnt sell as most would've thought but it appeared the R&B chart. After this album, A&M/Polygram Records parted ways with her. She continued to be a session singer, landing spots on albums by such artists as Phil Perry, Howard Hewett, and George Duke.In 2000, Polygram released a compilation album, featuring songs from Williams and CeCe Peniston, another Polygram artist.
In 2007, Vesta released an album of R&B songs on Shanachie Records entitled Distant Lover. Produced by Chris "Big Dog" Davis, it featured songs originally recorded by Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Sade, and Deniece Williams.Vesta portrayed a saloon singer in the 1993 film Posse, directed by Mario Van Peebles. She also had a hit with the SWV song, "Rain", with the smooth jazz musician, Norman Brown.
Vesta was a great singer or should I say "sanger" and her music will live on NO MATTER HOW MANY RECORDS SHE SOLD !!
Check out her music videos and tell us what you think.
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