About K. Michelle
Kimberly Michelle Pate is an American R&B singer and television personality. She was a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta during its first two seasons, later returning to the show during its fifth season. She subsequently signed with Atlantic Records. Her debut studio album, Rebellious Soul, debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, and number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Her second studio album Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart? was released in 2014, debuting at number six in the US and selling 87,000 copies in its first week. It spawned three singles, "Love 'Em All", "Maybe I Should Call" and "Hard to Do".
In 2016, Michelle's third studio album, More Issues Than Vogue, was released to positive reviews. Singles from the album included "Not a Little Bit" and "Ain't You". Her fourth album, Kimberly: The People I Used to Know, was released in 2017, and debuted at the top ten of the Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Her fifth studio album, All Monsters Are Human, was released in 2020. The album was preceded by two singles, "Supahood" and "The Rain".
Michelle has also starred in reality series Love & Hip Hop: New York, K. Michelle: My Life and Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood , as well as in her own special, The Rebellious Soul Musical, directed by Golden Globe winner Idris Elba. Throughout her career, she has received four BET Awards nominations. She won a Soul Train Music Awards and an NAACP Image Awards in 2013 and 2014. She was also honored with an ASCAP Women Behind the Music award in 2015.
Kimberly Michelle Pate was born on March 4, 1982, in Memphis, Tennessee. As a child, Michelle learned to play piano and guitar, and took voice lessons from Bob Westbrook, who also trained pop singers Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. She graduated from Overton High School in Memphis in 2000. She earned a music scholarship to Florida A&M University by yodeling at her audition. She was crowned the Freshman Attendant of the Homecoming Court at the age of 18. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, pledging Beta Alpha chapter Fall of 2001. She reports that she stopped attending classes for a short time to have a son born in September 2004, then returned to finish college. She graduated from FAMU with honors and was accepted into several law schools but did not attend, opting to pursue music full-time.
Michelle's age was reported in her college yearbook as 18 in late 2000, which would put her birth year at 1982. Her age was reported as 31 in 2015 by The Source magazine, which would put her birth year at 1984. AllMusic's biography of her initially gave a birth year of 1986, then in 2022 reported only “1980s”, but in 2023 the year was changed to 1982. Michelle gave 1986 in a 2013 interview. The editor of "GossipWeLove.com" commented on the discrepancies in reported birth year, registering disbelief that Michelle could have entered college, and won her class's prom beauty contest, at age 14. Michelle formed a college friendship with Basketball Wives actress Royce Reed who was born in 1981.
In 2009, Michelle signed a deal with Jive Records and released her first R&B-charting single, "Fakin' It", featuring Missy Elliott. The song peaked at number 100 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. During 2010, Michelle released three follow-up singles, "Fallin'", "I Just Can't Do This" and "How Many Times", which charted at numbers 56, 53, and 53 respectively on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. At the time, Michelle was in the process of recording her debut album, originally titled Pain Medicine, which was slated to have features from artists such as Trina, Gucci Mane, Akon, Usher, and R. Kelly, who she would credit as her mentor during this period. However, her album was scrapped when Jive Records folded in 2011.
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