Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States,[1] to mother Mattie P. Gilbert, and father Reverend Arthur Williams on March 20, 1948.
Wright's first public singing efforts were heard in church at the age of 9, with her mother Mattie Gilbert, a piano player and gospel singer as her accompanist in which they recorded "I Walk With The King".
She made her debut on national television in 1991, when her hometown was the setting for a special that revolved around the Super Bowl where she met CBS news anchorman Ed Bradley, who thought at that time that she only sang Gospel.
Wright's 1993 album Born With The Blues was originally released in France, then three years later the major-label imprint Virgin picked it up for the rest of the world.
Her 2007 album, After The Levees Broke, addressed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina - which destroyed her house and all her belongings - by repurposing songs like Willie Nelson's "Crazy", Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come", and Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is".