Michel'le Denise Toussant (/mɪʃɛlˈeɪ/ mish-el-AY;[1] born December 5, 1967),[2][3] also spelled Toussaint, is an American R&B singer known for her songs from 1989 to the early 1990s.
Michel'le, a native of California, was originally a featured female vocalist of World Class Wreckin' Cru's 1987 single "Turn Off the Lights".
[6] The West Coast All-Stars, in which she had a role, scored a nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 33rd Grammy Awards for the single "We're All in the Same Gang" - the West Coast All-Stars also included MC Hammer, Young MC, Ice-T, JJ Fad as well as N.W.A members Dr. Dre, MC Ren, and Eazy-E.[7][8] In 1998, nine years after the release of her first album, she released her second album, Hung Jury, on Death Row Records but it garnered little attention and no hit singles.
Michel'le was included in the notorious N.W.A diss track No Vaseline on Ice Cube's 1991 double platinum effort, Death Certificate, in a reference to a video the group made with the female singer.
On October 15, 2016, Lifetime aired a biopic about her life titled Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le.
[15] It tells the story of her abusive relationship with Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, her experiences with Ruthless Records, and the journey she went through to find herself.
[16][17] Michel'le met Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Romelle Young, at 16 years old when doing a vocal part for a group known as the World Class Wreckin' Cru.
[21] After their son was born, their relationship became more strained due to Dre's drinking, infidelity and volatile behavior.
Her injuries included a broken nose (which she had to have surgically corrected), a cracked rib and five black eyes.
[18][22] She recalled on The Breakfast Club[23] that during an argument, Dre shot at Michel'le, missing her by inches.
[9] At her lowest point with Dre, Death Row Records CEO/co-founder Suge Knight stepped in to help get Michel'le clean by sending her to rehab.
Michel'le discovered that her marriage to Suge was invalid through the divorce process because he was still married to his ex-wife Sharitha.