SWV

SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) George, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons.

SWV was formed by founding members Cheryl "Coko" Gamble and Leanne "Lelee" Lyons, with Gamble later recruiting Tamara "Taj" Johnson to join the group along with a fourth member named Samantha, who would eventually leave for unknown reasons.

In 1991, after being invited to sing live in front of RCA executives, SWV was signed to an eight-album record deal.

In the summer of 1995, the trio lent vocal harmonies to Blackstreet's Top 40 R&B hit "Tonight's the Night".

SWV also recorded the track, "All Night Long", which appeared on the Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album in late 1995.

The album features hits like "Rain" (which samples Jaco Pastorius's classic "Portrait of Tracy"), "Someone", "Can We" (which was originally included on the soundtrack for the Jamie Foxx film Booty Call), and canceled single "Lose My Cool".

[5] A Special Christmas, a holiday album featuring both cover versions and original material, was released in the United States on November 18, 1997, by RCA Records.

In 2001, Coko and her mother, Lady "Clyde" Tibba Gamble, did a remake of the song "Tears in Heaven" (originally recorded by Eric Clapton) on the album Rhythm and Spirit: "Love Can Build a Bridge".

[7] Grateful includes an all-star cover of The Clark Sisters' "Endow Me" which features R&B singers Faith Evans, Fantasia Barrino and Lil Mo.

A special edition of Grateful only available through Wal-Mart includes two bonus tracks "I Wish" and Brent Jones' "Midnite" featuring Coko on lead vocals.

Coko was reported to have joined an all-black touring cast performing the critically acclaimed play The Vagina Monologues, along with Sherri Shepherd, Star Jones, Vanessa L. Williams, and others.

[10] Also in 2007, Taj appeared in the TV One reality series I Married a Baller which documented her life with husband Eddie George, former NFL player and present Nashville entrepreneur.

[11] SWV members Coko and Lelee (who sing the theme song along with Taj) appear in a couple of the show's episodes.

On June 24, 2008, during a performance by Alicia Keys at the BET Awards 2008, SWV made a special appearance with the original line up from En Vogue and TLC.

[12] She participated in a 2009 national tour of The Vagina Monologues with an all-black cast, most of whom are also former reality show contestants.

On June 10, SWV was featured on the official remix of Chris Brown's remake of their "Right Here/Human Nature" song, "She Ain't You".

On July 7, 2013, during the Essence Music Festival, SWV announced that We tv green-lit a reality series that would detail their lives as a group and individually, professionally and personally.

As promised, the show has documented the trust issues the groupmates have with one another from their acrimonious split and their attempt to rebuild their friendships and their brand.

Subplots included Coko's reluctance to record secular music after her foray into gospel, Taj's health issues and Lelee's tumultuous relationship with her daughter.

A song that the group was shown recording on SWV Reunited, titled "Ain't No Man", was released to iTunes as a promotional single on August 7, 2015.

On December 10, 2015, while making a surprise appearance on the television talk show, The View, Taj announced that "Still" was available for pre-order along with that came a second single titled "MCE (Man Crush Everyday)".

[19] In 2017, SWV collaborated with Bell Biv DeVoe on the song "Finally" which was released as the second single off their album Three Stripes.

In 2019, SWV announced they had partnered with hip-hop trio Salt-N-Pepa in the creation of a new reality series called Ladies Night.

[22] As part of their virtual artist battles birthed in 2020, Verzuz hosted a pre-Mother's day event, featuring both SWV and Xscape, on May 8, 2021.

SWV members Taj and Lelee performing in 2005
SWV performing in 2018