iwanya puff johnson was born in detroit michigan on december 10 1972 and raised in los angeles
california she first exhibited her musical talents as a toddler by age seven she was taking vocal
lessons and by 13 she was offered a recording contract the deal ultimately fell through though
after it was decided that the timing wasn't right as she told the buffalo news in 1996 i just felt
that i was a kid and i wanted to enjoy being a kid i didn't want the responsibility of being a
recording artist just then during her teens she sang the national anthem on occasion at her high
school she also did backup vocal work for artists m c trouble christopher williams and r b trio the
good girls in 1994 puff performed the song what child is this on the christmas compilation album
joyful christmas alongside patti labelle oletta adams and nancy wilson followed by the donnie
hathaway cover someday will all be free which appeared on the soundtrack for the tv miniseries
the promised land the following year she appeared on tupac shakur's song me against the world which
was featured on the bad boys movie soundtrack as well as on his album of the same name by 1996 puff
would sign with record label the work group and her debut album title miracle dropped soon after
the eclectic project borrowed from an assortment of genres including contemporary r b pop jazz
fusion and g funk puff herself co-wrote seven of the 12 tracks and also elicited the help of
numerous producers and songwriters including jermaine dupree american idols randy jackson
and long-time mariah carey collaborator walter athanasia the first single forevermore
achieved its biggest success in new zealand where it reached number five on the charts
another single over and over appeared on the soundtrack of the 1996 comedy film the first
wives club and became a hit in europe and australia particularly in norway and the uk
where it entered the top 10 and the top 20 respectively
the following year puff toured europe as an opening act for michael jackson and his nephews
3t no further musical projects would be heard from her after that and she slowly faded out
of the spotlight in the early to mid 2000s puff resurfaced but only behind the scenes
she was listed as co-writer on several projects including detroit based female vocal duo pam and
dodie's self-title debut rapper i-20s debut studio album 2004 self-explanatory and several tracks on
r b soul singer leela james's debut album 2005's a change is going to come as far as her personal
life goes puff was at one time engaged to music producer and composer alarza lee collins known to
many as kim sadly the marriage would never take place as he died in a motorcycle crash in 2006.
following a general health checkup puff's doctor recommended that she'd see a specialist after
receiving some concerning test results in early 2008. after another batch of tests were done the
unfortunate verdict came in it was cervical cancer following a concert in johannesburg puff took up
residence in south africa at the beginning of 2009. she attributed her decision to relocate to
the country to the friendly and warm people that she'd met during her visit there she began work
on her second album with a local label she also continued her cancer treatment and was responding
well to it later she became involved with south african hip-hop artist ishmael marabi whom she
met in a recording studio they dated almost two years before she had to leave south africa
some reports list the reason for her exit as being due to her not having proper documentation
to remain in the country while others say she only decided to return to the u.s in order to spend
time with her friends and family when she was no longer responding well to chemotherapy another not
widely talked about reason was that ishmael's drug addiction had ruined their relationship
and he was unable to look after her while she was sick allegedly she and ishmael apparently
though decided to continue their relationship long distance following her departure sadly on june 24
2013 puff succumbed to her illness after a five-year battle she was 40 years old it's
unclear whether ishmael and puff were still seeing each other at the time of her death
her family friends and celebrities worldwide shared their condolences via social media
including songwriter extraordinaire diane warren whose song some kind of miracle was recorded by
puff for her one and only album and also where she got the album name everyone that puff worked
with in fact did nothing but rave about her undeniable talent and even though she only
spent a short time on the music charts the marks she made in the industry will continue to live on
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