Dawn Richard

Dawn Angeliqué Richard (born August 5, 1983) is an American singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. She began her career auditioning for MTV's Making the Band 3 in 2004, during which she formed the girl group Danity Kane. The group signed with Sean "Diddy" Combs's Bad Boy Records to release three studio albums until their temporary disbandment in 2009. In July of that same year, Richard formed the musical trio Diddy – Dirty Money with label boss Combs and fellow R&B singer Kalenna Harper. The group released their only album, Last Train to Paris (2010) to critical and commercial success; it was preceded and followed by two mixtapes until their 2012 disbandment. The following year, she reformed Danity Kane with three of its five original members to release one further album–DK3 (2013). During her first year with Danity Kane, she pursued a solo career with the release of her debut studio album, Been a While (2005). In 2011, following her departure from Bad Boy Records, Richard re-emerged as a soloist performing as DΔWN, later to be stylized as DAWN. Released as a trilogy, her next albums: Goldenheart (2013), Blackheart (2015), and Redemption (2016) experimented with alternative dance and electronic influences. Richard's fifth and sixth albums, New Breed (2019) and Second Line (2021) were both met with critical acclaim. In 2018, she co-produced and starred in the erotic action thriller Kinky, which was critically panned.