ChicagoTribune.com:
Michelle Williams was searching for CNN on the TV Friday afternoon in her suite at the Hard Rock Hotel, more than 20 floors up from where she hosted her album release party the previous night. The 34-year-old singer and Rockford native wanted to check in on a news story that had just broken before leaving the room. It turns out Williams is a self-proclaimed “newsie.” She talks of news in the same manner some might talk about gossip, relaying the juicy details and her theories on what transpired.RELATED: Michelle Williams – Journey To Freedom (Album Review)
“It’s probably not healthy,” said Williams of her obsession.
This may explain, in part, why she’s drawn to real-life-crime and courtroom programming. She calls the syndicated “Judge Judy” a guilty pleasure and raves about A&E’s “The First 48.” The latter is a docu-series that features homicide investigators attempting to solve a murder, generally in the first 48 hours that follow.
“My major in college was criminal justice,” said Williams, who left Illinois State after her sophomore year to pursue music, as she put on her high-top sneakers. “Before I got in Destiny’s Child, a couple days before we were supposed to shoot the ‘Say My Name’ video, or the day before, I had an appointment to go to the coroner’s office to see an autopsy. I still have it on my bucket list even though I’m scared of death and will probably sleep with the lights on after I see the autopsy.
“So, we ready to go to this spot?”
The spot, in this case, was Glazed and Infused. Williams had heard good things about the doughnut shop and wanted to check it out. She was dressed in jeans and a “Yassss Jesus Yassss” T-shirt that showed off her figure.
During our half-mile walk, I told Williams that she didn’t look like the doughnut-eating type — unsure how she would take the comment. “Please. I eat everything,” Williams said. “I think it’s because my dad used to bring doughnuts home all the time. And on Sunday mornings, my mother would get us up for church by going and getting these amazing doughnuts and orange juice. It worked.”
Williams took a seat with the box of doughnuts we had ordered at the outside window. She opened the box but resisted the urge to dig in right away. First she wanted to snap photos with her smart phone.
“Take that, iCloud. Hack my phone and you’ll see doughnuts,” Williams said, a reference to the recent scandal over celebrity nude-photo hacking.
Williams, who said she plans on selling her Illinois home because she spends most of the year in Los Angeles, was raised Pentecostal and remains active in the church. Of the four solo albums she’s released, three fall in the gospel category — including “Journey to Freedom,” scheduled to hit stores Tuesday. It’s her first album since releasing 2008’s “Unexpected,” her lone secular album to date.
“Journey to Freedom” features the single “Say Yes,” which reunited her with Destiny’s Child bandmates Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland. The song has succeeded on the gospel charts, but the mainstream charts have been harder to crack, despite the dance track’s catchy chorus and star power. The reason? Maybe the religious message (the chorus is “When Jesus say yes, nobody can say no”) turned off some listeners and radio stations.
Williams hasn’t let that deter her from releasing faith-inspired music. She knows this is exactly where she’s supposed to be.
“I know for me, my calling is to inspire through my music,” said Williams, a maple bacon long john in hand and a chocolate milk in front of her. “I know what my message content is supposed to be. Nobody wants to see me twirling from a pole. Nobody wants me to do the booty dance. I’m supposed to inspire and encourage and have fun while I do it.”
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