Brandy Is Telling Her Story in Her Own Words

Photographed by Tony Bowen

Brandy has spent much of her life moving through narratives written around her rather than by her. From her Mississippi roots to global recognition as a music and television icon, her journey unfolded under a level of scrutiny that rarely allowed room for reflection. She entered the industry young, carrying both immense talent and the burden of a carefully maintained image. The world learned her voice early, but not always the weight behind it.

Her forthcoming memoir, Phases, signals a shift in authorship. Co written with journalist Gerrick Kennedy and scheduled for release on March 31, 2026 through Hanover Square Press, the book positions Brandy not as a subject to be analyzed, but as the narrator of her own interior life. This is not a biography tracing milestones from the outside. It is a memoir shaped by memory, emotion, and lived experience, offering access to what existed behind the composure and polish the public came to expect.

Throughout her career, Brandy was often framed as perfection incarnate. The flawless voice. The role model. The cultural constant. Phases promises to move

beyond that surface, exploring the pressures that came with maintaining that image and the personal cost of sustaining it. It traces the highs and lows that accompanied her rise, the moments of silence that were misunderstood, and the private decisions that shaped her evolution as a woman, a mother, and an artist.

Her influence on R&B is already written into history. She changed how the genre sounded, introducing a vocal intimacy that reshaped emotional expression in popular music. Yet influence does not negate vulnerability. The memoir creates space for Brandy to revisit defining moments not for explanation or defense, but for understanding. It allows her to articulate what those phases required of her and how they led her toward self discovery rather than perfection.

For those who have followed her for decades, Phases offers more than reflection. It offers proximity. It invites readers to sit with the person behind the voice, to understand the context behind the career, and to encounter Brandy not as an icon frozen in time, but as a woman who has lived, adapted, and chosen to tell her story in her own words.

Pre-Order your signed copy here.