UGLY BETTY Star Williams Releases 'The Real Thing' 6/2

USA TODAY reports in an interview with Vanessa Williams that the actress will be taking a break from playing Wilhelmina Slater on ABC's Ugly Betty and will get back to making musiC. Williams releases The Real Thing, on Concord Records, June 2nd 2009. Her first album in four years, The Real Thing will have touches of jazz, samba, salsa, pop and R&B.

"I had been wanting to do a Latin-flavored album since I played a ballroom dancer in the movie Dance With Me," Williams told the paper. To read the rest of the feature in USA TODAY click here.

Ugly Betty is a Golden Globe and Emmy winning comedy starring America Ferrera in the title role, along with Eric Mabius, Judith Light, Rebecca Romijn and Vanessa Williams. The series premiered on September 28, 2006, on ABC in the United States.

Representing New York in the Miss America contest, Williams became the first African-American ever to be crowned the winner. Ms. Williams became a major sensation as a recording artist hitting the top of the R&B charts with such hit albums as "The Right Stuff," "The Comfort Zone," "The Sweetest Days," and the smash singles "Dreamin'," "Save the Best for Last," and "Love Is." Williams starred in her first Broadway role when she took over the lead in "Kiss of the Spider Woman" whose cast album was re-recorded to accommodate her applauded performance. Soon after, Williams recorded the commercial version of "Colors of the Wind," the theme to the Disney film "Pocahontas" which was a huge hit winning the Academy Award. Films to follow were starring roles opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Eraser," "Soul Food," "Dance With Me," "Light it Up," and the remake of "Shaft." In the interim, Williams continued to record such hit albums as "Next," and "Greatest Hits: The First Ten Years." She was nominated for Broadway's 2002 Tony Award as Best Actress (Musical) for the revival of "Into The Woods".