Born: 1 July 1971, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Melissa Elliott, Misdemeanor
The following is republished from the National Endowment for the Arts. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Four-time Grammy Award-winner Missy Elliott has attained unprecedented success as a solo musical artist, pioneering songwriter and producer, and cultural icon over the last three decades. Her six studio albums have generated more than 30 million sales in the U.S. alone, and each has been RIAA platinum-certified or better, marking her among the only female rappers ever to achieve that remarkable accomplishment. In 2019, she became the first female hip-hop artist and third-ever rapper to be inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame and to receive an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music, celebrating her lasting contributions to music and popular culture. Further accolades followed in 2021, with Elliott named among the 12 inaugural inductees for the new Atlanta landmark, the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and later honored with her own star on the world famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2022, Elliott’s hometown of Portsmouth, Virginia, presented her with the Key to the City and renamed a portion of McLean Street as Missy Elliott Boulevard. In addition, she has earned eight MTV Video Music Awards over her career and was the first female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. That same year she participated in the Grammy Awards celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, joining such icons as LL Cool J, Ice-T, Method Man, Busta Rhymes, and Salt-N-Pepa for a landmark performance honoring the genre’s diverse history. In July 2024, NASA’s Deep Space Network transmitted Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” to Venus, the first-ever hip-hop song sent into space.
White House citation:
For shattering glass ceilings with timeless beats. From a child singing in the church choir to becoming a best-selling female rapper and pioneering hip-hop icon, Missy Elliott’s genre-defying music and rhymes have elevated an industry into a global powerhouse and inspired generations to push the sound and movement of America.