Nona Gaye
- Actress
- Soundtrack
It was inevitable that Nona Gaye would become
a singer - she is the granddaughter of Cuban jazz great
Slim Gaillard, the niece of R&B
singer/songwriter Frankie Gaye and the
daughter of soul legend Marvin Gaye.
Signed to Third/Stone Atlantic at 14, Nona released "Love for the
Future" in 1992, which included the top 20 hit "I'm Overjoyed". But it
was acting that give Nona a name of her own. With no acting experience
and her agents warning her not to get her hopes up, she won the role of
Khalilah Camacho Ali in
Ali (2001)opposite Academy Award-nominee
Will Smith. Nona went on to play Zee
in the "Matrix" sequels, replacing singer
Aaliyah after her sudden death in a plane crash.
In 2004, Nona provided the voice for Hero Girl in
The Polar Express (2004),
which also starred Tom Hanks. Nona has plans
to return to the music studio as well as the silver screen. "My music
will always reflect upon my family's legacy or people's expectations,"
Nona told Interview Magazine in 2001. "But acting's all mine."
