Ledisi Anibade Young (/ˈlɛdɪsiː/; born March 28, 1972), better known simply as Ledisi, is an American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter, and actress. Her first name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba.
In 1995, Ledisi formed the group Anibade. After unsuccessfully trying to get the group signed to a major label, she formed LeSun Records with Sundra Manning. Anibade and Ledisi released an album entitled Soulsinger (black and white cover on the LeSun Music independent label) featuring the song "Take Time", which gained substantial airplay from San Francisco area radio stations.
In 2000, Ledisi re-released her first major label signed album, titled Soulsinger: The Revival. Ledisi and her group toured in 2001. In 2002, Ledisi released her second album, Feeling Orange but Sometimes Blue. The album won an award for "Outstanding Jazz Album" at the California Music Awards.
In 2005, Ledisi signed a record deal with Verve Forecast and released her third album, titled Lost & Found, on August 28, 2007; it sold almost 217,000 copies and earned her two Grammy nominations, including one for Best New Artist. In 2008, Ledisi released her Christmas album, It's Christmas.
In 2009, Ledisi released her fourth album Turn Me Loose, which earned her two Grammy nominations, followed by her fifth album Pieces of Me (2011) which debuted on the US Billboard 200 album chart at number eight, becoming the first top-ten album of her career and her highest-charting album to date. It also garnered three Grammy nominations at the 54th Grammy Awards including for Best R&B Album. In 2013, she received a nomination for Best R&B Performance at the 55th Grammy Awards for her collaboration with fellow R&B and jazz musician Robert Glasper for the album cut "Gonna Be Alright" from his fifth album Black Radio (2012). In 2014, she released her sixth album The Truth to critical acclaim and moderate sales. She portrayed legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in the 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, Selma. Since releasing her debut Soulsinger: The Revival in 2000, Ledisi has released eight studio albums and earned thirteen Grammy Award nominations to date, winning her first for Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Anything For You" in 2021.