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Zendaya was nearly in a band with H.E.R. and Kehlani when they were all teenagers

May 18, 2021, 04:51 IST
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Kehlani and H.E.R. are Grammy-nominated R&B artists and Zendaya is an Emmy award-winning actress.Kevin Mazur/Chris Pizzello/Kevin Winter via Getty
  • H.E.R. revealed that Zendaya almost joined a band called Poplyfe that included herself and Kehlani.
  • But Zendaya focused on her acting career and H.E.R. started her solo career as a musician.
  • Kehlani remained as the lead singer of Poplyfe and the band competed on "America's Got Talent."
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H.E.R. has most recently revealed that Zendaya almost joined a band alongside her and fellow R&B singer Kehlani.

In an interview with "The Carlos Watson Show," the "I Can't Breathe" singer, whose real name is Gabriella Wilson, imparted that, as teenagers, she and the "Nights Like This" singer were members of a band called Poplyfe - a group formed under D'Wayne Wiggins.

"Dylan Wiggins - who is D'wayne Wiggins' son from Tony! Toni! Toné! - we used to be in a band together," H.E.R. said.

She also revealed that Zendaya almost joined the group, too.

"We used to perform together when we were really young. Kehlani was actually in our band. We all used to sing together. Zendaya was going to be in it at one point. They all grew up together. I came into the picture in Oakland and we used to perform together."

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While Zendaya did not become an official member of the band, the group did join her in 2012 on her Swag It Out tour.

H.E.R. also apparently wasn't with the group long-term. She signed to RCA Records at the age of 14, and, after spending what she said were years of "creating, learning, and growing," she dropped her first solo EP, "H.E.R. Vol. 1," in 2016 at 19 years old.

In 2017, she dropped her first compilation album "H.E.R." which consisted of tracks from "Vol.1" and "Vol.2" along with six additional songs. The project scored five Grammy nominations, and two wins (for best R&B performance and best R&B album.)

H.E.R. at the 2021 Academy AwardsPool/Getty Images

Before landing her own solo career, Kehlani served as the lead singer of Poplyfe at the age of 16, alongside a male-dominated musical group.

In 2011, the band appeared on the sixth season of "America's Got Talent," a televised competition in which people of all ages can show off any talent. H.E.R. wasn't in the group at that time.

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"He [Wiggins] formed us together and we started playing a lot of shows. We were a cover band so we didn't really have our own music yet," Kehlani said in a 2016 interview with 106 KMEL. "Then we auditioned for the show and we got in and didn't expect to make it as far as we did."

The teen group made it all the way to the finals and ended up finishing in fourth place. They officially disbanded in June 2012.

While Kehlani, H.E.R., and Zendaya's plans to form a teen girl band in the early 2010s never panned out, they've all had recent success in their individual careers: Kehlani dropped a new song with T-Pain on Friday; H.E.R. provided vocals on DJ Khaled's newest album "Khaled Khaled;" Zendaya coproduced the black-and-white film "Malcolm and Marie," released in January.

Zendaya also stars in the HBO hit show "Euphoria" as Rue, a troubled high-school student dealing with sex, love, and drug addiction.

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