Me'Shell NdegéOcello

Michelle Lynn Johnson

Meshell Ndegeocello is an American singer-songwriter, bassist, vocalist, and activist. Born on August 29, 1968 in West Berlin (Germany) as Michelle Lynn Johnson, and raised in Washington DC (USA) where she learned her musical craft by playing in go-go bands in the late 1980s. Before her debut album she adopted the Me'Shell NdegéOcello surname, which she says means "free like a bird" in Swahili, which she has since started spelling Meshell Ndegeocello. She has also used the nom de plume Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur. Ndegeocello has been nominated for 10 Grammy Awards (and counting).
Daughter of "Saxman" Jacques T. Johnson Sr..
Sister of Jacques Johnson Jr.
Mother of Askia Ndegeocello.