The early 2000s was ripe with promising talents. None stood out more than jazz-R&B vocalist Blu Cantrell. The blonde bombshell hit the radio with a smash record that was unavoidable in its prime. Unfortunately, Cantrell was not able to hold on to the spotlight like some of her contemporaries. What happened to the singer, and where is she now?
Born Tiffany Cobb, the Providence, Rhode Island native first found success in the late ’90s singing backgrounds for the likes of Sean “Diddy” Combs. She was eventually recruited into a group by Teddy Riley called 8th Avenue. By the time Riley left Backstreet and the group was dropped, 8th Avenue was shelved. Another major co-sign came via singer Usher, who introduced her to producer Tricky Stewart (“Umbrella,” “Single Ladies.”) Stewart would take Cobb in and introduce her to L.A Reid, who signed her after a lengthy bidding war.
Dubbing herself Blu Cantrell, the in-demand talent had to record her debut album under unique circumstances. She was handling a divorce while also caring for her sister, who had fallen into a coma. These things would inspire the music. While her sister’s ordeal would help her pen “I’ll Find a Way,” divorce helped her pen “Hit’ Em Up Style (Oops!)” with hitmaker Dallas Austin. Released on April 23, 2001, the song would become her biggest hit peaking at #2 on the Billboard charts.
Her second album would not achieve the same amount of success, despite the lead single “Breath” featuring Sean Paul also cracking the Billboard Hot 100. When her label Artista Records was merged with J Records to form RCA Music Group, Cantrell opted to walk away from her deal since L.A Reid also walked. Cantrell would never resign or release music and has been “working” on her third album for well over a decade.
In 2012, Blu opened up about how the music industry “robbed” her and so many others. She claims she was given lawyers by the label who also repped the label and advised her to make choices that did not benefit her. “I was really taken advantage of. I did most of the writing, and they took all of my publishing. The checks were coming in, and I never saw any checks. I never got one dime from Arista,” she revealed.
Sadly, the trauma got to Cantrell, and in 2014, she had an emotional break. The singer was found in Santa Monica running around at 2 am, claiming that someone had poisoned her. She was taken into police custody for a psychological evaluation. She reportedly asked cops if they knew who she was and asked if they knew her song after calling herself a “one-hit wonder.”
The singer has been relatively quiet since then. Her official IG account @iamblucantrell has not been updated since 2016. Fans are still actively commenting on it, with several leaving Happy Birthday wishes for her last week.
She was last seen at The Blast Off Tour in 2020, where she sang her hit “Breathe.” She commented under the post, saying, “Thank you, Manchester, for all the love. Can’t wait to see you guys again.”
