Nona Gaye

Nona Aisha Gaye (born September 4, 1974)   is an American singer, former fashion model, and retired actress. The daughter of singer Marvin Gaye and maternal granddaughter of jazz musician Slim Gaillard, Gaye began her career as a vocalist in the early 1990s. As an actress, Gaye is best known for her portrayal of Zee in the 2003 science-fiction films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. She also provided the voice of the unnamed Hero Girl in 2004's The Polar Express.

Early life and career
Gaye's debut album Love for the Future was released on Atlantic Records in October 1992, a month after her eighteenth birthday. It featured the top-20 hit "I'm Overjoyed," as well as the single "The Things That We All Do for Love." The following year, Gaye was named one of People Magazine ' s 50 Most Beautiful People. She signed to Ford Modeling Agency in 1994, and became the new face of Armani.

For three years, Gaye both collaborated with and dated singer-songwriter Prince. During this time, she recorded at least four songs with him. A duet, "1000 Hugs and Kisses" and solo track, "Snowman," are thus far officially unreleased, but have managed to make their way into circulation amongst fans. Another duet, "Love Sign," was released on the 1-800-NEW-FUNK compilation album in 1994, along with another track with no Prince contribution, "A Woman's Gotta Have It." Gaye provided backing vocals on "We March" for Prince's 1995 album The Gold Experience, and on the title track to the Girl 6 soundtrack, released in 1996. Gaye has candidly admitted that during this time she had experienced a long, personal battle with drug abuse, which she successfully overcame in 1996. In addition to these projects, she starred in a Prince-produced European TV special called The Beautiful Experience, consisting of a loose storyline to promote new material from Prince (most of which would be released throughout the next few years).

Later work
Gaye appeared alongside other artists to re-record and release her father's single "What's Going On" to benefit AIDS research in 2001. That same year, she began her acting career, debuting in Michael Mann's Ali. In 2002, she replaced Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash shortly after the filming of The Matrix sequels began, for the role of Zee, the wife of Harold Perrineau's character Link.

At one point, she worked with R. Kelly on two as-yet-unreleased singles, "Work It" and "Just Because," which interpolates the Gap Band's "Oops Up Side Your Head." In July 2006, Gaye was added to the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent as a replacement for Courtney B. Vance as the new Assistant District Attorney. However, just as the series began production for its sixth season, she left the show, citing "creative differences." Gaye was replaced by Theresa Randle, who left after filming only two episodes.

In 2008, three tracks by Gaye appeared for sale at AmieStreet.com in EP form. Titled Language of Love, it contains the tracks "Quarter to Three" and "Midas Lover," along with the title track.

Awards/nominations

 * Black Reel Awards
 * 2002, Best Supporting Actress: Ali (Winner)
 * 2006, Best Actress: The Gospel (Nominated)
 * Image Awards
 * 2004, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: The Matrix Revolutions (Nominated)

Albums

 * Love for the Future (Third Stone/Atlantic, 1992)
 * Language of Love (AmieStreet.com, 2008)

Singles

 * "I'm Overjoyed" (Third Stone/Atlantic, 1992)
 * "The Things That We All Do for Love" (Third Stone/Atlantic, 1993)
 * "Love Sign" (duet with Prince) (NPG, 1994)
 * "A Woman has to have it" (1-800-NEW-FUNK) (NPG, 1994)