Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Ali
Ali at the Streamy Awards on April 11, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Tatyana Marisol Ali
Also known as	Tatyana M. Ali
Born	(1979-01-24) January 24, 1979 (age 38) North Bellmore, New York, U.S.
Genres	R&B
Occupation(s)	Actress, Fashion Modeling, singer
Years active	1985–present
Labels	MJJ/Work/SME

Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) is an American actress, model and R&B singer, who is best known for her role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. From 2010 to 2012, she starred as Tyana Jones on the TV One original sitcom Love That Girl!, and had a recurring role as Roxanne on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless from 2007 to 2013.

Ali was born in North Bellmore, New York, the eldest daughter (she has two younger sisters) Anastacia and Kimberly. Her mother is Afro-Panamanian and her father is Indo-Trinidadian.

By the age of six, she had begun her acting career, as a regular child performer on Sesame Street starting in 1985, even appearing with Herbie Hancock in a musical number. She also appeared twice on Star Search. She made her breakthrough when she was cast as Ashley Banks for the television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990. She sang on various episodes of the show, including a heavily altered version of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and the original song, "Make Up Your Mind" produced by Robert Jerald of N'Spyre Music Productions. Will Smith asked her if she seriously considered pursuing a musical career. Despite her singing ability, she concentrated on her acting career on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air the next few years. In the final season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1995–96), Ali began preparing herself for her musical debut. The result was the album Kiss The Sky, which was certified gold in early 1999. The album spawned the hit song "Daydreamin'", released July 21, 1998, produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK Singles Chart.