Biography

NORWOOD YOUNG
Biography
L.A. City Beat Magazine inducted him “The King of Hancock Park!” Norwood Young doesn‟t just live up to but
thrives within his royal Hollywood socialite status. A longtime veteran of the entertainment business, he started
singing at 6 and got his first big break on “Star Search.” He later became owner a very lucrative nightspot Club
Collage in Germany, saw the world as a singer on both concert stages (as one-time lead singer of the R&B/Jazz band
Pieces of a Dream on its gold-selling single, “What Can I Do”) and Broadway musical theatre stages also Jimmy
“Thunder” Early in an off-Broadway revival of “Dreamgirls”, and was a regular on the reality TV series “High
Maintenance 90210” (on the E! channel).
Norwood literally whizzed through life in the fast lane. He made fast friends with and worked with the biz‟s biggest
stars. His lavish estate – “Youngwood Court,” on the corner of Muirfield & 3 rd in Los Angeles - playing host to
some of the most legendary and elaborate "theme" parties, is a much whispered about “in” place of plush decadence
among the Mimosa and Beluga Black power elite – outright infamous for its 20 replica statues of Michelangelo‟s
“David” surrounding the property...
From the outside peeping in, Norwood‟s life looked to be the envy of all who aspire to grand days and erotic nights
of style and sparkle. Unbeknownst to the voyeurs, thick, choking coats of silver spoon- ladled varnish coated the
inner core of Young‟s life – a sick serial of sexual abuse, drug and alcohol abuse , loneliness, self-mutilation
(through multiple plastic surgeries)…and shame. In his torrid autobiography “Getting Back to My Me: The
Chronicles of Norwood Young” (self-published via Norwood Publishing, available November 1 ), the humble yet
still fabulous personality seeks to set the record straight about his twisted past with the hope of helping others speak
up about their pain to ensure their healing.
“Writing this book was such a cleansing and freeing experience,” he states. “Revealing my truths forced me to not
only hold others accountable for what they'd done to me, but to also hold myself accountable for my actions in order
to move forward to garner the life I desired."
Throughout his high profile career, Ewing Township, New Jersey-native Norwood Young has always used music to
express profound messages from the events of his life. When controversy first reared its ugly head surrounding his
choice to erect the naked statues of David, Norwood fired off a searing single and video titled “Stand Up For
Something” flexing his right of free speech. And he practiced what he preached. The late, great attorney Johnnie
Cochran took on ALL of Norwood‟s property-related cases - pro bono - when neighbors fought tooth and nail to
have the statues and/or Norwood removed from the neighborhood, and won every one of them. Basking in
resounding triumph, and 10 years later, LA City Beat Magazine in a star-studded ceremony, Norwood was deemed
"King of Hancock Park," where he received official proclamations from city councilmen Tom Labonge and
Bernard C. Parks for his steadfast refusal to be denied his right to Freedom of Expression. So what Norwood is
doing now is nothing new or opportunistic – it has great precedent. Just as the book is titled “Getting Back to My
Me,” so are his February-slated CD and its uplifting anthem of a title track.
Behind the bravado of the man who stayed “dressed to kill” and whose court has included the late Phyllis Hyman,
Jennifer Lopez, Loretta Devine, Millie Jackson, BeBe Winans, Niecy Nash, Jerry Springer, Michael
Strahan, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Darius McCrary, Sherri Shepherd, Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell Martin –
among many others - lived a little boy ever in search of relief from keeping a burning secret…and a desire to be
truly understood. Known in friendly circles as “Crazy Norwood” the party king, His Royal Highness had his whole
kingdom fooled. That circus (please find a replacement term for circus...) brought both positive and negative people
into his life.
On the negative side was author Karrine Steffans who, within the opening chapter “A Man Named Norwood” of
her tawdry tell all “The Vixen Diaries,” exploited a sincere friendship merely to sell more books. Norwood
addresses this in his chapter “A Woman Called Superhead,” only unlike Steffans; he refuses to stoop to her level of
dirt dishing.
On the positive side, Norwood is dear friends with superstar Natalie Cole. On the day HE was being inducted as
“The King of Hancock Park,” he took time to honor her with a lovingly sculpted crystal award she accepted on his
property at the event - her first public appearance while recovering from kidney disease. It was her father, Nat
“King” Cole, who first integrated the “exclusive” Los Angeles neighborhood (whose home was on the same street
as Norwood‟s) when he moved his family there back in 1949.
It is compassion, love and support such as this that has buoyed Norwood through episodes such as complete
strangers on social networking sites publicly yet anonymously writing malicious asides about him - painting him
with scarlet monikers such as „Prince of Darkness,‟ „Butt Chin‟ and „Michael Jackson's lost brother.‟ “Getting Back
to My Me” triumphantly reveals how Norwood has been able to overcome such incessant misunderstanding of who
and what he is, ultimately ascending from victim to victorious!
It took two years for Norwood to write his book but decades of his life to work through to arrive at the point where
he could tell a story that would encourage and inspire. He also writes of an apprehensive radio interview he did with
now TV dish queen Wendy Williams that resulted in what he describes as a "friendly relationship.” Beyond the
book, Norwood also allowed video to roll of himself in the plastic surgeon‟s chair to make vividly and nakedly clear
the changes he sadly felt he needed to inflict upon himself, and the painful process of reconstructing it all back to the
way he was meant to be –" the way God meant for him to be."
Shining brighter than ever now via his purposed “cause celebre,” Norwood Young is reveling in several autonomous
new endeavors, including his thought-provoking reality webisodes “Just Norwood” (on
www.justnorwoodmusic.com). However, “Getting Back to My Me” is also about Norwood getting back to music, a
prime example being his infectious latest single, “I Fell in Love with You First.”
Notorious Norwood Young intends for his tome to be as life-changing for others as the process of writing it has been
for him. “My hope is for every reader that relates to my story vow to never keep secrets regarding any form of being
violated. They can manifest into horrible, life altering things... I also want them to internalize that it's never too late
to find your 'me!' I found my 'me' - and now I am living my best life on my own terms."
Getting Back to My Me
By Norwood Young with Karen Hunter
Published November 2010
Hardcopy 208 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9826441-7-1
Publisher: Norwood Publishing
Available at Amazon.com and www.justnorwoodmusic.com
“Getting Back to My Me" ...The Chronicles of Norwood Young (self-published via Norwood Publishing,
available November 2010), this humble yet ever-fabulous personality seeks to set the record straight about his
twisted past regarding sexual and drug abuse and self mutilation with the hope of helping others speak up about
their pain to ensure their healing. Behind the bravado of the man who stayed “dressed to kill” and whose court has
included Phyllis Hyman, Jennifer Lopez, Loretta Devine, BeBe Winans, Niecy Nash, Jerry Springer, Michael
Strahan, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Darius McCrary, Sherri Shepherd, Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell-Martin –lived a little boy ever in search of relief from keeping a burning secret… Known in friendly circles as the party king,
His Royal Highness had his whole kingdom fooled. That world and existence attracted positive and negative people
into his life. On the negative side was author Karrine Steffans who, within her tawdry tell all “The Vixen Diaries” –
in the opening chapter “A Man Named Norwood” no less - exploited a sincere friendship just to sell books.
Norwood addresses this in his chapter “A Woman Called Superhead,” On the positive side; Norwood is dear
friends with superstar Natalie Cole. On the day HE was being inducted as “The King of Hancock Park,” Norwood
took time to honor her with a lovingly sculpted crystal award she accepted at the event - her first public appearance
while recovering from kidney disease. It was her father, Nat “King” Cole, who first integrated the “exclusive” Los
Angeles neighborhood when he moved his family there back in 1949 – in a house four doors down from where
Norwood lives now. It is compassion, love and support such as this that has buoyed Norwood through harrowing
episodes such as complete strangers on social networking sites anonymously writing malicious asides about him painting him with scarlet monikers such as „Prince of Darkness,‟ „Butt Chin‟ and „Michael Jackson‟s Lost Brother.‟
“Getting Back to My Me” triumphantly reveals how Norwood has been able to overcome such incessant
misunderstanding of who and what he is, ultimately ascending from victim to victorious. It took two years for
Norwood to write his book but decades of his life to work through to arrive at the point where he could tell a story
that would encourage and inspire, including a great story about how he flipped an initially apprehensive expose‟
interview with deep dish TV queen Wendy Williams into what he now describes as “a friendly relationship.”
Notorious Norwood Young intends for his tome to be as life-changing for others as the process of writing it has been
for him. “
Singer Norwood Young Defends Wendy Williams' "Intimidating" Shock
Jock Days
Singer and reality star Norwood Young has always admired bubbly television host Wendy Williams, but he told Niteside ahead of his appearance on her show that many others
found her intimidating during her radio days.
“Wendy on the radio was much more abrasive,” said Young, who was also interviewed by Williams three and a half years ago while he was on the E! reality show, “High
Maintenance 90210.". “Radio allowed her to dig a little deeper in her gossip and it was less censored. So a lot of people were intimidated by Wendy.”
The Hollywood recording artist dished on the daytime talk show mogul at celeb hangout Sugar Bar just a few weeks before he launches his new memoir, “Getting Back to My
Me,” on the Wendy Williams Show January 27th.
Young, brother of convicted NBA-star Jayson Williams' estranged wife Tanya, is known for his stellar Hollywood parties and being lead singer of smooth Jazz group Pieces of A
Dream in the 80s and 90s. He was bestowed the title “King of Hancock Park” by L.A. Beat Magazine in 2008 after real estate drama in the neighborhood and during the
ceremony, long-time friend Natalie Cole affectionately described him “crazy. He does his own thing and he's his own person. That's why we like him. And he throws great
parties.”
The recording artist looked over his peppermint tea to continue describing his impression of the shock jock, who was often criticized for her on-air spats with celebrities.
“She was an in-your-face kind of a gossip person. If there was any rumor or speculation no matter how personal – she and Whitney Houston had a huge falling out on air
because Wendy went right for, 'are you on crack?” Young said, referring to the January 2003 interview that left Whitney steamed for years and Williams disappointed.
“[Williams] has enough balls or enough guts to do that... anything that could be true or not true, she approached it. With great Wendyism.”
Currently, Young is less known for his music and more for Hollywood shenanigans that stemmed from an abusive past he opens up about in his new book.
“I was not [intimidated by Williams]” said Young. “I knew that I was fair game, dealing with plastic surgeries, dealing with a lot of issues.”
Like Williams, Young has also been criticized in the media. The recording artist struggled through a dark five-year period after traumatic childhood sexual abuse that led him to
“self-mutilate” his face with plastic surgery, dabble in drugs and abandon music. To bloggers, he was that troubled Hollywood reality star with 20 replicas of Michelangelo's
David lining his driveway (it's symbolic, think David & Goliath), an odd plastic face and eccentric style.
Hurt by gossip about him and motivated to change, Young has since had the plastic surgery undone, returned to singing, and written a memoir to help abuse victims or other
struggling to find their way..
“I was tired of the drugs, I had been through hell and back-- there has to be more to life than this... I got back to my 'me' internally, I got back to my 'me' externally,” he said.
BY SARA DOVER // WEDNESDAY, DEC 29, 2010 AT 10:45 EST
Home » Entertainment » Celebrity Spotlight
Celebrity Spotlight
5 Questions for Norwood Young on 'Getting Back'
Friday, January 14, 2011 | 11:45 AM
by Quassan Castro
Riveting and shocking are the best words fit to describe Norwood Young's tell-all memoir, "Getting
Back To My Me." Young speaks candidly about his experiences in Hollywood, drug and alcohol
abuse, being raped as a child, and his former obsession with plastic surgery.
ESSENCE.com sat down with the singer and reality television star -- on E's "High Maintenance
90210" -- to take a closer look into "Getting Back To My Me."
ESSENCE.com: The title of the book is "Getting Back To My Me." What does that mean?
NORWOOD YOUNG: I chose the title because it is reflective of where I am in my life. In life we can
sometimes lose our "me." Our "me" is our passion and the core of who we are.
ESSENCE.com: How did you muster the courage to speak about your child abuse?
YOUNG: I felt it was my job as a public person to let people know what I endured. I have a mission
to help other people through my journey. I knew I had to be strong enough to facilitate my mission.
ESSENCE.com: What are some of the challenges you had to endure in your life?
YOUNG: I was raped and molested from age seven to fifteen or sixteen by a male relative. I carried
that weight for many years. I didn't want to destroy my close family. I don't know what made me think
I could carry that weight for so many years. In my life it manifested into drug abuse, jail, and selfmutilation through plastic surgery.
ESSENCE.com: Pulitzer Prize-winner Karen Hunter co-authored the book. Were there any
particular moments where you could not reflect on your childhood?
YOUNG: Yes. I had blocked out so much of my stuff, but when I started speaking with Karen it
forced me to remember events. I would wake up in the middle of the night and start remembering
things that took place in my childhood.
Initially, I was going to do a book that addressed my issues with Karrine Stephens, though Karen
Hunter suggested we put the focus on creating a book that would help myself and other people.
ESSENCE.com: What do you say when people make rude and insensitive remarks about your
plastic surgeries?
YOUNG: When I was doing it, it was from a place of darkness and hiding. I did it to hide from pain,
not for vanity. I was trying to run from the negative voices that were reminding me of being raped.
When Michael Jackson was getting plastic surgery constantly, I knew something else was going on
in his life. It's easy for people to ridicule, laugh and make fun, but it really didn't affect me. Also I've
had everything taken out so I can get back to my "me."
Norwood Young on His Revealing Memoir ‘Getting Back to My Me’
'King of Hancock Park' has epiphany that may help thousands.
by Ricardo Hazell ([email protected])
December 27, 2010
at 11:40 am
*Pain is the single most prevalent human attribute that this writer can think of. We would like for it to be love, and some of us fear that it is hate, but pain has struck
us all at one time or another. For Norwood Young that pain has ruled his mannerisms for so long that he didn‟t even know he was in pain.
Our Lee Bailey recently sat down and chatted with the former lead singer of R&B group Pieces of a Dream and Hollywood socialite about his book and initially we
thought this was going to be another book about betterment and so forth. We heard it all before, or so we thought.
With “Getting Back to My Me” Norwood talks about how and why people should get back to being themselves, and the things that got them off track in the first
place.
“What that (title) means is getting back to the crux of happiness,” he explained. “Sometimes we tend to lose ourselves in what life does. We find ourselves, in life,
in a place of not being happy and not knowing why we‟re not happy and what I‟ve learned through my years of experience is that not being happy is due to not
being ones „me‟. So, I‟ve done a lot of soul searching and a lot of growing up and found my me.
“I wrote the book because I desired to share with the world the fact that we can all find our me,” he continued. “We find ourselves caught up in sadness,
depression, insomnia and a lot of that is due to losing our me. Now sometimes our me is passion, sometimes it‟s talent.”
Finding or getting back to ones „me‟ sounds great. I once aspired to a better Magic Johnson than Magic Johnson himself, left-handed with a better jumpshot and
arguably better looking, but that dreamed was smothered in its crib. I just wasn‟t as good, or good-looking, as my „me‟ told me I was. How does one know when
finding ones „me‟ leads us through a minefield of disappointments?
“First of all, I‟ve been immensely blessed and I don‟t think a man who is blessed should keep from the world how he has been blessed,” said Young. “I came to the
point of finding my happiness, based upon finding my „me‟ and outside of people being nosey. So, I felt it necessary to find my „me‟ and show other people what
my „me‟ is.”
My „me‟ is my music; my passion is singing, in addition to writing. I had done that since I was 15 years-old, I was even on „Star Search.‟ At 16 years-old I had my
own record deal. My life was going as my „me‟ would have expected it to. I moved to Los Angeles and moved into this house and got caught up in a lot of things
that my me would not have wanted me to and 5 years went by and I realized my life hadn‟t moved. I seemingly had everything that people want; the great cars, the
great clothes, the great associates, but I was miserable. I had to stop myself and take a self break and reassess why I had done things that I had done and what I
had found was masking pain from rape and sexual molestation from the age of 7.”
The dark secret that too many African Americans ignorantly believed doesn‟t happen to black people has been rearing its demonic head a lot in the media as of
late. The sheer stupidity of that assumption has protected child molesters within the black community for decades. Young tells Mr. Bailey that its side-effects were
fueling his destructive behavior.
“I was on a path to self-destruction and I buried it for a number of years until I watched an episode of Oprah,” said Young. “It was in my early 20s and they were
discussing child molestation and rape and it became so relative to me because up to that point I had blacked it out. At this point I started acting out because I had
no one there to turn to. I was in this big house living the life and I started hearing voices in my head. It was the voice of the molester and I would here him call me
pretty boy and saying things to me he would when he was perpetrating the act.”
The human psyche is an amazing thing and when it is destroyed the effects are noticeable to everyone but the victim.
“In my sick mind I said „If I change my nose, get chin implants and change my exterior I will no longer hear that voice.‟ And it worked, but in the interim all my
friends and the blogs were talking about the freak that I had become. But that didn‟t bother me because I was no longer hearing those voices. I didn‟t care about
anybody questioning my exterior, but what I did care about was people questioning my spirit. According to the blogs I was demonic and I was this manufactured
monster. That made me search my soul and ask why would anyone say that about me.
People were talking about him like his name was dirt. Don‟t believe us? Google his name and you will find that more than half the hits are lowdown, dirty, we gotta
box right now, disrespectful. Personally, somebody would have gotten punched in the mouth, Uncle Lee concurs.
“There was this one incident where this one blogger said that if his young son was near me, he would tell him to cover his eyes because I was definitely dark and
demonic. So, I looked in the mirror, stared at myself and started to weep for quite some time because I saw exactly what this person was seeing. Not that I‟m
demonic and dark but what I had done to myself came from a demonic and dark place. That was the first spec of me getting back to being my me. Afterwards I
began to seek reconstructive surgery. As some people know, reconstructive surgeons are experts who put faces back together that are damaged due to trauma
and accidents. We began the process of rebuilding my face. We removed implants and cut cartalidge out of my nose to rebuild my face so I could go back to what
God gave me.”
Reverse reconstructive surgery? That‟s deeper than Atlantis, but if it helps someone truly heal from a decades old emotional gash then … go for it!
“I also started to get back to my me in terms of the people that I was around. I was abusing a lot of drugs, I went to jail, I was under house arrest, I went to rehab.
All of those things happened because I had lost my me. Part of losing my me was covering up with plastic surgery, covering up with drugs, covering it up with
insincere people. Because of that I cut all of those so called friends out of my life to get back to being my me. I‟m singing again, I‟m back recording again, I‟ve
written this book. I‟m on another journey and I‟m happier than I‟ve ever been. It‟s fun now because now I embrace all the things I deserve based on who I am and
who I was meant to be as opposed to the pretence. I‟ve always wanted finer things, but now it comes from a different place and it‟s appreciated from a different
place.”
For Norwood Young, also known as the “King of Hancock Park,” finding his „me‟ wasn‟t something that happened overnight. He told EURweb.com that his mission
was mapped out and extremely specific.
“When I began the journey of finding my me I was so specific I even created a list of the things that I needed to change. And one of those things were my friends or
associates. I actually had a party in the spirit of my book. I had a „re-barbeque.‟ That‟s what it said on the invitation. All of my friends, some of them I used to get
high with, I invited them to let them know I was on a new journey and that I was by no means judging. I had no right too. I wanted everybody to live their best life
but for me there were certain things I had to change. So, if you see me leaving the party its not because I‟m not having a good time, it‟s nothing personal. For me,
when everybody‟s high or drunk I‟m just not there anymore. I had this party explaining this and I will say I lost sixty percent of those people. But now what I have
attracted are like minds. A lot of those friends still get high, still get drunk, but they respect me and they value our friendship on different levels. The environment is
great and nobody is stealing from me anymore. I would have parties and crystal would be missing, toilet paper would be missing. Just the most ridiculous things.”
Stealing a brother‟s TP? Not at all cool. But we‟re happy to inform you that all the Charmin is safe and sound these days. But Norwood Young still has other things
he needs to straighten out … Karrine “Superhead” Seffans, for one. He says she said some very foul things about him in her memoirs.
“Had Karrine been truthful in her depiction of me and our relationship in her book there would be nothing else I can say,” he explained. “But to be betrayed and for
my character to be demeaned the way it was in her book I couldn‟t be quiet. Because one of the things about getting back to being my me is being completely
honest. I had thousands of people asking me why I didn‟t fight back, I couldn‟t do it until it was time. I had to do it in an environment, via my book, where I could tell
my truths. There were so many things I could have talked about that just weren‟t necessary. Since her book I‟ve never confronted her. I was only a friend to her
and for her to do what she did to me was unacceptable. If people say something that is not true then you fight that but there‟s nothing that I‟ve said in my book that
wasn‟t true.”
Despite all of the negatives that are highlighted and in “Finding My Me” the singer turned author tells us he has found his „me‟ and his new mission.
“Because of my transparency regarding rape and molestation, as timing would have it, we‟re hearing more and more about people being raped and molested on a
major level. Like Tyler Perry. People are speaking out,” he explained. “Right now I want to be the person that is approachable that you can talk to about this. Right
now California State Assemblyman Isadore Hall and I are looking to create a resolution that will not only give our children but abuse victim‟s a voice. First of all, the
statute of limitations doesn‟t run out, ever, on abuse. Part of closure for a lot of victims is being able to comeback at whatever point in their lives and seek to
prosecute the perpetrator. That‟s what this bill is designed to do. It will provide a anonymous hotline for victims, it will provide psychiatric care for free for those
victims and all of this stems from the book. I had no idea that I would one day be possibly going to Washington to try to pass the Norwood bill.”
“Getting back to My Me” by Norwood Young is now on sale at Amazon.com and other book stores. He‟s also recorded a single under that that title as well. You can
see the video for song immediately below. Norwood also says the album “Getting back to My Me” is slated for release in February.