The Beginning:

Wanya Jermaine Morris was born on July 29, 1973 in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was born to Carla Morris and Dallas Thornton. Rumor has it, that Wanya chose to keep his mom's last name because "it would sound cool in the music business." Wanya has one brother, Keri, and two sisters, Serene and Dorothy. Wanya's biological parents were never actually married, and broke up when Wanya was young. Wanya's dad, Dallas, then got married to Wanya's stepmother, Jacqueline Thornton. Just like the three other fellas, Wanya's family encouraged him to sing from the start. But, they also wanted him to have something else career-wise in mind if singing did not work out. Wanya's second love was drawing, (he drew the cover of the II album, the one of the tattoos on his arm and the tattoo on Carla's arm). Also just like the three other members, Wanya's childhood was not full of happy times. He lived in the projects of Philadelphia, The Richard Allen Projects, Germantown when he was around nine years old, and Nicetown after that. At Germantown, Wanya sometimes did not have phone or even hot water. While Wanya's mother had a boyfriend (the father of his brother and sister), he was constantly getting beatings from him with no explanation why. Once his mother and boyfriend parted, they moved back to the projects. Wanya always hated living in the hard life of the ghetto, just like his mother did. His mother was having tough times during Wanya's childhood, but now she is much better thanks to Wanya's superstar status. While in junior high, Wanya dreamt of becoming the superstar he is today constantly. Most of those dreams were fueled by the TV show, Fame, where kids at a performing arts high school were constantly singing through the halls and basically having a good time.

When Wanya got to the Creative and Performing Arts High School, his expectations of Fame were met. People were singing in the halls and having a good time seeing their old friends again. Since the school was small, it was more like a family then a high school to Wanya. Wanya had two high school chums, Eric McMichael and Thomas Cherry. Eric was with him at junior high and he was a cute guy. Since Wanya can sing, and Eric was cute, girls were surrounding them constantly which would also be the story of Wanya's high school life. Tom was also a childhood friend and is still a friend of Wanya today. When Wanya was going to the Creative and Performing Arts High School, he missed Tom so much that he made him enroll at the Creative and Performing Arts High School in his Junior year. Once Tom got to CAPA, Wanya says it was full of "girls, games and fun." Wanya and Tom shared many great high school experiences together, but one stands out in his mind. Here's what he told Rita Henderson, the author of The Boyz II Men Success Story, Defying the Odds: Wanya, Tom, and another friend named Dennis were walking home from school one day and some bullies were chasing other guys while they and three girls were walking. To avoid the bullies, they crossed the street. Then, the bullies started to follow Wanya and his crew. So Tom came to the conclusion that they were going to have to fight them. So, the guys gave their stuff to the girls, and the bullies asked Tom and Wanya if they were brothers and they said yes, even though it was not true. Then the big bully asked one of the girls if she was with Wanya, and she said yes, and put her arm around him. The bully didn't like that, so he swung and they all ran. After that ordeal, Wanya and Tom used the bully experience to try and get the girls to make out with them at Wanya's house the next morning. They accepted, so Wanya straightened up his house, killed roaches, etc. Since they knew they would be late for school the next day, they told their choir teacher that they had a doctor's appointment, and their choir teacher told them that they had to be at school by eighth period. Once school was going to begin, the girls left and Wanya and Tom stayed at his house. To Wanya's surprise, his mother came out and went crazy that they were still home. To make sure they would not get in trouble at school, she wrote a doctor's note for both of them since people thought they were brothers. When they got to school, the school security guard was standing right there and asked to see the note. Once he read it, he called Miss Savitz, the principal. She told them that since they were brothers she needed their phone number, but Wanya didn't have a phone number, but Tom did, so Tom gave her a wrong number. Wanya told him that she wouldn't call, but she did. When they got to school the next day, the school security guard was waiting for them and sent them to Miss Savitz's office. She then looked through all of the schools records and found Tom's real phone number. When she found his phone number, she knew that Wanya and Tom were not blood brothers. Miss Savitz was then thinking the worst, about kicking them out of school for lying. She sent Tom back to class, but made Wanya stay in the office with her. Miss Savitz was about to call Wanya's dad, but he started to cry since he knew he could get out of everything if he cried. It worked, and he got off with a warning, and was not expelled from CAPA. While Wanya was in high school, he described himself as sometimes being moody, and he loved being ham, which is still the same today!

Once Wanya was in Boyz II Men when he was only a Freshman, he already loved the way that Nate and his boys handled girls. Before Tom got there, Nate and his guys ran the school. Once Nate and Mike graduated in 1990, only Shawn and him were left, so Wanya got a little lonely without one half of the group there with him. Wanya described Shawn in high school as a guy that was cool, but would never get into trouble like he and Tom did. Since Wanya was missing his fellas a lot, he barely did his work, and was constantly in trouble, so he did not graduate from The Creative and Performing Arts High School like the rest of Boyz II Men did. Once Shawn had graduated, Wanya knew the time for him at that school had come and he was right. He was expelled. Wanya was sent to one school, and he didn't like it, so he was then transferred to William Penn High School in Philly. He spent half a semester there and later moved to Willingboro, New Jersey where he then graduated from Willingboro High School. Once Wanya graduated, he was ready for the success to come pouring in.

"We want to make music to ease your mind."

Wanya "Squirt" Morris seems to be the same guy that he was before fame struck; a happy go lucky guy who just loves the spotlight. He is known for being the "emotional boy" in Boyz II Men and being the leader in such songs as "End of the Road," and "On Bended Knee." Wanya is also known as the youngest fella in the group and the guy that has the most flamboyant style. He has a two tattoos' on his left arm (I think it is his left). One tattoo was made by him and it is a design of a lion and a snake type thing and the other is a tattoo of his daughter's name, Benee. No one knows the mother of his daughter, but it's none of our business, so Wanya does have a baby girl. After high school ended for Wanya, his educational goals were basically shut down. Wanya actually never wanted him to go to college, his family did. Wanya now says that once Boyz II Men came to be a huge success, basically starting in 1992 with "End of the Road," his life was getting better and better, like it should when monster success happens. Wanya thinks that his fame did not effect the way his friends treat him now since they thought that a kid from the projects couldn't get as big as he as gotten. Wanya tries to fulfill his friends wishes as much as possible, only when he has the time though.

Wanya has basically been the most publicized member of the group not only for his beautiful voice, but also for a relationship that he had with Brandy, a popular R&B singer. The friendship started back in 1994 when Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You" was ruling both Billboard's R&B Singles Chart and The Pop Singles Chart. After being a few weeks at #1 on the R&B chart, Brandy's debut hit, "I Wanna Be Down," dethroned them off of only the R&B Singles Chart. Wanya then called Brandy, and congratulated her on taking them from the number one position. In 1995, she was one of the opening acts for the Boyz II Men All Around the World Tour. They got closer because of that. Two years later, when Brandy turned 18, the two started to date. I don't know the details, but the two were called "inseparable," and they were even rumored to be engaged. But, in January of 1998, they supposedly broke up and their relationship was over. Wanya never really talks about Brandy, but Brandy talked a lot about Wanya and most of the songs on her album, Never Say Never, are about Wanya. Who knows what would have happened if they had gotten married.....

Not only is Wanya a talented musician, but he also has a business-side to him even though in the beginning of Boyz II Men he wanted nothing to do with the business. Wanya owns two insurance agencies, which I have no idea about what they are called. With the other fellas, he owns part of Groove, their clothing line. He is the guy that wears the clothing line the least compared to Nate, Mike, and Shawn. They all also own a part of the Motown Cafe, BUT since they left Motown in early 1999, they might not own a part of the cafe anymore, I don't know for sure.

Just like Mike, Wanya is going to be in a movie in the spring of 1999. The movie is called An Invited Guest, and from what I have heard, he has a longer part then Mike did in Hoodlum and How to be a Player in 1997. He plays Mo, a friend of one of the characters in the movie. He is also rumored to be on the soundtrack of the movie. There is not much info on this yet, but once the movie comes out, there will be more info here.

Now you know even more about the man we call Wanya Morris. This guy is a huge talent and if he was not in Boyz II Men, I think the group would not be the same without him. He brings out the emotional side of the group which means letting his emotions run wild at all times. He has lived through many trials and tribulations only at the age of 25. From being a poor kid in the projects, getting kicked out of the high school where he got into Boyz II Men, and now being the "voice of the a R&B generation," (as said about Wanya when he was on MTV's The Cut in 1998).

Wanya Quick Facts:

Full Name: Wanya Jermaine Morris

Birthday: July 29, 1973

Favorite Color: ???????

Old Nickname: Squirt

Pet: A dog named Creme which is a sharpei

*Interesting Fact*: Wanya found out that he was allergic to sea food when he ate scallops in 1997 and broke out in a lot of rashes.

Weird Fact: When Boyz II Men had their Evolution Release Party in 1997 on a boat, Wanya wouldn't let the boat go out in the ocean because he was scared. Aww!!!

*Some information has been taken from The Boyz II Men Success Story, Defying the Odds & Us II You Some sources could be wrong, so please excuse me if there are any major or minor mistakes. Also, if you have a Boyz II Men web site, don't even think about taking this biography, logo or background from my page and putting it on yours. I made this on my own and I personally hate it when I see my hard work on someone else's web page. Thank You.

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