Every artist wants to begin their musical story as the protagonist, but sometimes the opening chapters feature you first as the sidekick before you eventually become the hero.

Dionne Farris grew up knowing she wanted to do something in the creative arts. She took dance classes, sang in the school choir, and then studied photography in college. She joined a band in the late 1980s but when they couldn’t find a record deal she moved to Atlanta with her boyfriend, a drummer who would soon join the first incarnation of hip hop group Arrested Development.

Farris connected with super-producer Jermaine Dupri and quickly found herself writing songs and singing background vocals for TLC, Xscape, and El Debarge. She hadn’t launched a solo career, but at least she was working. She also shared management with the aforementioned Arrested Development and they, too, had yet to launch. But they were working on material, and in 1992, when songwriter Speech needed a little something extra for a track called “Tennessee,” he asked Farris to provide vocals. Of course, “Tennessee” went on to sell millions and win a Grammy, so that worked out well.

Suddenly, people very much wanted to be in the Dionne Farris business.

Columbia Records signed Farris to a deal and in January of 1995 released “I Know,” her first solo single. The song with the bluesy slide guitar hook hit the Top 5 in the US and garnered Farris her very own Grammy nomination. The opening chapters behind her, she no longer served as an ancillary character in someone else’s story — she had her own tale to tell.

So see if you can recognize the symptoms … with Dionne Farris.