Normani was far from a household name before Sunday night (May 20). She has a hit record with Khalid right now, but that's about it for her solo recognition. Her group work is much better known to fans, but we'll get to that in a moment. Sunday was her chance to shine. She performed on the Billboard Music Awards, one of the industry's biggest nights. Normani grabbed that opportunity with everything she had. By the end of the night, she emerged as one of the biggest upcoming stars in pop and R&B music.

Breakout performance

Normani performed with another popular R&B singer, Khalid.

Together, they created the song "Love Lies," a hit from the "Love, Simon" soundtrack. But she was the real star of the act. Before that, however, she was strutting her stuff on the red carpet. She looked fierce in a look that screamed freedom from the shackles of her former musical career.

She saved her best for the stage, though, spearheading a performance that could be described as provocative. In some ways, it's reminiscent of the music video Khalid and Normani shot for the song. Unquestionably, it was one of the most buzzed-about performances of the BBMAs.

Not only did she show off her singing skills, she also showed off her dancing talent, doing some moves people can only dream of executing.

Normani's name blew up on Twitter, becoming one of the most talked about stars of the evening. Even K-Pop superstars BTS were shaken by what the former Fifth Harmony singer was throwing down.

Normani going solo

She's not some solo artist who came out of nowhere, of course.

Normani used to be a member of the popular girl group Fifth Harmony. The group came together in 2012, during the second season of the United States version of "The X Factor." The group found instant success, but soon fractured due to a desire for solo success, prompted by Camila Cabello's departure. Two months ago, the group officially went on hiatus.

Since then, "Love Lies" is the only song Normani's come out with. She's also competed on "Dancing With the Stars" and appeared in Khalid's music video for "Young, Dumb & Broke." Additionally, she's said to be having new music on the way featuring one of the great female emcees of all-time, Missy Elliott. Normani proved this week that she's going to make it big as a solo artist. Whether or not she'll be as big as Camila Cabello remains to be seen. But doubting these former Fifth Harmony members is a bad proposition.
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