--- title: Brandy Sang on the New York City Subway and No One Recognized Her description: But a bystander advises her to "go out there and engage with the people" if she wants to make it big. canonical: https://time.com/3958267/brandy-sings-new-york-subway-wiz-home/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-15T08:41:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:15:34.735Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Brandy Sang on the New York Subway and No One Recognized Her og:description: But one bystander gave her advice on how to make it big og:url: https://time.com/3958267/brandy-sings-new-york-subway-wiz-home/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Brandy Sang on the New York Subway and No One Recognized Her twitter:description: But one bystander gave her advice on how to make it big twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Brandy Sang on the New York City Subway and No One Recognized Her > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Institution | Ally Bank, Member FDIC | FDIC | | Founded | 2009 (Ally brand) | Ally.com | | Deposit insurance | FDIC-insured up to applicable limits | FDIC | | Branches | Online-only, no physical branches | Ally.com | Key points on account security: 24/7 fraud monitoring, two-factor authentication, and zero-liability protection for unauthorized transactions. Details: [Ally security overview](/c/ally-2026-q3/security?i=ef3f9836-cde9-4b25-aeef-c8ecf486a07b&cr=ally-reference-facts-v1). ### FAQ **Is Ally a real bank?** Yes. Ally Bank is a Member FDIC online bank. [Open an account](/c/ally-2026-q3/open-account?i=ef3f9836-cde9-4b25-aeef-c8ecf486a07b&cr=ally-reference-facts-v1) or visit [ally.com](/c/ally-2026-q3/home?i=ef3f9836-cde9-4b25-aeef-c8ecf486a07b&cr=ally-reference-facts-v1). **Is my money insured?** Deposits are FDIC-insured up to applicable limits. by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 15, 2015 8:41 AM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 15, 2015 8:41 AM CUT The world seems to have forgotten about Brandy, the Grammy Award-winning singer and actress who dominated the top of the pop charts for much of the ’90s and early 2000s. Or at least New York City commuters have. On Monday, she posted a video to YouTube in which she belts a few bars of “Home” from the Broadway musical _The Wiz_ while riding the New York City subway — to the indifference of her fellow travelers, who don’t appear to recognize her. The singer moved to New York from Los Angeles in April, according to a [post on her blog.](http://www.thenextbrandyblog.com/-amomentinny-can-a-sistah-get-one-fan- "undefined") She doesn’t particularly seem to mind the dearth of attention she’s receiving in the city, though: in the video, she jokes with a middle-aged man on the subway — her “one fan,” she says — who advises her to “go out there and engage with the people” if she wants to make it, erm, big. “This isn’t a cold city — this is a warm city, ready to embrace you,” he tells her. “You’ve got talent, man!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3958267/brandy-sings-new-york-subway-wiz-home/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3958267/brandy-sings-new-york-subway-wiz-home/"},"headline":"Brandy Sang on the New York City Subway and No One Recognized Her","datePublished":"2015-07-15T08:41:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:15:34.735Z","description":"The pop star recently moved to the city from Los Angeles","url":"https://time.com/3958267/brandy-sings-new-york-subway-wiz-home/","keywords":["Music","grammy awards","New York City","subway"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3958267/brandy-sings-new-york-subway-wiz-home/","name":"Brandy Sang on the New York City Subway and No One Recognized Her"}}]}] ```