Maria Howell began singing at age 13 in a choir at church. She has a degree in biology from Winston-Salem State University (in Winston-Salem).

She worked as a jazz singer and made her debut at the film in The Color Purple (1985). From 1995 to 2001, she lived in Okinawa, Japan, where she performed a musical career. She has made appearances in the Fall Dead Diva series, American Wives, The Game, The Diva of the couch and Vampire Diaries, and has been the co-star of such films as Daddy's Little Girls, Mississippi Damned (in ), The Blind Side and What to Expect If You're Expecting a Child.