Tyra Banks was born to father Don Banks and Carolyn London. She spent initial years of her life in Inglewood but later she joined a school in Los Angeles, California, Immaculate Heart High School. At that age Tyra was very thin and considered very ugly among her mates which was putting her into a kind of depression.

Later Tyra Banks tried for modeling chance in many agencies but was rejected in all of them, some had problem with her big forehead and others with her thin body. When Tyra was 17, She got her first break through when she got a modeling chance for Elite Management. She used this chance to the fullest possible and as a result lot of other modeling offers started coming her way. From that time she never had to look back.

Till now Tyra Banks has graced the runway and print media with her appearance for brand names like Pepsi, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria’s Secret, Cover girl, Swatch, Michael Kors, Anna Sui, Liz Claiborne, Lenscrafers and many others. Tyra has graced the covers of magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Sports Illustrated, Essence, ELLE. In modeling world, she is mostly known for her work in Victoria’s secret model and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model.

In 2005, Tyra Banks retired from modeling world because she wanted to concentrate more on her appearance on TV shows in which she entered in 2000. Tyra started her TV show career with performance in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Later she appeared in some more TV shows like Felicity, MADtv, Wild 'N Out . But what has made her really popular is the TV reality show America, ”America’s Next Top Model”. She is the hostess for this show and judge, executive producer as well. This show work under a slogan “Every woman has a story”. Tyra is running one more show “The Tyra Banks show” . She even worked as as a patron for TZONE which enhances self-empowerment in girls aspiring to become leaders in their community.

Tyra Banks has performed for many famous music videos, Michael Jackson's "Black or White", George Michael's "Too Funky" and Lionel Richie video to name a few. Later Tyra started singing herself, her first single was “Shake Ya Baby” in which she gave the opportunity of American’s Next Top Model contestants to perform. Next she recorded single with NBA star Kobe Bryant. She has also acted in some movies, though her roles were small but she made an impressive appearance. She worked in Higher Learning, Disney film Life-Size, Coyote Ugly, Halloween: Resurrection, Love Stinks.

As most celebrities, Tyra Banks too has not been so successful and satisfied in finding a dreammate. Earlier she has dated many high profile people like director John Singleton, musician Seal, basketball player Chris Webber, investment banker Craig Davis. Though none of the relationship lasted long. So now she is looking for a person who is far from the glamour world. As being a good for heart, she provide scholarship Tyra Banks Scholarship for african- amercian girls to attend their alma mater.