Name	Nelly
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Cornell Haynes, Jr
Born	November 02, 1974Austin, Texas, United States
Origin	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Genre	Hip hop, pop, R&B;
Occupation	Rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, entrepreneur
Label	Derrty Entertainment, Universal Motown
Associated acts	St. Lunatics, T.I, Kelly Rowland, Diddy, Jermaine Dupri, Murphy Lee, Tim Mcgraw
Url

Cornell Haynes, Jr (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American hip hop recording artist, actor, and entrepreneur. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly made his solo debut in 2000 with Country Grammar, the title track of which was a top ten hit. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 and went on to peak at #1. Country Grammar is Nelly's best-selling album to date, selling over 8.4 million copies in the United States. His following album, Nellyville, produced the number-one hits "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma" featuring Kelly Rowland. Other singles included "Work It" featuring Justin Timberlake, "Air Force Ones" featuring Murphy Lee and the St. Lunatics, "Pimp Juice", and "#1".

With the same-day dual release Sweat and Suit (2004) and the compilation Sweatsuit (2006), Nelly continued to generate many chart-topping hits. Sweat debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 342,000 copies in its first week. On the same week of release, Suit debuted at number one selling around 396,000 copies in its first week on the same chart. Nelly's fifth studio album, Brass Knuckles, was released on September 16, 2008 after several delays. It produced the singles "Party People", featuring Fergie, "Stepped on My J'z" and "Body On Me", featuring Akon and Ashanti.

The rapper's sixth studio album, 5.0, was released on November 12, 2010. The album's lead single "Just a Dream" made its first chart appearance debuting on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number twelve and peaking at number seven in its third week.

He won Grammy Awards in 2003 and 2004 and had a supporting role in the 2005 remake film The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. He has two clothing lines, Vokal and Apple Bottoms. He has been referred to by Peter Shapiro as "one of the biggest stars of the new millennium", and the RIAA ranks Nelly as one of the best-selling male artists in American music history, with 21 million albums sold in the United States.On December 11, 2009, Billboard ranked Nelly the #3 Top Artist of the Decade.

Early life

Nelly was born Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. on November 2, 1974 in Austin, Texas. Nelly moved with his mother from the inner city to suburban St. Louis, Missouri as a teen and calls it home. While still in high school, Nelly formed the St. Lunatics, who enjoyed local popularity with their single "Gimme What Ya Got". When a major record deal failed to appear, Nelly decided to go solo.

2002–03: Nellyville and Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention

In 2002, Nelly's second album Nellyville was released, debuting at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Music Albums; its lead single "Hot in Herre" was a number-one hit. Other singles included "Dilemma" featuring Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child, "Work It" featuring Justin Timberlake, "Air Force Ones" featuring Murphy Lee and the St. Lunatics, "Pimp Juice", and "#1".

In 2003 Nelly released . It featured the hit single "Iz U" from the soundtrack to Walt Disney's The Haunted Mansion. The music video of a Tip Drill Remix became a source of controversy due to perceptions of misogynistic depictions of women. The controversy forced Nelly to cancel an appearance at a bone marrow drive at Spelman College, a historically black college in Atlanta, Georgia. Similar claims of misogyny also surrounded Nelly's single "Pimp Juice". RIAA have certified the album Platinum.

2004–05: Sweat and Suit

On September 14, 2004, Nelly released two albums, Sweat and Suit. Suit, an R&B-oriented; album, debuted at number one on the Billboard albums chart, and Sweat, a rap-oriented album, debuted at number two. From Suit, the slow ballad "Over and Over", an unlikely duet with country music star Tim McGraw, became a crossover hit. On the 2004 NBC television concert special Tim McGraw: Here and Now, McGraw and Nelly performed the song. A feud with another St. Louis-based rapper, Chingy, came up near the end of the year. Tsunami Aid: A Concert for Hope, a 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake benefit concert special produced by NBC, featured Nelly. In the winter of 2005 came Sweatsuit, a compilation of tracks from Sweat and Suit with three new tracks. "Grillz", produced by Jermaine Dupri, was a number-one hit. To date both albums have sold over 5 million units in the United States.

2008: Brass Knuckles

Brass Knuckles was released on September 16, 2008, after several delays, Initial release dates for the album targeted October 16 and November 13. Its original lead single was "Wadsyaname", a ballad-oriented track produced by Ron "NEFF-U" Feemstar and sampling the piano riff from "All My Life" by K-Ci & JoJo. In October 2009, Nelly did an interview with SOHH.com and said that the album was going to be released sometime in 2010. In April 2010, Nelly's cousin Michael Johnson was murdered in Missouri, Nelly said that he delayed releasing the album because of this. Guests featured on the album were, T-Pain, Chris Brown, Akon, Plies, T.I., Kelly Rowland, Birdman, DJ Khaled, Avery Storm and Diddy-Dirty Money. In May 2010, Nelly confirmed that the title of the album was 5.0. The album is scheduled to be released on November 16, 2010. The album's lead single "Just a Dream" was released on August 17, 2010, through iTunes along with the promotional single "Tippin' In da Club". The two songs were released to Mainstream and Rhythm/Crossover radio on August 10, 2010. "Just a Dream" made its first chart appearance debuting on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number twelve and peaking at number 3 in its fourth week. The song also debuted at number 3 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, selling 888,000 downloads in its first week. "Just a Dream" is Nelly's highest-charting song since his 2005 single "Grillz" and debuted at number 7 on the Billboard Rap Songs. The song entered the Canadian Hot 100 in August 2010, at number thirty-two It debuted in Australia (ARIA Charts) on the Singles Chart at number 3, in New Zealand Singles Charts at number twenty-nine, and in Switzerland (Media Control AG) at number fifty-two. The second single "Move That Body", which features T-Pain and Akon, was released on October 12, 2010. The song made its first chart appearance debuting on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number fifty-four and has reached a current peak at number twenty-nine in Australia. Nelly is featured on the second single by singer Mohombi titled "Miss Me", produced by RedOne. On November 13, 2010 Nelly appeared on the Pacquiao vs. Margarito pay-per-view, at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The St. Lunatics

The group was formed in 1993 and came out with their hit, "Gimmie What U Got" and "Thug Luv for the Homiez". Nelly joined rappers Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan and City Spud to form the group. Free City, recorded with the St. Lunatics, followed in 2001 with the single "Midwest Swing". Their debut album Free City (2001) has sold more than a million units in the United States. In 2009, the St. Lunatics were reportedly working on a new album City Free to be released in the summer of 2009 however the album has been pushed back to 2011. The first track called "St. Lunatics", was already leaked in early March 2009, other track leaked is "Get Low 2 Da Flo", produced by Play-N-Skillz. The first official single released from the album is "Money Talks" featuring rapper Birdman. The second official single released from the album is "Polo".

Rapping technique

Nelly’s rapping style has been described by Peter Shapiro as using "unforgettable hooks based on schoolyard songs, double-dutch chants, and nonsense rhymes" Allmusic suggests Nelly's style is based largely on where he comes from - "Nelly's locale certainly informs his rapping style, which is as much country as urban, and his dialect as well, which is as much Southern drawl as Midwestern twang". he generally writes in the studio rather than at home, he normally comes up with a chorus for a song before writing the verses, and he likes to write to the music he will be rapping over. Allmusic also notes his "tongue-twisting" hooks, which are also often sung rather than rapped. Nelly began listening to artists like Rakim, LL Cool J, Run–D.M.C., Outkast, Goodie Mob and Jay-Z. He became convinced that his gift for rap could be parlayed into a career. He has his own style of rap which he likes to describe as a jazz form of hip hop.

Other ventures

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Endorsements and business ventures

Nike and Nelly agreed on a one-year deal in 2003 to release a limited-edition sneaker called the "Air Derrty" which was a retro remake of Charles Barkley's signature sneaker. Nelly later signed a shoe deal with Reebok.

Nelly has done ads for Got Milk and the Ford Motor Company. His energy drink Pimp Juice sold one million cans during the first two months after its introduction in August 2003, and was criticized for its name by black consumer activists. Nelly owns Apple Bottoms, a female clothing line, and Vokal, which caters to men. He was one of the owners of the Charlotte Bobcats, along with Robert L. Johnson and Michael Jordan until Jordan became the new owner in March 2010.

Nelly has played the Main Event at the 2007 World Series of Poker. He has also played The PokerStars European Poker Tour and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/pca/2010/2010-pca-amfar-tournament-round-one-062976.html

In August, 2010, Nelly started a temporary stint as the afternoon host on WHHL HOT 104.1 in St. Louis. He is taking the place of regular PM drive personality, Stacy Static, who is on pregnancy leave. According STLtoday, the initial ratings for the show are very high. This gig garnered national attention in the Huffington Post and other websites.

On September 28, 2010, Nelly is releasing a fitness DVD entitled Celebrity Sweat, walking viewers through various exercises and weight training techniques.

Philanthropy

Nelly runs the non-profit organization "4Sho4Kids Foundation." The "Jes Us 4 Jackie" campaign began in March 2003 by Nelly and his sister Jackie Donahue after Donahue was diagnosed with leukemia. The campaign attempts to educate African-Americans and other minorities about the need for bone marrow transplants, and to register more donors. Donahue lost her battle with leukemia on March 24, 2005, almost two years after the campaign began.

Film and television career

Nelly's film debut came in 2001 in the independent film Snipes playing a famous rapper named Prolifik. His big movie role came in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. The soundtrack of the latter includes Nelly's song "Fly Away". In a June 2008 interview with Kiwibox.com, Nelly revealed that he is reluctant to continue his acting career, noting that he does not want to "take away from the culture of acting." In 2008 and 2009, Nelly appeared in episodes of the CBS crime drama .

Discography

Country Grammar (2000)

Nellyville (2002)

Sweat (2004)

Suit (2004)

Brass Knuckles (2008)

5.0 (2010)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Category:1974 births Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:African American sports executives Category:African American actors

Category:African American musicians Category:African American rappers Category:African American songwriters Category:Charlotte Bobcats Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Military brats Category:Musicians from Missouri Category:National Basketball Association executives Category:National Basketball Association owners Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:Rappers from St. Louis, Missouri Category:World Music Awards winners Category:American film actors Category:American pop singers Category:American record producers Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American soul singers Category:Hip hop singers

Name	Nelly Furtardo
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Nelly Kim Furtado
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Nelly Kim Furtado
Born	December 02, 1978
Origin	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, ukulele, trombone
Vocal range	Mezzo-soprano (Ab3-G5)
Genre	Pop, folk, pop rock, Latin pop, R&B;, dance-pop, hip hop, trip-hop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, actress
Years active	1996–present
Label	DreamWorks, Geffen, MMG, Universal Music Latino
Url
Associated acts	Juanes, Justin Timberlake, Tiësto, Timbaland, K'naan, Julieta Venegas, Alex Cuba

Nelly Kim Furtado (born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. She has sold 20 million albums worldwide. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Furtado came into the public eye in 2000 with the release of her debut album Whoa, Nelly!, which featured her breakthrough Grammy Award-winning single "I'm Like a Bird". After becoming a mother and releasing the less commercially successful Folklore (2003), she returned to prominence in 2006 with the release of Loose and its hit singles "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "All Good Things (Come to an End)" and "Say It Right". In 2009, she released her first full-length Spanish album Mi Plan, which won a Latin Grammy Award in 2010.

Early life

Furtado was born on December 2, 1978, in Victoria, British Columbia to Portuguese parents, Maria Manuela and António José Furtado, both emigrants from the Azores. She was named after Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim. Her siblings are Michael Anthony and Lisa Anne. She was raised in a Roman Catholic home.

At age four she began performing and singing in Portuguese. Furtado's first public performance was when she sang a duet with her mother at a church on Portugal Day. She began playing musical instruments at the age of nine, learning the trombone, ukulele and — in later years — the guitar and keyboards. At the age of 12, she began writing songs, She has stated that coming from a working class background has shaped her identity in a positive way.

Music career

1996–99: Musical beginnings

During a visit with her sister Lisa Anne in Toronto, the summer after eleventh grade, Furtado met Tallis Newkirk, member of the hip hop group Plains of Fascination. She contributed vocals to their 1996 album, Join the Ranks, on the track "Waitin' 4 The Streets". After graduating from Mount Douglas Secondary School in 1996, she moved to Toronto to reside with her sister Lisa Anne. The following year, she formed Nelstar, a trip hop duo with Newkirk. Ultimately, Furtado felt the trip-hop style of the duo was "too segregated" and believed it did not represent her personality or allow her to showcase her vocal ability. Her performance attracted the attention of The Philosopher Kings singer Gerald Eaton, who then approached her to write with him. He and fellow Kings member Brian West helped Furtado produce a demo. She left Toronto, but returned again to record more material with Eaton and West. The material recorded during these sessions led to her 1999 record deal with DreamWorks Records, where she was signed by A&R; executive Beth Halper, partner of Garbage drummer and record producer Butch Vig. Furtado's first single, "Party's Just Begun (Again)", was released that year on the .

2000–02: Whoa, Nelly!

Furtado continued the collaboration with Eaton and West, who co-produced her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, which was released in October 2000. Following the release of the album, Furtado headlined the "Burn in the Spotlight Tour" and also appeared on Moby's Area:One tour.

The album was an international success, supported by three international singles: "I'm like a Bird", "Turn off the Light", and "...On the Radio (Remember the Days)". It received four Grammy nominations in 2002, and her debut single won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Furtado's work was also critically acclaimed for her innovative mixture of various genres and sounds. Slant Magazine called the album "a delightful and refreshing antidote to the army of 'pop princesses' and rap-metal bands that had taken over popular music at the turn of the millennium". The sound of the album was strongly influenced by musicians who had traversed cultures and "the challenge of making heartfelt, emotional music that's upbeat and hopeful". According to Maclean's magazine, Whoa, Nelly! had sold six million copies worldwide as of August 2006. Portions of the song "Scared of You" are in Portuguese, while "Onde Estás" is entirely in Portuguese, reflecting Furtado's Portuguese heritage. The same year, Furtado provided her vocals to the Paul Oakenfold's song "The Harder They Come" from the album Bunkka and also made the song "These words are my own". She also had a collaboration with Colombian artist Juanes, in the song "Fotografia" where she showed her diversity of yet another language. Furtado was also featured in "Breathe" from Swollen Members "Monsters in the Closet" release; the video for "Breathe," directed by Spawn creator Todd MacFarlane, won the 2003 Western Canadian Music Awards Outstanding Video and MuchVIBE Best Rap Video.

2003–05: Folklore

Furtado's second album, Folklore, was released in November 2003. The final track on the album, "Childhood Dreams", was dedicated to her daughter, Nevis. The album includes the single "Força" (meaning "strength"/ "power" or "you can do it!" in Portuguese), the official anthem of the 2004 European Football Championship. Furtado performed this song in Lisbon at the championship's final, in which the Portugal national team played. The lead single is "Powerless (Say What You Want)" and the second single is the ballad "Try". The album was not as successful as her debut, partly due to the album's less "poppy" sound, as well as underpromotion from her label DreamWorks Records. DreamWorks had just been sold to Universal Music Group. In 2005, DreamWorks Records, along with many of its artists including Furtado, was absorbed into Geffen Records.

"Powerless (Say What You Want)" was later remixed, featuring Colombian rocker Juanes, who had previously worked with Furtado on his track "Fotografía" ("Photograph"). The two would collaborate again on "Te Busqué" ("I searched for you"), a single from Furtado's 2006 album Loose.

2006–08: Loose

Furtado's third album, named Loose, after the spontaneous, creative decisions she made while creating the album, was released in June 2006. In this album, primarily produced by Timbaland, Furtado experiments with sounds from R&B;, hip hop, and 1980s music. Furtado herself describes the album's sound as punk-hop, described as "modern, poppy, spooky" and as having "a mysterious, after-midnight vibe... extremely visceral". with some citing the "revitalising" effect of Timbaland on Furtado's music, and others calling it "slick, smart and surprising". Some have labeled her a "sellout" for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favour of hip hop and R&B;, while others have accused her of attempting to "sex up" her music and appearance to sell more records.

Loose has become the most successful album of Furtado's career so far, as it reached number one not only in Canada and the United States, but also several countries worldwide. The album produced her first number-one hit in the United States, "Promiscuous", as well as her first number-one hit in the United Kingdom, "Maneater". The single "Say It Right" eventually became Furtado's most successful song worldwide, due to its huge success in Europe and in the United States, where it became her second number-one hit. "All Good Things (Come to an End)" became her most successful song in Europe, topping single charts in numerous countries there.

On February 16, 2007, Furtado embarked on the "Get Loose Tour". She returned in March 2007 to her hometown of Victoria to perform a concert at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre. In honour of her visit, local leaders officially proclaimed March 21, 2007, the first day of spring, as Nelly Furtado Day. After the tour, she released her first live DVD/CD named Loose the Concert. On April 1, 2007, Furtado was a performer at and host of the 2007 Juno Awards in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She won all five awards for which she was nominated, including Album of the Year and Single of the Year. She also appeared on stage at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London on July 1, 2007, where she performed "Say It Right", "Maneater", and "I'm like a Bird".

In 2007, Furtado and Justin Timberlake were featured on Timbaland's single "Give It to Me", which became her third number-one single in the U.S. and second in the UK. In late 2008, Furtado collaborated with James Morrison on a song called "Broken Strings" for his album "Songs for You, Truths for Me". The single was released on December 8 and peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart in early January.

In 2007, Furtado leaked plans to Flare regarding a song she was set to duet for Kylie Minogue's return. However, the song was not featured on her album X but Minogue says the aforementioned song "is still outstanding" and has plans to pursue it. She said "I am looking forward to getting in the studio and doing it because I know Nelly and I would have a great time together". The track hasn't appeared on Minogue's 2010 album Aphrodite as well.

In 2008, she sang with the Italian group "Zero Assoluto" the ballad Win or Lose - Appena prima di partire, released in Italy, France and Germany and whose video was shot in Barcelona.

On December 31, 2008, El Diario La Prensa posted an article that Furtado is planning on recording songs in English and Spanish for her upcoming album and that it is "expected to launch on September 15, 2009".

2009–present: Mi Plan and The Best of Nelly Furtado

Furtado made a guest appearance on Flo Rida's new album, R.O.O.T.S., which was released on March 31, 2009. The track is titled "Jump". Furtado has also made a guest appearance on Divine Brown's Love Chronicles, co-writing and singing on the background of the song "Sunglasses".

In early March, a song called "Gotta Know" leaked onto the Internet and was said to be Nelly's. As response, on March 4, 2009, Furtado stated on her MySpace blog that the song is not hers and that she is recording two new albums: one in Spanish, and the other in Portuguese. Nelly Furtado announced via the Perez Hilton blog, that the Spanish album would be titled Mi Plan and the first single titled "Manos Al Aire" (in English, meaning "Hands in the Air"). The album will have twelve new songs, all in Spanish, as stated by Nelly in a message left in her official website The second single "Más" was released on July 21, as it was announced on Nelly's official myspace. The third single "Mi Plan" (ft. Alex Cuba) was released on iTunes on August 11, 2009 and "Bajo Otra Luz" (ft. Julieta Venegas and La Mala Rodriguez) is the fourth and final countdown single and it was released on September 1, 2009. She also invited the Mexican star Alejandro Fernández to sing a duet song named "Sueños" ("Dreams"). The video for "Manos al Aire" premiered on July 29 on It's On with Alexa Chung. On November 11, 2010 Furtado won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album for Mi Plan. She is the first Canadian to win a Latin Grammy award.

Furtado made a guest appearance on Canadian singer k-os's new album Yes!, collaborating alongside Saukrates on the song "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman," released in early July 2009. Nelly Furtado will make a guest appearance on Tiësto's single "Who Wants to Be Alone" on his new album Kaleidoscope which was released on October 6, 2009.

Furtado also recorded "Manos al Aire" in Simlish for the new Sims 3 expansion, World Adventures

On February 12, 2010, Nelly Furtado sang in a duet with Bryan Adams at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. The Song was called "Bang The Drum" released on EMI album Sounds Of Vancouver 2010 (a commemorative album). On February 14, 2010, she appeared again at the Winter Olympic Victory Ceremony after the awarding of the medals for the athletes. On April 13, 2010, Nelly announced on her Twitter account that Lifestyle, her fourth English studio album, would not be released during the summer of 2010 and that she will go on a second leg of her Mi Plan Tour where she will get more inspiration for her upcoming album Lifestyle. Nelly Furtado is featured in a new song by N.E.R.D. called Hot N Fun. She also participated in the Young Artists for Haiti song, in which many Canadian artists came together and sang K'naan's inspirational song Wavin' Flag to raise money for the victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

To promote the tour in Brazil, on March 24, 2010, Furtado made a "VIP Pocket Show" in reality show program Big Brother Brasil 10 from Rede Globo, the country's leading channel. She performed 5 songs from the tour in acoustic versions ("Maneater", "I'm Like A Bird", "Try", "Say It Right" and "Turn Off The Light"). Nelly Furtado participated in the live DVD recording of the Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo in Madison Square Garden on September 4, 2010. Nelly Furtado sang two new songs: "Girlfriend" and "Night is Young" on her concert in Warsaw, Poland.

|source=— Furtado explaining song selected on The Best of Nelly Furtado.}}

Furtado was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in October 2010.

On October 26 2010, Furtado released Mi Plan Remixes featuring 12 tracks of remixed hits from "Mi Plan." This album included the Original Spanglish Version of "Fuerte," her final single from Mi Plan.

Furtado released her first greatest hits album entitled The Best of Nelly Furtado on November 16, 2010. The album's first single, "Night is Young" (originally "Free") premiered on BBC Radio 1 on October 3, 2010. The song was first released for digital download on October 12, 2010 in Australia. Three new songs will be on the greatest hits album, including "Night Is Young," another collaboration Salaam Remi entitled "Girlfriend in the City," and the Lester Mendez produced track, left over from the Loose sessions, "Stars."

Other work

Record label

She has formed her own record label, Nelstar, in conjunction with Canadian independent label group Last Gang Labels. The first act signed to Nelstar is Fritz Helder & the Phantoms. Furtado released her first Spanish single "Manos al Aire" on the new label.

Philanthropy

For World AIDS Day in 2006, Furtado took part in an AIDS awareness concert in South Africa hosted by MTV, BET, and Nike; fellow performers included Enrique Iglesias, Kanye West, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson Furtado also hosted a program about AIDS on MTV, which also featured guests Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. She cites diverse influences, which include soul-trip/hip hop artists such as De La Soul, TLC, world music artists Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Amalia Rodrigues, as well as Caetano Veloso, Juanes, Jeff Buckley, Esthero, Björk, Cornershop, Oasis, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins and Beck.

In June 2006, in an interview with Genre magazine, when asked if she had "ever felt an attraction to women", Furtado replied "Absolutely. Women are beautiful and sexy". Some considered this an announcement of bisexuality, but in August 2006, she stated that she was "straight, but very open-minded". In November 2006, Furtado revealed that she once turned down US$ 500,000 to pose fully clothed in Playboy.

She was mentioned on the November 19, 2009, episode of the American version of "The Office".

It was reported that Furtado was engaged to Cuban sound engineer Demacio "Demo" Castellón. They worked together on Loose. On October 17, 2008, it was reported in People Magazine which Furtado confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that she married Castellón on July 19, 2008.

Discography

Whoa, Nelly! (2000)

Folklore (2003)

Loose (2006)

Mi Plan (2009)

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Genre ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2001 | Roswell | Herself | American Science fiction Television series | Performed "I'm like a Bird" |- | 2006 | Floribella | Herself | Portuguese Soap Opera | Performed "Maneater" |- | 2007 | One Life to Live | Herself | American Soap Opera |}

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Nelly Furtado

References

External links

Official Website

Category:1978 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:People from Victoria, British Columbia Category:Canadian dance musicians Category:Canadian female guitarists Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian folk guitarists Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Canadian multi-instrumentalists Category:Canadian pop guitarists Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian rhythm and blues singers Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Musicians from British Columbia Category:Canadian people of Portuguese descent Category:Portuguese-language singers Category:Spanish-language singers Category:Trip hop musicians Category:Fellows of the Royal Conservatory of Music

Name	Kelly Rowland
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Kelendria Trene Rowland
Born	February 11, 1981Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Origin	Houston, Texas
Genre	R&B;, pop, hip-hop, dance
Voice type	Spinto Soprano
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, actress, model, dancer, television host
Years active	1990–present
Label	Columbia (1997-09)Universal Motown (2010-present)
Associated acts	Destiny's Child, David Guetta, Nelly
Url

Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) commonly known as Kelly Rowland, is an American recording artist, actress, dancer and model who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the American girl group Destiny's Child.

In 2002 Rowland collaborated with rapper Nelly on the single "Dilemma", which reached number-one in numerous countries. Subsequently, she released her debut solo successful album Simply Deep which reached within the top 15 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and went on to be certified gold by the RIAA and a platinum certification by UK Albums Chart. it spawned four successful singles including "Stole" reached number two in UK. the album has sold two and a half million copies worldwide. Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2005, Rowland released her second album Ms. Kelly in 2007 which sold one and half million copies worldwide, making the album, in retrospect, unexpectedly successful. it featured the top-ten hit's "Work", "Like This" and "Daylight". In 2009 she scored her second number-one hit, with her contribution on French DJ David Guetta's single "When Love Takes Over", which earned Rowland her second Grammy Award as a solo artist. In 2010 Rowland released a single titled "Commander" which topped the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, making it her third number-one single on the chart.

To date, Rowland has scored eleven top-20 singles in the UK, Seven of those being top-10 throughout her solo career, including two number-ones and has sold more than 21 million records worldwide between over four million albums and over seventeen million singles as a solo/featured artist.

Early life

Rowland was born Kelendria Trene Rowland in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Doris Rowland Garrison and Christopher Lovett, who were married after Kelly was born. When she was seven, her mother took her and left her father, who was an abusive alcoholic. they were eventually cut down to six members. West coast R&B; producer, Arne Frager, flew into Houston to see them and eventually brought them to his studio, The Plant Recording Studio, in Northern California. the biggest talent show on national TV at that time.

To manage the group, Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé's father, resigned in 1995 from his job as a medical-equipment salesman. He dedicated his time and established a "boot camp" for their training. Not long after the inclusion of Rowland, Mathew cut the original lineup to four Rehearsing in Tina Knowles' hair styling salon and their backyards, the group continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B; girl groups of the time;

Music career

Breakthrough with Destiny's Child

Taken from a passage in the Biblical Book of Isaiah, the group changed their name to Destiny's Child in 1993. Together, they performed in local events and, after four years on the road, the group was signed to Columbia Records in late 1997. That same year, Destiny's Child recorded their major label debut song, "Killing Time", for the soundtrack to the 1997 film, Men in Black. spawning hits such as "No, No, No". That album made it possible for Destiny’s Child to win three awards from the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.

performing their 2000 hit "Say My Name" during their farewell concert tour, Destiny Fulfilled ... And Lovin' It.]] Along with their commercial successes, the group became entangled in much-publicized turmoil involving the filing of a lawsuit by Luckett and Roberson for breach of contract. The issue was heightened after Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin appeared on the video of "Say My Name", implying that Luckett and Roberson had already been replaced. Later that year, Luckett and Roberson withdrew their case against their now-former band mates, while maintaining the suit against Mathew, which ended in both sides agreeing to stop public disparaging. The themes of "Survivor", however, caused Luckett and Roberson to refile their lawsuit; To date, Survivor has sold over ten million copies worldwide, over forty percent of which were sold in the U.S. alone. The album spawned other number-one hits—"Bootylicious" and the title track, "Survivor", the latter of which earned the group a Grammy Award for Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. After releasing their remix album, This Is the Remix, the group announced their temporary break-up to pursue solo projects.

Originally due in early 2003, the success of the collaboration caused the label to advance the release date of her debut solo album, Simply Deep, which Rowland rushed within three weeks to get done. Featuring production by Mark J. Feist, Robert "Big Bert" Smith, Rich Harrison, and singers Brandy and Solange Knowles, the album took Rowland's solo work further into an alternative music mixture, which Rowland described as a "weird fusion [of] a little bit of Sade and a little bit of rock." Released stateside in October 2002 and internationally in 2003, Simply Deep peaked at number twelve on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., where it was eventually certified gold by the RIAA for more than 600,000 copies sold.

The album yielded three singles. "Stole", a rock pop-influenced mid-tempo track about loss, was released as the album's lead single and became an international top ten, peaking at number two in Australia and the United Kingdom, where it remains her highest-charting solo single to date. In the U.S., the song failed to capitalize on the success of "Dilemma", reaching the top thirty only. The album's second single, an up-tempo track entitled "Can't Nobody", charted significantly lower in the U.S., but enjoyed top twenty success throughout Australia and parts of Europe, where it became another top five hit on the UK Singles Chart. Final single "Train on a Track" was featured on the soundtrack of the romantic comedy film Maid in Manhattan (2003) but failed to chart or sell noticeably, except for the UK again, where it became her fourth consecutive top twenty entry.

Allmusic reviewer Jason Birchmeier noted it as one of the "three well-calculated, standout" tracks in the album.In her review for Simply Deep, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian wrote: "Thanks to the ubiquitous Dilemma, a song that practically peeled off its clothes on the spot, Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland is no longer a mere backing vocalist for Beyoncé Knowles." Dilemma was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 2003.The song won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

Released stateside in October 2002 and internationally in 2003, Simply Deep peaked at number twelve on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., where it was eventually certified gold by the RIAA for more than 600,000 copies sold. Released to even bigger success in international terrotories, the album topped the UK Albums Chart and became a gold-seller in Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and other countries, resulting into a worldwide sales total of 2.5 million copies. In support of the album, Destiny's Child embarked on the 2005 Destiny Fulfilled ... And Lovin' It world tour, which started in April and ran through September. On the Barcelona, Spain visit, the group announced their disbandment after the end of their final North American leg. In October 2005, the group released a compilation album, entitled #1's, including all of Destiny's Child's number-one hits and most of their well-known songs. The greatest hits collection also includes three new tracks, including their final single "Stand Up for Love". Destiny's Child was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006. They were also recognized as the world's best-selling female group of all time.

That same year, Rowland was featured on rapper Trina's hit single "Here We Go", the lead single of the Glamorest Life album (2005). The song became another success for the artist, who scored another top twenty entry in Finland, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom with the collaboration.

Ever since, every Destiny's Child album has to be personal in content according to Rowland, which she considered their main ingredient in every of their songs. Rowland was recently engaged in the time that influenced her songwriting. Rowland cited also that being apart from the group had an impact on the album: "All of us have been in three different places ... so there's a lot to talk about, a lot that's gone on, personally. I think it's important to talk about that on this new record, to put what we've been going through separately into the new record." The need continues to "Soldier", the following track. After finding the soldier, the third song, "Cater 2 U", is about serving this man they considered as such. According to the members, the songs are story of a group of women trying to find love; they, however, referred to this love as sisterhood. Rowland eventually consulted additional producers to collaborate on the album, renamed Ms. Kelly, including Billy Mann, Scott Storch, and Atlanta-based Polow da Don, who contributed the single "Like This", a collaboration with rapper Eve, to the album. A moderate success around the globe, the song reached the top ten in Canada, Ireland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. Upon its release, Ms. Kelly debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with moderately successful first week sales of 86,000 copies. Outside the United States, the album widely failed to reprise the success of Simply Deep, barely reaching the top forty on the majority of all charts it appeared on, except for the United Kingdom where it opened at number thirty-seven.

Rowland had been working on the conception of her second solo album on and off since 2004, with some of her early recordings — such as the Bryan Michael Cox-produced "Bad Habit" — even being used on the Destiny's Child's albums Destiny Fulfilled (2004) and (2006). The album's first draft, entitled My Story, saw her actually writing and recording with a wider range of well-known contemporary R&B; producers and artists as she wanted to go "in the urban, more R&B; route [in general]" with the album, involving Big Tank, Patrick "J. Que" Smith, Rich Harrison, Rodney Jerkins, and Robin Thicke. "It was basically a list of songs that I put together about the past three years of my life, with love and relationships," she said of the original track listing. "And I remember listening to the record, and I was just like, 'I don't want this to be too deep to where, you know, [I] lose people.' And the record was too full of midtempos and ballads, so I wanted to bring it up a little bit." Rowland eventually consulted new producers to collaborate on the album, including Mysto & Pizzi, Sean Garrett, Scott Storch, and Atlanta-based Polow da Don, who contributed the single "Like This," a duet with rapper Eve, to the album.

In addition, the singer decided to rename the album. "I really put my heart and soul into this record," she said, "and not only am I excited that everyone's going to hear the music, I'm looking forward to people getting to hear the real me. That's the reason I called the album Ms. Kelly. Because the title is all about respect, being an adult and that's how I feel about my life, and my music." In 2008, a reissued version of the album, branded Ms. Kelly Deluxe, received a release, its lead single being the previously unreleased Bobby Womack cover "Daylight", a collaboration with Travis Mc Coy (of alternative rap group Gym Class Heroes) that reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart. By April 2008, Ms. Kelly had managed to sell just over 1.2 million copies worldwide. Also in 2008, Rowland recorded a single with French singer Nâdiya, an uptempo urban pop track entitled "No Future in the Past", for which a video was shot in Miami, Florida during July 2008,

2009-present: New management, label and third studio album

and Kelly Rowland performing at the Orange Rockcorps, London 2009]] In February 2009, a duet with Italian singer Tiziano Ferro, entitled "Breathe Gentle", was released as a single and reached the top ten of the Italian Singles Chart and the Dutch Singles Chart. Also, in early 2009, Rowland ended her professional relationship with both manager Mathew Knowles and former label Columbia Records to explore other ventures. Her first step was the house collaboration "When Love Takes Over", the lead single of French DJ David Guetta's 2009 studio album One Love, for which Rowland contributed vocals on three tracks. The song was released in April 2009 and saw major international success, peaking at number-one in several countries around the globe. The same year, it was announced that Rowland had drafted Jeff Rabham as her new manager.

In 2010, Rowland signed up to record the MTN theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South African, "Everywhere You Go", featuring an all-star supergroup of international artists called Rhythm of Africa United. Rowland also continued touring Europe, Asia and Australia as a solo artist throughout late 2009 and early 2010, including a tour throughout Australia in March 2010 which included a performance as one of the headlining acts of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Party with George Michael also headlining. She was also part of the world tour Supafest, which took place in 2010, touring the major cities in the world.

Despite being without a label for almost one year Rowland embarked on the recording sessions for her third studio album and it was during one of these recording sessions that she caught the attention of label boss Sylvia Rhone which lead to the signing of a new record deal with Universal Motown Records. Since then she has been completing the project which is still currently untitled. It was titled, Kelly Rowland but critics and fans thought that it was too safe so Rowland has been seeking the help of her fans to help name the new album. The album is known to include collaborations with David Guetta and Rico Love which includes the album's lead single "Commander" as well as Dr. Luke with Ester Dean and Ne-Yo with StarGate whom are respectively responsible for the American album's two U.S. lead singles, "Rose Colored Glasses" and "Grown Woman". Others working on the album included Jim Jonsin who described the Rowland's new sound as Donna Summer-esq, Andre Merrit and Brian Kennedy. Meanwhile Rowland described the album as containing a lot of "up-tempo tracks" and being "a mixture of different sounds that express me and where I’m at right now in my career". Rowland also worked with Tinie Tempah on his song 'Invincible', which is on Tempah's album and is his new single. Rowland reunited with rapper Nelly on his third single "Gone" from his "5.0" album.

Other ventures

Film and television career

Rowland branched out into acting with a guest stint on the sitcom The Hughleys in 2002, before appearing in other UPN shows such as Eve and Girlfriends in the years of 2003 and 2006 respectively.

In 2003, Rowland made her big screen debut in the slasher film Freddy vs. Jason, a crossover film directed by Ronny Yu. Cast as one of the female leads, she portrayed the frank best friend of lead character Lori Campbell, played by Monica Keena. Released to generally mixed reviews from critics, the movie topped the U.S. box office, gaining $36.4 million on its first weekend. Budgeted at $25 million, the film became a financial success, resulting in a worldwide box office total of $114.3 million. Released to a limited number of festivals only, the film went straight to DVD in 2006. In fall 2007, Rowland appeared as a choirmaster on the NBC reality show Clash of the Choirs. Rowland was among superstars like Michael Bolton, Patti LaBelle, Nick Lachey, and Blake Shelton. Rowland's choir finished fifth in the competition. In 2009, she was cast to host Bravo's reality competition series The Fashion Show alongside Isaac Mizrahi. The series premiered on May 7, 2009.

Philanthropy

Rowland and the Knowles family founded the Survivor Foundation, a charitable entity set up to provide transitional housing for 2005 Hurricane Katrina victims and storm evacuees in the Houston, Texas area.

In 2006, Rowland joined other artists such as Pink and Avril Lavigne in ads for so-called empowerment tags for the ALDO Fights AIDS campaign, which went on sale exclusively at ALDO stores and benefited the YouthAIDS initiative. In 2007, Rowland, along with stars such as Jessica Simpson and the cast of Grey's Anatomy autographed pink Goody Ouchless brushes that were made available for auction on Ebay, with all proceeds going to Breast Cancer Awareness. She has since visited projects in Tanzania and Kenya to promote the charity, and underwent a HIV and Aids test in Africa to raise awareness of the deadly diseases. In March 2009, she spearheaded a bone marrow drive. Also in 2009, Rowland along with fellow singers Alesha Dixon and Pixie Lott created T-shirts for River Island in aid of the Prince's Trust, profits from which help change young lives. In March 2010 Rowland launched her brand new charity, I Heart My Girlfriends. According to Rowland’s official website, the charity focuses on self-esteem, date violence prevention, community service, abstinence, sports, drug and alcohol and smoking avoidance, obesity, disabilities, education and more. On April 26, 2010, she was at Grand Ballroom's "City of Hope - Spirit of Life Awards" for a charity event.

Discography

Simply Deep (2002)

Ms. Kelly (2007)

Third album (2011)

Tours

2003: Simply Deeper Tour

2007: Ms. Kelly Tour

2010: Supafest

Awards and nominations

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1999 || Beverly Hood ||Girl #2 || Cameo appearance |- | 2003 || Freddy vs. Jason || Kia Waterson || Supporting role |- | 2004 || The Seat Filler || Jhnelle || Lead role |- | 2008 || Astérix at the Olympic Games || Herself || Cameo appearance |- | 2011 || The Goree Girls || Jill || Supporting Role |- |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|Television |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |2007 || Clash of the Choirs || Choirmaster || Reality series |- |2009 || The Fashion Show || Co-host || Reality series |- |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|Television guest appearances |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1997 || Smart Guy ||Herself || "A Date With Destiny" cameo with Destiny's Child |- | 2002 || ''The Hughleys || Carly || 3 episodes |- | 2002 || ''Taina || Nicole || 1 episode |- | rowspan="2"| 2003 || American Dreams || Martha Reeves || 2 episodes |- | Eve || Cleo || 1 episode |- | 2006 || Girlfriends || Tammy Hamilton || 3 episodes |- |rowspan="5"|2010 || || Herself; Guest appearance || 2 episodes |- | The Spin Crowd || Herself; Guest appearance || 1 episode |- | X Factor Australia || Herself; Mentor || 2 episodes |- | La La's Full Court Wedding || Herself; Guest Appearance || 1 episode |- ||| Herself; Guest Appearance || 1 episode |}

References

External links

Category:1981 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Actors from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Actors from Texas Category:African American actors Category:African American singers Category:American child singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:Destiny's Child members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Musicians from Texas Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:People from Sugar Land, Texas

Name	Timbaland
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Timothy Zachery Mosley
Born	March 10, 1971Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Origin	Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Instrument	Guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, keyboards, rapping, vocals, beatboxing, vocoder, drums
Genre	Hip hop, electro, R&B;, Hip hop soul
Occupation	Record Producer, Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Rapper, Actor
Years active	1990–present
Voice type	Bass
Label	Blackground RecordsMosley Music GroupInterscope Records
Associated acts	Timbaland & Magoo, Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, Tweet, Ginuwine, Keshia Chante
Url

Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1971), better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, singer-songwriter, actor, musician and rapper. As a DJ known as "DJ Tim", or "DJ Tiny Tim" Mosley began making hip hop backing tracks on a Casio keyboard. While in high school, Mosley began a long-term collaboration with rapper Melvn Barcliff, who performed under the name of Magoo. The teenaged Mosley also joined the production ensemble S.B.I.which also featured Neptunes producer Pharrell. When he was 15 in 1986, he was shot during a robbery and was partially paralyzed for nine months. He spent this time learning how to deejay using his left hand.

Singer and rapper Missy Elliott heard his material and began working with him. She and her R&B; group Sista auditioned for DeVante Swing, a producer and member of the successful R&B; act Jodeci. DeVante signed Sista to his Swing Mob record label and Elliott brought Mosley and Barcliff along with her to New York, where Swing Mob was based. It was DeVante who renamed the young producer Timbaland, after Timberland construction boots.

Sista, Timbaland, and Magoo became part of SCI Zakys School stable of Swing Mob signees known as "Da Bassment" crew, joining artists such as R&B; singer Ginuwine, male vocal group Playa (Smoke E. Digglera, Static Major and Digital Black), and the girl group Sugah.

Career

1996–2002

Timbaland produced songs including Ludacris' "Roll Out (My Business)", Jay-Z's "Hola' Hovito", Petey Pablo's "Raise Up", and Beck's cover of David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" during this period. He also contributed three songs, all eventually released as singles, to Aaliyah’s self-titled third album, the exotic lead single "We Need a Resolution" (featuring himself rapping a verse), "More than a Woman", and the ballad "I Care 4 U". He also makes an appearance in Aaliyah's single "Try Again", which he also produced and co-wrote.

Timbaland & Magoo’s second album together was slated for release in November 2000. Indecent Proposal was to feature appearances by Beck, Aaliyah, as well as new Timbaland protégés—some from his new Beat Club Records imprint--Ms. Jade, Kiley Dean, Sebastian (Tims brother), Petey Pablo, and Tweet (who was a member of Sugah during the Swing Mob days). The album was delayed for an entire year, finally released in November 2001. It was a commercial disappointment. Beck’s vocals for the track "I Am Music" were not included on the last version, which instead featured Timbaland singing along Steve "Static" Garrett of Playa and Aaliyah.

The first release on Beat Club was the début album by Bubba Sparxxx in September 2001, Dark Days, Bright Nights. The loss of Aaliyah deeply affected Timbaland. In a phone call to the MTV show Total Request Live, Timbaland said:

|Timbaland|MTV}}

2003–05

Timbaland contributed three tracks to Tweet’s début album, Southern Hummingbird, and produced most of Elliott’s fourth and fifth LPs, Under Construction and This Is Not A Test!. He also produced tracks for artists such as Lil’ Kim ("The Jump Off") and southern rapper Pastor Troy during this period. Collaborating with fellow producer Scott Storch, Timbaland also worked on a number of tracks on former *NSYNC lead singer Justin Timberlake’s solo debut, Justified, including the song "Cry Me a River".

Late in 2003, Timbaland delivered the second Bubba Sparxxx album, Deliverance, and the third Timbaland & Magoo album, Under Construction, Part II Both albums were released to little fanfare or acclaim even though Deliverance was praised by reviews and embraced by the internet community.

In 2004 Timbaland produced singles for LL Cool J, Xzibit, Fatman Scoop, and Jay-Z, and he produced the bulk of Brandy’s fourth album, Afrodisiac.

Timbaland co-wrote two tracks (Exodus '04 and Let Me Give You My Love) and produced three tracks of the American-Japanese Pop star Hikaru Utada’s debut English album, Exodus. He continued working on tracks for Tweet and for Elliott’s sixth album, The Cookbook: "Joy (feat. Mike Jones)", and "Partytime" and continued to expand his reach with production for The Game and Jennifer Lopez ("He'll Be Back" from her fourth studio album, Rebirth).

2006–07: Timbaland Presents Shock Value

Timbaland started a new label, Mosley Music Group, bringing some talent from his former Beat Club Records label. On the new label are Nelly Furtado, Keri Hilson, and rapper D.O.E..

performing "SexyBack" during Timberlake's 2007 FutureSex/LoveShow concert tour]]

In 2006 he produced Justin Timberlake's second solo studio album FutureSex/LoveSounds. His vocals feature on the songs "SexyBack", "Sexy Ladies", "Chop Me Up", "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" and on the prelude to "My Love" entitled "Let Me Talk to You."

In early 2007, Timbaland mentioned he wanted to work with female artist Britney Spears on her album Blackout.

Timbaland provided vocals on the singles the Pussycat Dolls's "Wait a Minute", Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous", Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack", and "Ice Box" by Omarion. In an interview published in August 2006 in the UK Timbaland revealed he was working on a new LP by Jay-Z and that he had worked on tracks with Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Timbaland worked on seven songs for Björk’s new album, Volta, including "Earth Intruders", "Hope", and "Innocence" and he later worked on tracks for the new Duran Duran album, Red Carpet Massacre, including one featuring his frequent collaborator Justin Timberlake. Later in the year, Timbaland produced songs for Bone Thugs N Harmony's LP, Strength & Loyalty and the song "Ayo Technology" on 50 Cent’s album Curtis. Timbaland also produced most of the tracks on Ashlee Simpson's third CD, Bittersweet World, including the song "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)".

On 3 April 2007, Timbaland released a collaboration album featuring artists including 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Elton John, Fall Out Boy, Nelly Furtado, Missy Elliott, and others called Timbaland Presents Shock Value.

A rivalry flared up between Timbaland and record producer Scott Storch in early 2007. The tension initially started on the single "Give It to Me", when Timbaland anonymously called out Storch, rapping, "I'm a real producer and you just the piano man". Timbaland confirmed that he was talking about Storch in an interview with MTV News. This partly stemmed from a dispute over the writing credits for Justin Timberlakes - Cry Me A River.

Plagiarism accusations

Timbaland's plagiarism controversy occurred in January 2007, when several news sources reported that Timbaland was alleged to have plagiarized several elements (both motifs and samples) in the song "Do It" on the 2006 album Loose by Nelly Furtado without giving credit or compensation. The song itself was released as the fifth North American single from Loose in July 2007.

2008

In 2008, Timbaland helped produce many albums for various artists that include Madonna's Hard Candy, Ashlee Simpson's Bittersweet World, Keri Hilson's In A Perfect World, Flo Rida's Mail On Sunday, Letoya Luckett's Lady Love, Lindsay Lohan's Spirit in the Dark, Chris Cornell's Scream, JoJo's All I Want Is Everything, Nicole Scherzinger's Her Name is Nicole, Missy Elliott's Block Party, Matt Pokora's MP3, Keithian's Dirrty Pop, The Pussycat Dolls's Doll Domination, Busta Rhymes's B.O.M.B, Lisa Maffia's Miss Boss, Teairra Mari's Pressed For Time, Jennifer Hudson's début album, Dima Bilan's Believe , Samantha Jade's, My Name Is Samantha Jade, New Kids on the Block's The Block and Keshia Chanté's new Album.

Timbaland produced the Russian entry the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, Believe by Dima Bilan, which was co-written by Bilan and Jim Beanz. The song then won the contest when it was held in Belgrade, Serbia in May 2008.

In February 2008 the first 'Fashion against AIDS' collection -an initiative of 'Designers against AIDS' and sold in H&M; stores in 28 countries- was launched, for which Timbaland designed a T-shirt print, posed for the campaign and spoke out in a video, to help raise HIV/AIDS awareness among urban youth and to advocate safe sex.

On 8 February 2008, it was announced that Timbaland would be releasing an album exclusively for Verizon Wireless's V CAST cell phone service and was designated its very first "Mobile Producer in Residence." Timbaland will be joined by Mosley Music Group/Zone 4 singer/songwriter Keri Hilson to begin work on the mobile album’s first track aboard the fully equipped Mobile Recording Studio. The only track to surface so far is Garry Barry Larry Harry "Get It Girl". In his first effort within the video game industry, he worked with Rockstar Games to produce Beaterator, a music mixing game for the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Network, iPhone OS released in the September 2009.

In September 2008 it was announced that Timbaland would be inducted into the Philosophical Society of Trinity College, Dublin as an Honorary Patron in October 2008.

Timbaland is producing the movie “Vinyl” which follows the lives of 5 young women facing life-altering decisions about their relationships to members of a rock band. Timbaland’s Mosley Media Group is teaming up with Effie T. Brown's Duly Noted Inc. to create the movie. Marcus Spence, President of Mosley Music, Timbaland’s wife and publicist Monique Idlett Mosley, will be producing the film. Shooting starts in spring with Richard Zelniker as director.

2009–2010: Shock Value II & Robbery Case

Timbalands spoke to MTV's Shaheem Reid back in July 2008 to confirm that he was working on the follow up to his platinum selling Shock Value. In March 2009, he filed a lawsuit against his label, Blackground Records, alleging that they attempted to blackball him after he decided to move from music performance into production.

In September 2009, Timbaland announced that Shock Value II will be released on 23 November in Europe and 24 November in North America. However it was pushed back to 8 December, preceded by the first single which features a new recording artist named SoShy entitled "Morning After Dark". New featured guest appearances on the album include DJ Felli Fel, Justin Timberlake, JoJo, Bran'Nu, Drake, Chad Kroeger, Sebastian, Miley Cyrus, Nelly Furtado, Katy Perry, Esthero, The Fray, Jet, Daughtry, OneRepublic, Keri Hilson, Attitude and D.O.E.. Ultimately Madonna, Jonas Brothers, Rihanna, Usher, Jordin Sparks, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Linkin Park, The All-American Rejects, Paramore, Gucci Mane, T-Pain, T.I. and Akon never appeared on Shock Value II. Shock Value II is infamous for its use of over-the-top vocal effects. Despite charting low, Timbaland has had three top forty singles to date.

"Morning After Dark" featuring SoShy and Nelly Furtado is the lead single from Timbalands' Third studio album, was written by Tim Mosley, Jerome Harmon, Deborah Epstein, Michelle Bell, Keri Hilson, Nelly Furtado, James Washington, John Maultsby and produced by Timbaland and Jroc. The Single premiered on October 16, 2009 on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest with Timbaland describing it as the kick-off song from the project. Following her performance, the song was sent for radio adds on May 25. The song peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. With this success, the song became Sparks' fifth consecutive top 20 hit and third nonconsecutive top 10 hit. On May 24, Sparks headed to Europe to begin promotion for the single."Say Something" featuring Canadian rapper Drake was released to US iTunes on November 3, 2009. It was officially sent to U.S. radio on January 5, 2010. It is the album's second single and has so far reached number 23 on the Hot 100, making it the second most successful single on the album. "Carry Out" featuring Justin Timberlake is the third single from the album but was initially only released in the U.S. It was sent to US radio on December 1, 2009. It is the most successful single on the album, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video premiered on February 18, 2010. It was released as the third UK single on April 26, 2010. "If We Ever Meet Again" featuring Katy Perry is the album's fourth single. The music video premiered on January 18, 2010. In the UK, it was released February 15, 2010 and reached number one in New Zealand and number three in the UK and Ireland. The song has reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 so far.

Timbaland worked with Nelly Furtado, Katy Perry and British X Factor winner Leona Lewis on their upcoming projects. He has also produced tracks for Mariah Carey, Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott, Stufje Aburkina, Keshia Chanté and Jay-Z's upcoming albums. Timbaland also produced Chris Cornell's 2009 album Scream. Shakira was asked to record vocals on the song "Give It Up to Me" to be included on Timbaland's forthcoming album but it was placed on her third studio album She Wolf and released as the second US single instead. Additionally it was revealed that one of the songs Timbaland had produced for Beyoncé's 2008 album I Am... Sasha Fierce was reworked by Keri Hilson and Jay Z for Shock Value II but not included. He was a guest host of World Wrestling Entertainment's Raw on 28 December 2009. Timbaland appeared on the 25 March 2010 episode (titled "Blowback") of FlashForward as an evidence agent. His songs, "Morning After Dark" & "Symphony", appears on the video game,

On 26 March 2010, it was reported that Steven Tyler, intrigued by the 2009 Chris Cornell record Scream, would be teaming up with Timbaland to record a rap album. Guest appearances by Reverend Run and Darryl Mac of Run-D.M.C., Kid Rock, and T-Pain are rumored to be featured on the new project.

In April 2010, a feud between the producer and R&B; singer, Ginuwine, arose after Timbaland failed to make an appearance at the singer's music video shoot of "Get Involved".

Later in April, Timbaland released a new single featuring T-Pain and Billy Blue titled "Talk That".

In June 2010, when questioned by RWD magazine about the UK music scene he made the bold claim to be the inspiration for the dub-step music scene. “The UK scene… they’re always telling me that I started it. You have Dub-bass…”. When questioned further about it he went on to say: "It’s funny cos they went back to some of my old music that really created that sound and just, instead of going fast, they went slow with more bass."

In August 2010, a "possible suicide attempt" APB was put out for Timbaland after his home was burgled. When his family were unable to contact him, they called 911 and a manhunt began. Police eventually found his car and bought him back home, where paramedics examined him, before declaring he was not a threat to himself. When questioned, Timbaland said he only took a drive to think about the robbery as he thought the possible thief could have been someone close whom he trusted.

2010–present: Shock Value III & Timbo Thursday

In November 2010, Timbaland announced that he would be releasing a new song every Thursday, called Timbo Thursday like artists such as Kanye West who has G.O.O.D. Fridays on lock, Swizz Beatz who claimed Monster Mondays. In an interview with Rap-Up.com Tim says “So my brother told me kanye is puttin out a new song every friday call good fridays, swizz got mondays,” who recently joined Twitter. “I dont know if they are on twitter but can you hit them up and tell them reserve that thursday for timbo da king baby. We’ll call it timbo thursday cool?” While we await the music maestro’s first offering, fans will be happy to know that he is finishing up his next album Shock Value III. Two artists that will appear so far on the album will be Keri Hilson and Missy Elliott. The first single is expected to be released February 15, 2011 to mainstream radio. The single is titled Can't Take Her and features international pop icon Derek Brough.

In November 2010, it was confirmed that he produced a track on Game's album "The R.E.D. Album", the track will be called L.O.V.E (Let Our Violence End).

On January 13 2011, Timbaland debuts his new weekly series Timbo Thursday featuring Missy Elliott in the track "Take Your Clothes off". This is the first release of the new series and is unknown for how long he will be doing so.

Thomas Crown Studio

Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley built a private recording studio in Virginia Beach. The studio was conceived and developed with long time engineer, Jimmy Douglass. The studio is managed by Garland Mosley and Brian Byrd. This full service audio production center has been created in an existing (about) 5,000 sq. ft. two-story industrial park building. A complete renovation of the building resulted in a two-studio recording and post production facility, and continues the growth of the Virginia Beach music community, that has spawned the likes of The Neptunes, Missy Elliott and Nate "Danja" Hills.

Personal life

Timbaland has a son from a previous relationship, named Demetrius, whose 16th birthday was featured on the MTV show My Super Sweet 16. The party was hosted by Timbaland, who performed, along with Flo Rida, Missy Elliott, Lil' Wayne, and Keri Hilson.

Acting

Timbaland was credited as Tim "Timbaland" Mosley for a part of an evidence agent on the American ABC Television Network Program FlashForward that was first aired 25 March 2010. '''

Discography

;Solo albums

(1998)

Shock Value (2007)

Shock Value II (2009)

Shock Value III (2011)

;Timbaland & Magoo albums

Welcome to Our World (1997)

Indecent Proposal (2001)

Under Construction, Part II (2003)

Awards

References

External links

Official site

Timbaland's Blog

Timbaland at Yahoo! Music

Timbaland at iLike

Timbaland at Billboard.com

Category:1971 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:African American rappers Category:African American singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American male singers Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American record producers Category:American shooting survivors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop record producers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Virginia Category:Rappers from Virginia Category:People from Norfolk, Virginia Category:People from Virginia Beach, Virginia Category:Swing Mob artists

Name	Tim McGraw
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Samuel Timothy McGraw
Born	May 01, 1967
Origin	Delhi, Louisiana, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano
Genre	Country
Occupation	Musician, actor
Years active	1992–present
Label	Curb Records
Associated acts	Faith HillThe Dancehall DoctorsNellyTaylor SwiftDef LeppardMindy McCready
Url

Samuel Timothy "Tim" McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts, leading him to achieve total album sales in excess of 40 million units. He is married to country singer Faith Hill and is the son of former baseball player Tug McGraw. His trademark hit songs include "Indian Outlaw", "Don't Take the Girl", "I Like It, I Love It", "Something Like That", "It's Your Love" (featuring his wife, Faith Hill), and "Live Like You Were Dying".

McGraw had eleven consecutive albums debut at Number One on the Billboard albums charts. Twenty-one singles hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country 100 chart. Three singles became the No. 1 country song of the year ("It's Your Love", "Just To See You Smile", and "Live Like You Were Dying"). He has won 3 Grammys, 14 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, 10 American Music Awards, and 3 People's Choice Awards. His Soul2Soul II Tour with Faith Hill is the highest grossing tour in country music history, and one of the top five among all genres of music.

McGraw has ventured into acting, with supporting roles in The Blind Side (with Sandra Bullock), Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom, and Four Christmases (with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon), and a lead role in Flicka (2006). He was a minority owner of the Arena Football League's Nashville Kats. Taylor Swift's debut single, "Tim McGraw", refers to him and his song, "Can't Tell Me Nothin.

In honor of his Italian-American heritage, McGraw was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) in 2004, receiving the NIAF Special Achievement Award in Music during the Foundation's 29th Anniversary Gala.

Early life

McGraw was born Samuel Timothy McGraw in Delhi, Louisiana, a town in Richland Parish, to a waitress, Elizabeth "Betty" Ann (née D'Agostino), and Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw Jr., who later became a relief pitcher for the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. McGraw is of Italian and Irish descent on his mother's side, and of Scots-Irish descent on his father's side.

, Louisiana, welcome sign notes that McGraw once resided there.]]

Reared by his mother in Start, also in Richland Parish, east of Monroe, McGraw grew up believing his stepfather, Horace Smith, was his birth father. From the time of his mother's marriage until the time he met his biological father, his last name was Smith. At age eleven, McGraw discovered his birth certificate while searching his mother's closet to find pictures for a school project. After his discovery, his mother revealed that his biological father was Tug McGraw, and took Tim to meet him for the first time. and became a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. During his college period, he learned to play guitar, and would frequently perform and sing for tips, although he claims that his roommates often hid the guitar because he was so bad.

His mother, Betty, returned to Jacksonville, Florida in 1987, and Tim followed. He attended Florida Community College at Jacksonville for one term, and occasionally sat in with local bands.

Not a Moment Too Soon

His second album, Not a Moment Too Soon, was much more successful, becoming the best-selling country album in 1994. The first single, "Indian Outlaw", caused considerable controversy, as critics argued that it presented Native Americans in a patronizing way. but the controversy helped spur sales, and the song became McGraw's first top-ten country single (getting as high as No. 8), and reaching No. 15 on the pop chart.

The second single from the album, "Don't Take the Girl", became McGraw's first No. 1 country hit, and "helped cement his image as a ruggedly good-looking guy with a sensitive side".

All I Want

All I Want, released in 1995, continued his run of success, debuting at No. 1 on the country charts. The album sold over 2 million copies and reached the top 5 on the Billboard 200. "I Like It, I Love It" reached No. 1 on the country charts as the lead-off single, while "She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart" also went to No. 1 in 1996. "Can't Be Really Gone", "All I Want Is a Life", and "Maybe We Should Just Sleep on It" were all top 5 hits.

Everywhere

McGraw's next album, 1997's Everywhere, again topped the country charts and reached No. 2 on the album charts, selling 4 million copies.

Set This Circus Down

McGraw's next album, Set This Circus Down, was released in April 2001, and spawned four number-one country hits: "Grown Men Don't Cry", "Angry All the Time" (with Faith Hill), "The Cowboy in Me", and "Unbroken". He provided harmony vocals for the Jo Dee Messina song "Bring On the Rain", which he also produced. The song topped the country charts. McGraw chose to use his own touring band, in order to recognize their part in his success, and to capture some of the feel of a real band.

The album debuted at No. 2 on the country albums charts, with the single "Real Good Man" reaching No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. "She's My Kind of Rain" reached No. 2 in 2003, and "Red Ragtop" reached the top 5. The album also featured a cover version of Elton John's early 1970s classic "Tiny Dancer", as well as appearances by Kim Carnes on "Comfort Me" (a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks) and Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles on "Illegal".

Live Like You Were Dying

2004's Live Like You Were Dying continued McGraw's record of commercial success. The title track, dedicated to his father Tug McGraw, who died of a brain tumor earlier in the year, was a soaring ode to living life fully and in the moment, while the second single "Back When" was a paean to an easy nostalgia. Live Like You Were Dying spent seven non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard (10 weeks on Radio & Records), and went on to become the biggest hit single of the year. It also became one the most awarded songs/records by winning ACM Single and Song of the Year, CMA Single and Song of the Year, and a Grammy.

In late 2004, his unlikely duet with hip-hop artist Nelly on "Over and Over", a soft ballad of lost love, became a crossover hit, spending 10 weeks atop the Top 40 chart. "Over and Over" brought McGraw a success he had never previously experienced on contemporary hit radio or rap radio, and brought both artists success neither had previously experienced in the hot adult contemporary market. The song also spent a week at the top of the UK single charts, and was McGraw's first visit to the UK hit countdown.

Throughout the 2005 NFL season, McGraw sang an alternate version of "I Like It, I Love It" every week during the season. The alternate lyrics, which changed each week, would make reference to plays during Sunday's games, and the song would be played alongside video highlights during halftime on Monday Night Football. Later in the year, McGraw became a minority owner of the Arena Football League's Nashville Kats when majority owner Bud Adams (owner of the NFL's Tennessee Titans) was awarded the expansion franchise.

Let It Go

In April 2006, McGraw and Hill began their 73-concert 55-city Soul2Soul II Tour, again to strong commercial acceptance. The tour grossed nearly $89 million and sold almost 1.1 million tickets, making it the top grossing tour in the history of country music. It was named "Major Tour of the Year" by the prestigious Pollstar Magazine, beating out such heavyweights as Madonna and the Rolling Stones. In a special gesture, the couple donated all of the profits from their performance in New Orleans to Hurricane Katrina relief.

Tim, along with Kenny Chesney, contributed to a version of Tracy Lawrence's song "Find Out Who Your Friends Are", which can be found on Lawrence's album For the Love. Although the official single version features only Lawrence's vocals, many stations have opted to play the version with McGraw and Chesney instead.

McGraw released his eleventh album, Let It Go, on March 27, 2007. The album's debut single, "Last Dollar (Fly Away)", reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, marking Tim's first No. 1 single since "Back When" in late 2004. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and No. 1 on the Billboard Country Album chart, marking his fourth No. 1 top 200 album and ninth No. 1 country album. His daughters can be heard singing the chorus during the last few seconds of the song on the video.

During the Academy of Country Music awards show on May 21, 2007, McGraw performed a song titled "If You're Reading This", which he co-wrote with The Warren Brothers. Several radio stations began to play the live recording of the song; as a result, it entered the Hot Country Songs chart at No. 35.

McGraw also produced the debut album of country music duo Halfway to Hazard. The duo's first single, "Daisy", peaked at No. 39 on the country charts in the summer of 2007.

In the summer of 2007, McGraw and Hill toured together once again in the Soul2Soul 2007 tour.

In the January 18, 2008 edition of the USA Today newspaper, McGraw was stated to be featured on the Def Leppard album Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, having also co-written the first single, "Nine Lives", with Def Leppard band members Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, and Rick Savage. The unusual pairing goes back to 2006 when McGraw joined Def Leppard onstage for the song "Pour Some Sugar On Me", and then collaborated on the song "Nine Lives" afterward. The album was released on April 25, 2008.

In May 2008, he hit the road with the Live Your Voice tour. The mainly-outdoor arena concert tour was his first solo outing in nearly three years. Also in May 2008, he debuted a new song off of his follow-up to Let It Go at the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, California.

In July 2008, Tim McGraw's sixth single, and the title track of his album, "Let It Go", was released to country radio. Following that, a seventh single, "Nothin' to Die For", entered the Country charts at No. 57 in late December. Tim McGraw released his third greatest-hits package, Greatest Hits 3 on October 7, 2008. The album features 12 tracks. Tim was set to debut a new song on the 2009 ACM Awards, but then cancelled his performance; he was replaced by Blake Shelton, who sang "She Wouldn't Be Gone".

Southern Voice

Tim's twelfth studio album, Southern Voice, was released October 20, 2009, and lead by the single "It's A Business Doing Pleasure With You", which was shipped to radio outlets in late June 2009. Southern Voice was argued to be Tim's last album for Curb Records, following the dispute over releasing his third Greatest Hits collection back in October 2008 without his permission. Tim did not approve of the release. On November 30, 2010, Curb Records released his fourth greatest hits compilation, Number One Hits.

On November 10, 2010, Tim McGraw presented at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards.

2010s

On January 2, 2011, Tim McGraw announced plans for his Emotional Traffic Tour featuring opening acts Luke Bryan and The Band Perry.

Acting

McGraw's first acting appearance came in a 1995 episode of The Jeff Foxworthy Show, where he played Foxworthy's rival.

In 2004, McGraw played a sheriff in Rick Schroder's independent release Black Cloud. Later in the same year, McGraw received critical acclaim as the overbearing father of a running back in the major studio Texas high school football drama Friday Night Lights. The Dallas Observer said the role was "played with unexpected ferocity by country singer Tim McGraw". The movie went on to gross over $60 million dollars worldwide at the box office, and sold millions in the DVD market. Most recently, it was named one of the Top 50 High School Movies of All Time (No. 37) by Entertainment Weekly.

McGraw's first lead role was in the 2006 film Flicka, which was released in theatres October 20, 2006. In the remake of the classic book "My Friend Flicka", McGraw played the father, Rob, costarring with Alison Lohman and Maria Bello. The family-friendly movie debuted in the top 10 list and has grossed over $25 million at the box office. McGraw again achieved critical acclaim for his acting.

Shortly before Flicka opened, McGraw received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star is located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. near stars in the sidewalk honoring Julie Andrews, William Shatner, and the late Greta Garbo. One of his Flicka co-stars, Alison Lohman, attended the ceremony that included comments from Billy Bob Thornton, McGraw's co-star in the film Friday Night Lights.

In addition to acting in Flicka, McGraw served as executive producer of the soundtrack album, which was released by his record label, StyleSonic Records, in association with Curb Records and Fox 2000 films. It featured the closing credit song "My Little Girl", one of the first two songs that McGraw recorded that he also co-wrote (the other being "I've Got Friends That Do", both of which were included on Greatest Hits Vol. 2). The song was nominated by the Broadcast Film Critics for "Best Song" in a film, and the movie was nominated in the category "Best Family Film (Live Action)". The movie proved to be another huge success in the DVD market, and has sold over a million copies, debuting at No. 3 on the DVD sales chart.

Charitable efforts

As his success has grown, McGraw has become increasingly interested in giving back to the community. When McGraw first reached fame in 1994, he established his annual Swampstock event. It began as a charity softball game to raise money for hometown little league programs; the event now includes a celebrity softball game and a multi-artist concert that attracts over 11,000 fans per year. The combined events have funded new Little League parks and equipment, and have established college scholarship funds for students in the northeast Louisiana area.

From 1996 to 1999, McGraw hosted an annual New Year's Eve concert in Nashville with special guests including Jeff Foxworthy, the Dixie Chicks, and Martina McBride. The 1997 show raised over $100,000 for the Country Music Foundation Hall of Fame and Museum. Beginning in 1999, McGraw would pick select cities on each tour, and the night before he was scheduled to perform, would choose a local club and host a quickly-organized show. This tour-within-a-tour became known as "The Bread and Water Tour", and all proceeds from the show would go to a charity from that community. Later in the year, the couple established the Neighbor's Keeper Foundation, which provides funding for community charities to assist with basic humanitarian services, in the event of a natural disaster, or for desperate personal circumstances.

McGraw is also a member of the American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet, to which various celebrities donate their time, skills, and fame, to help the Red Cross highlight important initiatives and response efforts.

McGraw has helped out with charity events held by Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre. The has featured McGraw (and at other times Faith Hill) performing concerts during dinners and auctions that benefit children with disabilities in Wisconsin and Mississippi. One instance is recorded on Favre's official website.

On July 12, 2007, it was made public that McGraw and his wife Faith Hill, while in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a performance, donated $5000 to Kailey Kozminski, 3-year-old daughter of Officer Robert Kozminski, a Grand Rapids police officer who was killed on July 8, 2007 while responding to a domestic disturbance.

In June 2010, Tim McGraw, along with his wife Faith Hill organized Nashville Rising, a benefit concert aimed to raise $2 million for The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in response to the flood in early May that killed 22 people and caused $2 billion in damage.

Politics

McGraw, a Democrat, has stated that he would like to run for public office in the future, possibly for Senate or Governor of Tennessee, his (adopted) home state.

Discography

Studio albums

Tim McGraw (1993)

Not a Moment Too Soon (1994)

All I Want (1995)

Everywhere (1997)

A Place in the Sun (1999)

Set This Circus Down (2001)

Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors (2002)

Live Like You Were Dying (2004)

Let It Go (2007)

Southern Voice (2009)

Compilation albums

Greatest Hits (2000)

(2006)

(2008)

Collector's Edition (2008)

Greatest Hits 3 (2008)

Limited Edition: Greatest Hits: Volumes 1, 2 & 3 (2008)

Number One Hits (2010)

Filmography

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0; background:#f9f9f9; border:1px #aaa solid; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:90%;" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Film |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! Year ! Film ! Role ! Notes |- | rowspan="2"| 2004 | Black Cloud | Sheriff Cliff Powers | |- | Friday Night Lights | Charles Billingsley | Nominated - MTV Movie Award - Best Male Breakthrough Performance |- | 2006 | Flicka | Rob McLaughlin | Nominated - Critics Choice Award for Best Song: "My Little Girl" |- | 2007 | The Kingdom | Aaron Jackson | |- | 2008 | Four Christmases | Dallas | |- | 2009 | The Blind Side | Sean Tuohy | |- | rowspan="2"|2010 | Country Strong | James Canter | |- | Dirty Girl | Danny | |- |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | Television |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! Year ! Film ! Role ! Notes |- | 1997 | The Jeff Foxworthy Show | Lionel | one episode; "Feud for Thought" |- |}

Awards

Further reading

Brown, Jim; Sparrow, Susan. Faith Hill & Tim McGraw: Soul 2 Soul. Quarry Music Books, 2002. ISBN 1550822934

Gray, Scott. Perfect Harmony: the Faith Hill & Tim McGraw Story. 1st ed. Ballantine Books, 1999. ISBN 0345434129

McGraw, Tim. Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors: This is Ours. Atria Books, 2002. ISBN 074346706X

Nichols, Tim, and Craig Wiseman. Live Like You Were Dying. Rutledge Hill P, 2004. ISBN 1401602126

Trimble, Betty "McMom". A Mother's Story. D'Agostino/Dahlhauser/Ditmore Pub, 1996. ISBN 1886371326

References

External links

Tim McGraw at Country Music Television

Category:1967 births Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Curb Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:American film actors Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:People from Richland Parish, Louisiana Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee Category:University of Louisiana at Monroe alumni Category:Arena Football League executives Category:Musicians from Louisiana Category:Actors from Louisiana Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:Actors from Tennessee

Name	Paul Wall
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Paul Michael Slayton
Born	March 11, 1981
Origin	Houston, Texas, United States
Genre	Hip hop, Southern hip hop, Rap rock
Occupation	Rapper, DJ, promoter, jeweller
Years active	1998–present
Label	Swishahouse/Asylum
Associated acts	Michael "5000" Watts, Expensive Taste, Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Trae, Bun B, Z-RO
Url	paulwallbaby.com, grillsbypaulwall.com

Paul Slayton (born March 11, 1981), better known by his stage name Paul Wall, is an American rap artist. He is currently affiliated with Swishahouse Records, having released several albums under the label as well as collaborating with other rappers signed to the label. He was formerly musical partners with rapper Chamillionaire releasing several collaborative albums including the independently released Get Ya Mind Correct. In 2005, he was signed to Atlantic Records and became successful with his major-label debut The Peoples Champ. Get Money, Stay True followed in 2007.

Musical career

Wall attended Jersey Village High School and studied mass communications at the University of Houston for three years. After proposing to do promotions for Michael "5000" Watts' company, Swishahouse, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall came to Watts' studio, KBXX. Paul & Chamillionaire convinced Watts to let them rap on his radio show and put the verses on one of his mixtapes. That mixtape was titled Choppin Em Up Part 2, which was released in mid 1999. The freestyle became so popular in the streets that Chamillionaire and Paul Wall became regular staples on Houston's mixtape circuit, appeared on several of Watts' mixtapes and became permanent members of Swishahouse.

After fellow member Slim Thug left the label, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall followed suit and the two started their own group known as The Color Changin' Click (named after Chamillion's Chameleon persona). Each successive mixtape released by The Color Changin' Click led to more business opportunities; the most notable of which was a contract to do a full album for Paid in Full Records. A one album contract was then negotiated between the Color Changin' Click and Paid in Full's label head, DJ Madd Hatta from 97.9 The Box, and the CCC's first album, Get Ya Mind Correct, would go on to sell over 200,000 copies. Wall's first music exposure came as a street team member on the Northwest side of Houston, promoting southern labels like Def Jam Records, Cash Money and No Limit Records. He is also an accomplished and proficient mixtape and party DJ, known for producing mixtapes in the now well-known screwed & chopped style, which was invented by the late DJ Screw.

Paul Wall and Chamillionaire were originally affiliated with Swishahouse Records, but left for Paid in Full Records a short time later. After several mixtape and independent releases including. Get Ya Mind Correct, the two parted ways, citing creative differences. Chamillionaire continued to release independent records, while Paul Wall returned to the Swishahouse fold. This move allowed him to appear on Mike Jones' first commercially distributed single, "Still Tippin'", from his first major label album Who Is Mike Jones?. The single is originally on Swishahouse's The Day Hell Broke Loose Part 2 aka Major Without A Major Deal, released in 2003, the album went on to sell over 500,000 copies two months after being released.

In 2005, Paul Wall released his first album, The People's Champ, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The first single "Sittin' Sidewayz" featuring Big Pokey. The second single, "They Don't Know", featured Bun B of UGK, and the video version also featured Mike Jones. The third single is "Girl", receiving radio airplay and peaking at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2007, Paul Wall released his second album Get Money, Stay True, which debuted in the #1 spot on the Billboard Chart Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums. Paul Wall released the singles "Break 'Em Off" featuring Lil Keke and "I'm Throwed" featuring and produced by Jermaine Dupri.

In 2007, Paul Wall appeared alongside other celebrities and regular people in the music video for Rockstar by Nickelback. He also appears on Bermuda-based reggae artist Collie Buddz self-titled debut album.

Paul Wall is currently a member of the rap group Expensive Taste, with his good friends Travis Barker and Skinhead Rob (Transplants). The trio also collectively owns a clothing line.

In the spring of 2008, Paul Wall joined Strange Music recording artist Tech N9ne on a nationwide tour, which also featured Brooklyn rapper ILL BiLL.

In the 2008 presidential campaign, Paul Wall spoke out in favor of candidate Barack Obama. He was quoted in The Source magazine as saying "Barack seems to come off as a true leader for everyone, whereas most people campaigning, including Hillary Clinton, seem to be just politicians. Barack seems to be genuine and sincere about his beliefs. He is selfless, while they are selfish. I'm gonna 'Barack the vote' this year and I've never voted before."

Paul Wall appears as fictional rapper Grillionaire in the movie I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, released on September 25, 2009. He, along with screenwriters Nils Parker and Tucker Max, co-wrote tracks for the movie.

In 2010, Paul Wall featured on the 'Przyjazn, Duma, Godnosc' (eng. 'Friendship, Pride and Dignity') album by a highly rated Polish rap artist Kaczor.

Personal life

Paul Wall married girlfriend Crystal in 2005. Their son William Patrick Slayton was born April 18, 2006.

During a concert in San Antonio Paul Wall hit a fan with a microphone. The fan was sticking his middle finger at Paul Wall. Paul Wall apologized to not only the victim but to all his San Antonio fans.

In 2010, Paul Wall went on an extreme diet and had gastric sleeve surgery, resulting in a 100 lbs weight loss.

Discography

2004: The Chick Magnet

2005: The Peoples Champ

2007: Get Money, Stay True

2009: Fast Life

2010: Heart of a Champion

2011: Politics As Usual (January 25)

Awards and nominations

Acting career

During his break from rapping, Paul Wall had an appearance in Furnace with Ja Rule. He appeared in the 2009 movie I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell along with Jesse Bradford and Matt Czuchry. He is currently working on the movie Xtinction.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" |- !Year !Title !Role |- ||2006 |Furnace |Joey Robbins |- ||2009 |I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell |Grillionaire |- |2010 |Xtinction |Froggy |}

References

External links

Paul Wall Official Website

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:American rappers of European descent Category:Asylum Records artists Category:Jersey Village High School alumni Category:Rappers from Houston, Texas Category:University of Houston alumni

Name	Murphy Lee
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Torhi Harper
Born	December 18, 1982
Origin	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	1993–present
Label	UC-Me EntertainmentDerrty Ent.Universal Records
Associated acts	St. Lunatics, Jermaine Dupri, Nelly, Diddy, Avery Storm
Url	Official site

Torhi Harper (born December 18, 1982 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States), better known by his stage name Murphy Lee, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper, best known as a member of the hip hop group St. Lunatics. Lee is also the cheif executive of his own label, U C Me Entertainment. He and his wife Melissa Garcia currently reside in St. Louis, MO.

Career

Murphy Lee formed the St. Lunatics with fellow rappers Nelly, Ali, Kyjuan, City Spud and Slo'Down. They scored a regional hit with the song "Gimmie What You Got", but the crew found it hard to get a record deal. Nelly secured a deal as a solo act, and released Country Grammar in 2000. After his appearances on Country Grammar, the St. Lunatics released their debut album Free City in 2001. A second St. Lunatics Who's The Boss was released in 2006. It isn't supported by the members as the music recording studio Fast Life released the CD because they owned the music. It is a CD of the group's 1996 songs, which are raps over the music of popular 90s songs. In 2002, he was featured on Jermaine Dupri's hit single "Welcome to Atlanta" remix. In 2003, his biggest hit came with "Shake Ya Tailfeather," featuring Nelly and P. Diddy, which appeared on the Bad Boys II soundtrack. That song would later win him a Grammy. Riding the success of "Shake Ya Tailfeather," Murphy Lee released his debut album Murphy's Law later that year. Murphy Lee released his second studio album, You See Me, on December 16, 2009 via his website "murphderrty.com".

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable" !align="center" rowspan=2|Year !align=center rowspan=2|Title !align=center colspan=2|Peak chart positions !align=center rowspan=2|RIAA certifications |- !width=40 align=center|US !width=40 align=center|US R&B;

Collaborations with St. Lunatics

2001: Free City (with St. Lunatics)

2006: Who's The Boss (with St. Lunatics)

2010: City Free (with St. Lunatics)

References

External links

Official Site

Official MySpace

Official UC-Me Entertainment Myspace Page

Category:African American rappers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Rappers from St. Louis, Missouri Category:St. Lunatics members Category:American vegetarians Category:1979 births Category:Living people

Name	Jermaine Dupri
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Jermaine Dupri Mauldin
Alias	J.D.
Born	September 23, 1972
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Label	So So Def Recordings, Island Urban Music, TAG Records
Genre	Hip hop
Years active	1984–present
Occupation	Producer, songwriter, rapper

Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972; although some sources say 1973 but his debut album called Life in 1472 refers to the year of Dupri's birth, 1972), better known simply as Jermaine Dupri or J.D., is an American record producer, rapper and songwriter.

Biography

Using his father's "connections" to start a career dancing for the likes of Diana Ross when he was not yet in his teens, Jermaine Dupri had already moved on to performing and producing by the time he reached 7. He made his first production effort for the female rap trio Silk Tymes Leather. Although the group was unable to produce a successful album, Jermaine received attention for his efforts and made strong contacts within the industry. He later formed the teen duo Kris Kross (Chris Kelly and Chris Smith) after meeting the boys at a local mall in 1991. The group's first album, Totally Krossed Out, was released in 1992 and went multi-platinum due to their singles "Jump" and "It's a Shame".

After he established his new record label So So Def Recordings, his next big break would come in 1993 in the form of Xscape, a female R&B; group he discovered during a festival in Atlanta and signed to So So Def Recordings. After signing, they released their debut Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha and went platinum. During the same year, on Yo! MTV Raps he met Chicago rapper Shawntae Harris, A.K.A Da Brat through Kris Kross, signed her to his label So So Def Recordings, and released her debut Funkdafied (1994). It went platinum making her the first female hip hop artist to sell 1,000,000 units. Dupri subsequently built on this success through working with other R&B; artists such as Boyz II Men, as well as R&B; singers Mariah Carey, Luther Vandross and Babyface, achieving multi-millionaire status for himself by the age of 24. His finances were not hindered by a distribution deal made with Columbia Records in 1993. Since its inception, over 20 gold and platinum records have accumulated on So So Def's studio walls. He met Jagged Edge through Xscape band member Kandi Burrus, who at the time was dating one of the members, in 1996.

In 1998, Jermaine Dupri surpassed all of his prior commercial ventures with his involvement in the release of Destiny Child's eponymous debut album. The same year, he began work on his own music career with the albums The Party Continues and Jermaine Dupri Presents Life In 1472: The Original Soundtrack. The same year, he met 10 or 11 year old rapper Lil Bow Wow through one of his influences, Snoop Dogg, when signed to Death Row Records. He signed him to his So So Def Recordings and got to work. Then in 2000, they released his debut Beware of Dog, which was certified double platinum. After releasing Doggy Bag (2001) for him, the two broke up their relationship before releasing Unleashed (2003), but certified it gold. Many believe Dupri was his biggest source to his career, so they went back on track and became close again.. The deal with Columbia was terminated in 2002, and in 2003 Dupri switched to Arista Records. Jermaine worked on Mariah Carey's recent Christmas album, Merry Christmas II You.

Discography

Life in 1472 (1998)

Instructions (2001)

TBA (2011)

References

External links

Official website

Jermaine Dupri at Beatbuggy

Jermaine Dupri's Official Youtube

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:African American record producers Category:American music industry executives Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:People from Asheville, North Carolina Category:Rappers from North Carolina Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:So So Def artists

Name	Jaheim
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Jaheim Hoagland
Alias	Jaheim, Jah (Jah)
Born	May 26, 1978
Origin	New Brunswick, New Jersey United States
Genre	Contemporary R&B;
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, Producer
Years active	1999–present
Label	Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic Records
Url	Official Site

Jaheim Hoagland (born May 26, 1978) is an R&B; singer performing under the mononymous name of Jaheim. Jaheim is known for his soulful baritone voice. He was signed by Naughty by Nature's Kaygee to Divine Mill Records in 2000, and released his debut album Ghetto Love in 2001. His second effort, Still Ghetto, was released a year later, both achieving platinum success. Jaheim's third album, Ghetto Classics, was released on February 14, 2006, debuting at Number One on the Billboard 200, and selling over 153,000 copies in its first week.

Jaheim has been a resident of Hillsborough Township, New Jersey. He is the grandson of the late 1960s soul singer Hoagy Lands.

He is currently attending St. Johns University, having earlier dropped out of Lock Haven University.

After his new album Another Round Jaheim was nominated for Best Male R&B;/Soul Artist for the 23rd Soul Train Music Awards on November 28, 2010.

In December 2010, he was nominated for three Grammy awards, including Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance, Best R&B; Album, and Best R&B; Song.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official Site

MySpace Official

Jaheim French Fan Page SoulRnB.com

Category:1978 births Category:African American singers Category:Living people Category:People from New Brunswick, New Jersey Category:People from Somerset County, New Jersey Category:Atlantic Records artists