name	Brian McKnight
backgrounhhhd	solo_singer
birth date	June 05, 1969
origin	Buffalo, New York, United States
instrument	Vocals, Piano, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass guitar, Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Trombone, Tuba, Percussions, Drums
genre	R&B;, soul, quiet storm
occupation	Singer-songwriter, Producer
years active	1988–present
label	Mercury (1988–1997)Motown (1998–2005)Warner Bros. (2006–2008)E1 Music (2009-)
website	Official siteOfficial MySpace
background	solo_singer }}

Brian McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B; musician, hosting his own evening short-lived talk show. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet.

Early life

McKnight was born in Buffalo, New York. His musical career began in childhood when he became a member of his church choir and a band leader for his high school, Sweet Home High School.

Music career

In 1987, McKnight's older brother, Claude McKnight III, and his band, Take 6, signed a record deal with Warner Brothers. This encouraged McKnight to shop his own demo tapes and by the age of 19, he'd signed his first recording deal with Mercury Records subsidiary, Wing Records. In 1992, ''Brian McKnight'' was released and was followed by two more albums for Mercury, 1995's ''I Remember You'' and 1997's ''Anytime''. ''Anytime'', McKnight's final album with Mercury, sold over two million copies and was nominated for a Grammy.

In 1997, McKnight recorded "Remember the Magic" for Disney World's 25th anniversary.

McKnight signed with Motown in 1998 and released the Christmas album ''Bethlehem''. In 1999, McKnight released ''Back at One'', his most successful album at date, which eventually went on to sell over 3 million copies.

Throughout his career, McKnight has collaborated with a variety of musicians including Mariah Carey, Sin Bandera, Mase, Sean "Puffy" Combs,Marcus Cole, Mary J. Blige, Justin Timberlake, Nelly, Vanessa Williams, Ivete Sangalo, Kirk Franklin, For Real, Canibus, Quincy Jones, Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, Regine Velasquez, Shoshana Bean, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, Rascal Flatts, Willie Nelson, Talib Kweli, MJG (of the Southern Rap duo Eightball & MJG), Josh Groban (on his 2007 #1 Christmas album ''Noel Schajris''), Justin Bieber, and CeCe Peniston.

In 2004, McKnight co-wrote with Australian Soul artist Guy Sebastian the song "Wait", off Sebastian's ''Beautiful Life'' album.

McKnight's vocal style draws from Stevie Wonder (particularly in his use of melisma), Michael Sembello, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, and his own brother, Take 6 co-founder Claude V. McKnight. Soul singer James Ingram also strongly influenced McKnight. His music production sensibilities, including his penchant for piano based pop ballads, method of background vocal recording and melismatic voice inflections all draw heavily from Ingram. McKnight also has the uncanny ability to mimic the timbre and style of other singers such as Nat King Cole, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Prince.

In October 2007, McKnight made his Broadway debut in the show Chicago.

On March 31, 2011 McKnight sang the National Anthem for MLB Opening Day in Cincinnati, Ohio with his sons Brian, Jr. and Niko.

Television/Radio Career

From 2006 to 2010 he hosted a radio show, ''The Brian McKnight Morning Show'' with Pat Prescott on KTWV The Wave in Los Angeles, CA. The show was briefly simulcast on KHJZ-FM, Smooth Jazz 95.7 The Wave in Houston, TX from 6AM-9AM CST.

On January 26, 2009, McKnight hosted "The Brian McKnight Show" from 7PM-Midnight on 98.7 KISS FM in New York City.

In 2009, he appeared in the second season of Celebrity Apprentice. Each celebrity played to raise money for the charity of his or her choice; McKnight elected to play for Youthville USA.

From September 2009 to May 2010, McKnight hosted ''The Brian McKnight Show'', a late night talk show billed as a combination of talk and variety, aired in syndication. The show was cancelled on May 29, 2010 after one season.

Personal life

McKnight is divorced and has four sons and two daughters (Brian Jr. 21, Cole Nikolas 19, Clyde Lee 18, Evan 10, Brianna 9 and Braylinn 3). On February 11, 2010, Brian proposed to his girlfriend Annalisa Mungcal during one of his performances. No wedding date has been set at this time.

McKnight currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Religion

Brian McKnight was previously a Seventh-day Adventist. He grew up attending Emmanuel Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church in Buffalo. He also attended Oakwood University, a Seventh-day Adventist university, in Huntsville, Alabama from 1987-1989. McKnight explains, concerning his musical beginnings in the church:

"I'm the fifth generation of Seventh Day Adventists and the youngest of four brothers. When I was still very small, we formed a gospel quartet. Our models were the great gospel groups, the Swan Silvertones and Mighty Clouds of Joy. The McKnight brothers were serious singers. The reputation went out: these boys could shout. My big brothers—Claude (a part of the gospel group Take 6), Freddie and Michael—man, they were my heroes. Each was a leader in his own right. Outside church, they listened to jazz. Church music thrilled me, but jazz stimulated me."

Discography

Brian McKnight discography

*Brian McKnight (1992)

*I Remember You (1995)

*Anytime (1997)

*Bethlehem (1998)

*Back at One (1999)

*Superhero (2001)

*U-Turn (2003)

*Gemini (2005)

*Ten (2006)

*Evolution of a Man (2009)

*Just Me (2011)

Awards and nominations

American Music Awards

*1999, Favorite R&B;/Soul Album: Anytime (Nominated)

2010

BET Awards

*2007, BET J Cool Like Dat: (Nominated)

Grammy Awards

*2005, Best R&B; Male Vocal Performance: "What We Do Here" (Nominated)

*2004, Best R&B; Male Vocal Performance: "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda" (Nominated)

*2003, Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group: "All the Way" w/ Kenny G (Nominated)

*2002, Outstanding Song Written for a Motion Picture of Television Series: "Win" from Men of Honor (Nominated)

*2002, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance: "Still" (Nominated)

*2002, Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals: "My Kind of Girl" w/ Justin Timberlake (Nominated)

*2002, Best R&B; Song: "Love of My Life" (Nominated)

*2002, Best R&B; Male Vocal Performance: "Love of My Life" (Nominated)

*2001, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance: "6, 8, 12" (Nominated)

*2001, Best R&B; Male Vocal Performance: "Stay or Let It Go" (Nominated)

*2001, Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group: "Coming Back Home" w/ Bebe Winans & Joe (singer) (Nominated)

*2000, Best R&B; Album: Back at One (Nominated)

*2000, Best Short-Form Music Video: "Back at One" (Nominated)

*1999, Best R&B; Male Vocal Performance: "The Only One For Me" (Nominated)

*1999, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance: "Anytime" (Nominated)

*1994, Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals: "Love Is" w/ Vanessa L. Williams (Nominated)

McKnight holds a Grammy Awards record having received 16 nominations without a win.

*2002, Outstanding Male Artist: Superhero (Nominated)

*2001, Outstanding Male Artist: "Stay or Let It Go" (Nominated)

*2000, Outstanding Male Artist: "Back at One" (Winner)

MTV Video Music Awards

*2000, Best R&B; Video: "Back at One" (Nominated)

*1998, Best R&B; Video: "Anytime" (Nominated)

Soul Train Awards

*2002, Best R&B;/Soul Male Single: "Love of My Life" (Nominated)

*2000, Best R&B;/Soul Single Male: "Back at One" (Nominated)

*2000, Best R&B;/Soul Male Album: Back at One (Nominated)

*1999, Best R&B;/Soul Male Album: "Anytime" (Winner)

References

Music.Yahoo.com

External links

Brian McKnight official website

Brian McKnight entertainment website

Brian McKnight's Biography from VH1

Brian McKnight's Profile from VIBE

Brian McKnight Fans Website

Blogs.OrlandoSentinel.com

Brian McKnight JUST ME 2011 World Tour

Category:American rhythm and blues guitarists Category:American soul guitarists Category:American tenors Category:American pianists Category:American musicians Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American record producers Category:Songwriters from New York Category:American trumpeters Category:American guitarists Category:African American guitarists Category:African American songwriters Category:American male singer-songwriters Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American Seventh-day Adventists Category:Motown artists Category:Warner Music Group artists Category:People from Buffalo, New York Category:African American singers Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:American keyboardists Category:African American record producers Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:The Apprentice (U.S. TV series) contestants

bg:Брайън Макнайт es:Brian McKnight fr:Brian McKnight ko:브라이언 맥나잇 id:Brian McKnight nl:Brian McKnight ja:ブライアン・マックナイト pl:Brian McKnight pt:Brian McKnight ru:МакНайт, Брайан sv:Brian McKnight th:ไบรอัน แม็กไนต์

name	Kobe Bryant
width	233px
position	Shooting guard
height ft	6
height in	6
weight lb	205
team	Los Angeles Lakers
number	24
birth date	August 23, 1978
birth place	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
nationality	American
high school	Lower Merion HS, Ardmore, Pennsylvania
draft year	1996
draft round	1
draft pick	13
draft team	Charlotte Hornets
career start	1996
years1	–present
team1	Los Angeles Lakers
highlights	5× NBA Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010) 2× NBA Finals MVP (2009–2010) NBA Most Valuable Player () 13× NBA All-Star (1998, 2000–2011) 2× NBA scoring champion (–) 9× All-NBA First Team (–, –) 2× All-NBA Second Team (–) 2× All-NBA Third Team (, ) 9× All-Defensive First Team (, –, –) 2× All-Defensive Second Team (–) NBA All-Rookie Second Team () 4× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2002, 2007, 2009, 2011) NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (1997) Naismith Prep Player of the Year (1996)
medaltemplates	}}

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. He decided to declare his eligibility for the NBA Draft upon graduation, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.

Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. A heated feud between the duo and a loss in the 2004 NBA Finals was followed by O'Neal's trade from the Lakers after the 2003–04 season. In 2003, Bryant was accused of sexual assault after having sex with a hotel employee in Colorado. In September 2004, prosecutors dropped the case after his accuser refused to testify, and Bryant had to rebuild his image while becoming the cornerstone of the Lakers franchise. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, setting numerous scoring records in the process. In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in NBA history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance in 1962. In the 2007–08 season, he was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP). After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named NBA Finals MVP on both occasions.

, Bryant ranks third and sixth on the league's all-time post-season scoring and all-time regular season scoring lists, respectively. He is also the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. Since his second year in the league, Bryant has started in every NBA All-Star Game that has been held with thirteen All-Star appearances, winning the All-Star MVP Award four times (2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011). Bryant is tied for the most All Star MVP Awards in NBA History. He is a thirteen-time member of the All-NBA team and eleven-time All-Defensive team, and is the youngest player ever to receive defensive honors. At the 2008 Olympics, he won a gold medal as a member of the USA national team. In 2009, Sporting News and TNT named Bryant the NBA player of the 2000s decade.

Early years

Childhood and youth

Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the youngest of three children and the only son of former Philadelphia 76ers player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant. He is also the maternal nephew of John "Chubby" Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu. Bryant was raised Roman Catholic. When Bryant was six, his father left the NBA and moved his family to Italy to continue playing professional basketball. Bryant became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak Italian and Spanish fluently. During summers, Bryant would come back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league. He started playing basketball when he was 3 years old, and his favorite team growing up was the Lakers. Bryant's grandfather would mail him videos of NBA games, which Bryant would study. At an early age he also learned to play soccer; his favorite team is AC Milan. He has said that if he had stayed in Italy, he would have tried to become a professional soccer player; Bryant is a big fan of former FC Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard and their former player Ronaldinho. Upon Joe Bryant's retirement from playing basketball in 1991, the Bryant family moved back to the United States.

High school

Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School located in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion. As a freshman, he played for the varsity basketball team. His father coached him his second year of high school. Although during his first year the team was mediocre, the following three years the Aces compiled a 77–13 record, with Bryant playing all five positions. At Adidas ABCD camp, Bryant earned the 1995 senior MVP award, while playing alongside future NBA teammate Lamar Odom. While in high school, then 76ers coach John Lucas invited Bryant to work out and scrimmage with the team, where he played one-on-one with Jerry Stackhouse. In his senior year of high school, Bryant led the Aces to their first state championship in 53 years. During the run, he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4.0 steals, and 3.8 blocked shots in leading the Aces to a 31–3 record. He ended his career as Southeastern Pennsylvania's all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points, surpassing both Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons. Bryant received several awards for his performance his senior year including being named Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Men's National Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, and a ''USA Today'' All-USA First Team player. Bryant's varsity coach, Greg Downer, commented that Bryant was "a complete player who dominates". In 1996, Bryant took R&B; singer Brandy Norwood to her senior prom, though the two were, and remain, just friends. His SAT score of 1080 would have ensured his basketball scholarship to various top-tier colleges. Ultimately, however, the 17-year-old Bryant made the decision to go directly into the NBA, only the sixth player in NBA history to do so. Bryant's news was met with a lot of publicity at a time when prep-to-pro NBA players were not very common (Kevin Garnett being the only exception in 20 years). Bryant has stated that had he decided to go to college after high school, he would have attended Duke University.

NBA career

1996 NBA Draft

The first guard to ever be taken out of high school, Bryant was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996. According to Arn Tellem, Bryant's agent at the time, Bryant playing for the Charlotte Hornets was "an impossibility". However, Bill Branch, the Hornets' head scout at the time, said that the Hornets agreed to trade their draft selection to the Lakers before picking Bryant. The teams agreed to the trade the day before the draft and the Lakers did not tell the Hornets who to select until five minutes before the pick was made. Branch said that prior to the trade agreement, the Hornets never even considered drafting Bryant. Prior to the draft, Bryant had worked out in Los Angeles, in which he scrimmaged against former Lakers players Larry Drew and Michael Cooper, and according to then-Laker manager Jerry West "marched over these people". On July 1, 1996, West traded his starting center, Vlade Divac, to the Hornets in exchange for Bryant's draft rights. Since he was still 17 at the time of the draft, his parents had to cosign his contract with the Lakers until he was able to sign his own when he turned 18 before the season began.

First three seasons (1996–99)

During his rookie season, Bryant mostly came off the bench behind guards Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel. At the time he became the youngest player ever to play in an NBA game (a record since broken by Jermaine O'Neal and Andrew Bynum), and also became the youngest NBA starter ever. Initially, Bryant played limited minutes, but as the season continued, he began to see some more playing time. By the end of the season, he averaged 15.5 minutes a game. During the All-Star weekend, Bryant was the winner of the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, becoming the youngest player to be named the slam dunk champion at the age of 18. Bryant's performance throughout the year earned him a spot on the NBA All Rookie second team with fellow bench teammate Travis Knight. His final minutes of the season ended in disaster when he shot 4 air balls at crucial times in the game. He first missed a jumper to win the game in the 4th quarter and 3 three-pointers in overtime (2 of which would have tied the game in the final minute). With that the Utah Jazz ended the playoffs for the Lakers in the second round. Shaquille O'Neal commented years later that "[Bryant] was the only guy who had the guts at the time to take shots like that."

In Bryant's second season, he received more playing time and began to show more of his abilities as a talented young guard. As a result Bryant's point averages more than doubled from 7.6 to 15.4 points per game. Bryant would see an increase in minutes when the Lakers "played small", which would feature Bryant playing small forward along side the guards he'd usually back up. Bryant was the runner-up for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award, and through fan voting, he also became the youngest NBA All-Star starter in NBA history. He was joined by fellow teammates Shaquille O'Neal, Nick Van Exel, and Eddie Jones, making it the first time since 1983 that four players on the same team were selected to play in the same All-Star Game. Bryant's 15.4 points per game was the highest of any non-starter in the season.

The 1998–99 season marked Bryant's emergence as a premiere guard in the league. With starting guards Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones traded, Bryant started every game for the lockout-shortened 50 game season. During the season, Bryant signed a 6-year contract extension worth $70 million. This kept him with the Lakers until the end of the 2003–04 season. Even at an early stage of his career sportswriters were comparing his skills to that of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. The playoff results, however, were no better, as the Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semi-finals.

Three-peat (1999–2002)

Bryant's fortunes would soon change when Phil Jackson became coach for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1999. After years of steady improvement, Bryant became one of the premier shooting guards in the league, earning appearances in the league's All-NBA, All-Star, and All-Defensive teams. The Los Angeles Lakers became true championship contenders under Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, who formed a legendary center-guard combination. Jackson utilized the triangle offense he used to win six championships with the Chicago Bulls, which would help both Bryant and O'Neal rise to the elite class of the NBA. The three resulting championships won consecutively in 2000, 2001, and 2002 further proved such a fact.

Bryant started the 1999–2000 season sidelined for six weeks due to an injury to his hand in a preseason game against the Washington Wizards. With Bryant back and playing over 38 minutes a game, he saw an increase in all statistical categories in the 1999–2000 season. This included leading the team in assists per game and steals per game. The duo of O'Neal and Bryant backed with a strong bench led to the Lakers winning 67 games, tied for fifth-most in NBA history. This followed with O'Neal winning the MVP and Bryant being named to the All-NBA Team Second Team and All-NBA Defensive Team for the first time in his career (the youngest player ever to receive defensive honors). While playing second fiddle to O'Neal in the playoffs, Bryant had some clutch performances including a 25 point, 11 rebound, 7 assist, 4 block game in game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the Portland Trail Blazers. He also threw an alley-oop pass to O'Neal to clinch the game and the series. In the 2000 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Bryant injured his ankle in the second quarter of game 2 and missed the rest of the game and game 3. In game 4, Bryant scored 22 points in the second half, and led the team to an overtime victory as O'Neal fouled out of the game. Bryant scored the winning shot to put the Lakers ahead 120–118. With a game 6 victory, the Lakers won their first championship since 1988.

Statistically, the 2000–01 season saw Bryant perform similarly to the previous year except Bryant was averaging 6 more points a game (28.5). It was also the year when disagreements between Bryant and O'Neal began to surface. Once again he led the team in assists with 5 per game. The Lakers however, only won 56 games, an 11 game drop off from last year. The Lakers would respond by going 15–1 in the playoffs. They easily swept the Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, and San Antonio Spurs, before losing their first game against the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime. They would go on to win the next 4 games and bring their second championship to Los Angeles in as many seasons. During the playoffs Bryant played heavy minutes which brought his stats up to 29.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game. In the playoffs teammate O'Neal declared Bryant the best player in the league. Bryant ended up making the All NBA Second team and All NBA Defensive Team for the second year in a row. In addition, he was also voted to start in the NBA All-Star Game for the 3rd year in a row (no game in 1999).

In the 2001–02 season, Bryant played 80 games for the first time in his career. He continued his all-round play by averaging 25.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. He also had a career high 46.9% shooting and once again led his team in assists. While making the All-Star team and All-NBA Defensive team again, he was also promoted to the All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career. The Lakers won 58 games that year and finished second place in the Pacific Division behind in-state rival Sacramento Kings. Bryant was suspended one game after he punched Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers after the Lakers' March 1, 2002 victory over the Pacers.

The road to the Finals would prove a lot tougher than the record run the Lakers had the previous year. While the Lakers swept the Trail Blazers and defeated the Spurs 4–1, the Lakers did not have home court advantage against the Sacramento Kings. The series would stretch to 7 games, the first time this happened to the Lakers since the Western Conference Finals in the 2000 NBA Playoffs. However, the Lakers were able to beat their division rivals and make their third consecutive NBA Finals appearance. In the 2002 Finals, Bryant averaged 26.8 points, 51.4% shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists per game, which included scoring a quarter of the teams points. At age 23, Bryant became the youngest player to win three championships. Bryant's play was notable and praised for his performance in the 4th quarter of games, specifically the last 2 rounds of the playoffs. This cemented Bryant's reputation as a clutch player.

Coming up short (2002–04)

In the 2002–03 season, Bryant averaged 30 points per game and embarked on a historic run, posting 40 or more points in nine consecutive games while averaging 40.6 in the entire month of February. In addition, he averaged 6.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, all career highs up to that point. Bryant was once again voted on to both the All-NBA and All-Defensive 1st teams, and came in third place in voting for the MVP award. After finishing 50–32 in the regular season, the Lakers foundered in the playoffs and lost in the Western Conference semi-finals to the eventual NBA champions San Antonio Spurs in six games.

In the following 2003–04 season, the Lakers were able to acquire NBA All-Stars Karl Malone, and Gary Payton to make another push at the NBA Championship. Before the season began, Bryant was arrested for sexual assault. This caused Bryant to miss some games due to court appearances or attend court earlier in the day and travel to play games later in same day. In the final game of the regular season the Lakers played the Portland Trail Blazers. Bryant made two buzzer beaters to win the game and the Pacific Division title. At the end of the fourth quarter, Bryant made a three-pointer as time ran out to tie the game and send it into over time. The game eventually went to a second over time and Bryant made another three pointer as time expired to lift the Lakers past the Trail Blazers 105–104.

With a starting lineup of four future Hall of Famers, O'Neal, Malone, Payton, and Bryant, the Lakers were able to reach the NBA Finals. In the Finals, they were defeated in five games by the Detroit Pistons, who won their first championship since 1990. In that series, Bryant averaged 22.6 points per game and 4.4 assists. He shot a mere 35.1% from the field. Phil Jackson's contract as coach was not renewed, and Rudy Tomjanovich took over. Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant. The following day, Bryant declined an offer to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers and re-signed with the Lakers on a seven-year contract.

Playoffs disappointments (2004–07)

Bryant was closely scrutinized and criticized during the 2004–05 season with his reputation badly damaged from all that had happened over the previous year. A particularly damaging salvo came when Phil Jackson wrote ''The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul''. The book detailed the events of the Lakers' tumultuous 2003–04 season and has a number of criticisms of Bryant. In the book Jackson called Bryant "uncoachable". Midway through the season, Rudy Tomjanovich suddenly resigned as Lakers coach, citing the recurrence of health problems and exhaustion. Without Tomjanovich, stewardship of the remainder of the Lakers' season fell to career assistant coach Frank Hamblen. Despite the fact that Bryant was the league's second leading scorer at 27.6 points per game, the Lakers floundered and missed the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. The year signified a drop in Bryant's overall status in the NBA, as he did not make the NBA All-Defensive Team and was also demoted to the All-NBA Third Team. During the season, Bryant also engaged in public feuds with Ray Allen and Karl Malone.

The 2005–06 NBA season would mark a crossroads in Bryant's basketball career. Despite past differences with Bryant, Phil Jackson returned to coach the Lakers. Bryant endorsed the move, and by all appearances, the two men worked together well the second time around, leading the Lakers back into the playoffs. Bryant's individual scoring accomplishments posted resulted in the finest statistical season of his career. On December 20, 2005, Bryant scored 62 points in three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks. Entering the fourth quarter, Bryant had outscored the entire Mavericks team 62–61, the only time a player has done this through three quarters since the advent of the 24-second shot clock. When the Lakers faced the Miami Heat on January 16, 2006, Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal made headlines by engaging in handshakes and hugs before the game, signifying a change in the feud that had festered between the two players. A month later, at the 2006 NBA All-Star Game, the two were seen laughing together.

On January 22, 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points in a victory against the Toronto Raptors. In addition to breaking the previous franchise record of 71 set by Elgin Baylor, Bryant's 81-point game was the second highest point total in NBA history, surpassed only by Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. In that same month, Bryant also became the first player since 1964 to score 45 points or more in four consecutive games, joining Chamberlain and Baylor as the only players ever to do so. For the month of January, Bryant averaged 43.4 points per game, the eighth highest single month scoring average in NBA history and highest for any player other than Chamberlain. By the end of the 2005–06 season, Bryant set Lakers single-season franchise records for most 40-point games (27) and most points scored (2,832). He won the league's scoring title for the first time, posting a scoring average of (35.4). Bryant finished in fourth place in the voting for the 2006 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, but received 22 first place votes—second only to winner Steve Nash. The Los Angeles Lakers posted a 45–37 record, an eleven-game improvement over the previous season, and the entire squad seemed to be clicking.

Later in the season, it was reported that Bryant would change his jersey number from 8 to 24 at the start of the 2006–07 NBA season. Bryant's first high school number was 24 before he switched to 33. After the Lakers' season ended, Bryant said on TNT that he wanted 24 as a rookie, but it was unavailable, as was 33, retired with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Bryant wore 143 at the Adidas ABCD camp, and chose 8 by adding those numbers. In the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers played well enough to reach a 3–1 series lead over the Phoenix Suns, culminating with Bryant's OT-forcing and game-winning shots in Game 4. They came within six seconds of eliminating the second-seeded Suns in Game 6, however, they lost that game 126 to 118 in overtime. Despite Bryant's 27.9 points per game in the series, the Lakers broke down, and ultimately fell to the Suns in seven games. Bryant received criticism for only taking three shots in the second half of the 90–121 loss to Phoenix in Game 7. In the 2006 off-season, Bryant had knee surgery, preventing him from participating in the 2006 FIBA World Championship tournament.

During the 2006–07 season, Bryant was selected to his 9th All-Star Game appearance, and on February 18, he logged 31 points, 6 assists, and 6 steals, earning his second career All-Star Game MVP trophy. Over the course of the season, Bryant became involved in a number of on court incidents. On January 28 while attempting to draw contact on a potential game winning jumpshot, he flailed his arm striking San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginóbili in the face with his elbow. Following a league review, Bryant was suspended for the subsequent game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks. The basis given for the suspension was that Bryant had performed an "unnatural motion" in swinging his arm backwards. Later, on March 6, he seemed to repeat the motion, this time striking Minnesota Timberwolves guard Marko Jarić. On March 7, the NBA handed Bryant his second one-game suspension. In his first game back on March 9, he elbowed Kyle Korver in the face which was retroactively re-classified as a Type 1 flagrant foul.

On March 16, Bryant scored a season-high 65 points in a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, which helped end the Lakers 7-game losing streak. This was the second best scoring performance of his 11-year career. The following game, Bryant recorded 50 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves, after which he scored 60 points in a road win against the Memphis Grizzlies—becoming the second Laker to score three straight 50-plus point games, a feat not seen since Michael Jordan last did it in 1987. The only other Laker to do so was Elgin Baylor, who also scored 50+ in three consecutive contests in December 1962. In the following day, in a game against the New Orleans Hornets, Bryant scored 50 points, making him the second player in NBA history to have 4 straight 50 point games behind Wilt Chamberlain, who is the all-time leader with seven consecutive 50 point games twice. Bryant finished the year with a total of ten 50-plus point games, becoming the only player beside Wilt Chamberlain in 1961–62 and 1962–63 to do so in one season. He also won his second straight scoring title that season. Throughout the 2006–07 season, Bryant's jersey became the top selling NBA jersey in the United States and China. A number of journalists have attributed the improved sales to Bryant's new number, as well as his continuing All-Star performance on the court. In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers were once again eliminated in the first round by the Phoenix Suns, 4–1.

MVP year (2007–08)

On May 27, 2007, ESPN reported that Bryant stated that he wanted to be traded if Jerry West did not return to the team with full authority. Bryant later confirmed his desire for West's return to the franchise, but denied stating that he would want to be traded if that does not occur. However, three days later, on Stephen A. Smith's radio program, Bryant expressed anger over a Lakers "insider" who claimed that Bryant was responsible for Shaquille O'Neal's departure from the team, and publicly stated, "I want to be traded." Three hours after making that statement, Bryant stated in another interview that after having a conversation with head coach Phil Jackson, he has reconsidered his decision and backed off his trade request. Bryant would later be shown on an infamous amateur video saying that center Andrew Bynum should have been traded for All-Star Jason Kidd.

On December 23, 2007, Bryant became the youngest player (29 years, 122 days) to reach 20,000 points, in a game against the New York Knicks, in Madison Square Garden. Despite an injury to his shooting hand's small finger, described as "a complete tear of the radial collateral ligament, an avulsion fracture, and a volar plate injury at the MCP joint" that occurred in a game on February 5, 2008, Bryant played all 82 games of the regular season instead of opting for surgery. Regarding his injury, he stated, "I would prefer to delay any surgical procedure until after our Lakers season, and this summer's Olympic Games. But, this is an injury that and the Lakers' medical staff will just have to continue to monitor on a day-to-day basis." In early September 2008, Bryant decided not to have surgery to repair the injury.

Leading his team to a West best 57–25 record, they swept the Nuggets in the first round and on May 6, 2008, Bryant was officially announced as the NBA Most Valuable Player award, his first for his career. He said, "It's been a long ride. I'm very proud to represent this organization, to represent this city." Jerry West, who was responsible for bringing Bryant to the Lakers, was on hand at the press conference to observe Bryant receive his MVP trophy from NBA commissioner David Stern. He stated, "Kobe deserved it. He's had just another great season. Doesn't surprise me one bit." In addition to winning his MVP award, Bryant was the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team on May 8, 2008 for the third straight season and sixth time in his career. He would then headline the NBA All-Defensive First Team with Kevin Garnett, receiving 52 points overall including 24 first-place nods, earning his eighth selection.

The Lakers concluded the 2007–08 regular season with a 57–25 record, finishing first in the Western Conference and setting up themselves for a first-round contest against the Nuggets. In Game 1, Bryant, who said he made himself a decoy through most of the game, scored 18 of his 32 points in the final 8 minutes to keep Los Angeles safely ahead. That made Denver the first 50-win team to be swept out of the first round of the playoffs since the Memphis Grizzlies fell in four to the San Antonio Spurs in 2004. In the first game of the next round against the Jazz, Bryant scored 38 points as the Lakers beat the Jazz in Game 1. The Lakers won the next game as well, but dropped Games 3 and 4, even with Bryant putting up 33.5 points per game. The Lakers then won the next two games to win the semifinals in 6. This set up a Western Conference Finals berth against the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers defeated the Spurs in 5 games, sending themselves to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. This marked the fifth time in Bryant's career and the first time without Shaquille O'Neal to go to the NBA Finals. The Lakers then lost to the Boston Celtics in 6 games.

Repeat (2008–10)

In the 2008–09 season, the Lakers opened the campaign by winning their first seven games. Bryant led the team to tie the franchise record for most wins to start the season going 17–2, and by the middle of December they compiled a 21–3 record. He was selected to his eleventh consecutive All-Star Game as a starter, and was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for December and January in addition to being named Western Conference Player of the week three times. In a game against the Knicks on February 2, 2009, Bryant scored 61 points, setting a record for the most points scored at Madison Square Garden. During the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, Bryant who tallied 27 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals was awarded All-Star Game co-MVP with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal. The Lakers finished the regular season with the best record in the west with a 65–17 record. Bryant was runner-up in the MVP voting behind LeBron James, and was selected to the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team for the seventh time in his career.

In the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz in five games and the Houston Rockets in seven games in the opening two rounds. After finishing off the Denver Nuggets in the Conference Finals in six games, the Lakers earned their second straight trip to the NBA Finals where they defeated the Orlando Magic in five games. Bryant was awarded his first NBA Finals MVP trophy upon winning his fourth championship, achieving series averages: 32.4 points, 7.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks. He became the first player since Jerry West in the 1969 NBA Finals to average at least 32.4 points and 7.4 assists for a finals series and the first since Michael Jordan to average 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for a title-winning team in the finals.

During the 2009–10 season, Bryant made six game-winning shots including a buzzer-beating, one-legged three point shot against the Miami Heat on December 4, 2009. Bryant considered the shot one of the luckiest he has made. A week later, Bryant suffered an avulsion fracture in his right index finger in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite the injury, Bryant elected to continue playing with it, rather than take any time off to rest the injury. Five days after his finger injury, he made another game winning shot, after missing on an opportunity in regulation, this time against the Milwaukee Bucks in an overtime game. Bryant also became the youngest player (31 years, 151 days) to reach 25,000 points during the season, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain. He continued his dominant clutch plays making yet another game winning three-pointer against the Sacramento Kings, and what would be the game-winning field goal against the Boston Celtics. The following day, he surpassed Jerry West to become the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. After being sidelined for five games from an ankle injury, Bryant made his return and made another clutch three-pointer to give the Lakers a one point lead with four seconds remaining against the Memphis Grizzlies. Two weeks later, he made his sixth game-winning shot of the season against the Toronto Raptors.

On April 2, 2010, Bryant signed a three-year contract extension worth $87 million. Bryant finished the regular season missing four of the final five games, due to injuries to his knee and finger. Bryant suffered multiple injuries throughout the season and as a result, missed nine games. The Lakers began the playoffs as the number one seed in the Western Conference against the Oklahoma City Thunder, eventually defeating them in six games. The Lakers swept the Utah Jazz in the second round and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they faced Phoenix Suns. In Game 2, Bryant finished the game with 13 assists, setting a new playoff career high; it was the most assists by a Laker in the playoffs since Magic Johnson had 13 in 1996. The Lakers went on to win the series in six games capturing the Western Conference Championship and advancing to the NBA Finals for a third straight season. In a rematch against the 2008 Champion Boston Celtics, Bryant, despite shooting 6 for 24 from the field, led the Lakers back from a thirteen-point third quarter deficit in Game 7 to win the championship; he scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, and finished the game with 15 rebounds. Bryant won his fifth championship and earned his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP award. This marked the first time the Lakers won a Game 7 against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Bryant said that this was the most satisfying of all of his five championships.

2010–11 season

The Lakers started the 2010–11 season by winning their first eight games. In his ninth game of the season, playing against the Denver Nuggets, Bryant became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 26,000 career points. Bryant also recorded his first triple double since January 21, 2009. On January 30 against the Celtics, he become the youngest player to score 27,000 points. On February 1, 2011, Bryant became one of seven players with at least 25,000 points, 5,000 rebounds and 5,000 assists. In Boston on February 10, Bryant scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half as the Lakers rallied from an early 15-point deficit for a 92–86 win over the Celtics. It was the Lakers' first victory of the season against one of the league's top four teams, as they entered the game 0–5 in previous matchups and had been outscored by an average of 11 points. Bryant, selected to his 13th straight All-Star game after becoming the leading vote-getter, had 37 points, 14 rebounds, and three steals in the 2011 All-Star Game and won his fourth All-Star MVP, tying Hall of Famer Bob Pettit for the most All-Star MVP awards. During the season, Bryant moved from 12th to 6th place on the NBA all-time career scoring list, passing John Havlicek, Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, and Moses Malone. Bryant finished the season averaging less than 20 shots a game, his fewest since the 2003–04 season.

On April 13, 2011, the NBA fined Bryant $100,000 for directing a gay slur at referee Bennie Adams in frustration in the previous day's game. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation praised the NBA's decision to fine Bryant, and the Human Rights Campaign said that Bryant's language was a "disgrace" and "distasteful". Bryant stated that he was open to discussing the matter with gay rights groups and wanted to appeal his fine. He later apologized for the use of the word. Bryant and other Lakers appeared in a Lakers public service announcement denouncing Bryant's behavior. The team's quest for another three-peat was ended when they were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs. The Mavericks would go on to win the 2011 NBA Finals.

International career

Kobe Bryant declined to play in the 2000 Olympics due to getting married in the off-season. He also decided not to play in the 2002 FIBA World Championship. Bryant was originally selected for the FIBA Americas Championship 2003 but withdrew due to surgeries and was replaced by Vince Carter. In the following summer, he had to withdraw from the Olympic team because of his legal case. Along with LeBron James, he was one of the first two players to publicly named to the 2006–2008 U.S. preliminary roster in 2006 by Jerry Colangelo. However, he was once again sidelined after knee surgery and didn't participate in the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Bryant's senior international career with the United States national team finally began in 2007. He was a member of the 2007 USA Men's Senior National Team and USA FIBA Americas Championship Team that finished 10–0, won gold and qualified the United States men for the 2008 Olympics. He started in all 10 of the USA's FIBA Americas Championship games. He finished third on the team for made and attempted free throws, ranked fourth for made field goals, made 3-pointers. Among all FIBA Americas Championship competitors, Bryant is ranked 15th in scoring, 14th in assists, and eighth in steals. Bryant scored double-digits in eight of the 10 games played. Bryant also made the game winning jumper above the foul line with seconds left in the game. He currently averages a .530 shooting percentage, with 16.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists.

As a part of his international expansion, he is also featured in a Chinese reality TV show, called the ''Kobe Mentu'' show, which documents Chinese basketball players on different teams going through drills, preparing to play each other while Bryant gives advice and words of encouragement to the players while they practice.

On June 23, 2008, he was named to the USA Men's Senior National Team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. This was his first time going to the Olympics. Bryant scored 20 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, along with six assists, as Team USA defeated Spain 118–107 in the gold medal game of the 2008 Summer Olympics on August 24, 2008, for its first gold medal in a worldwide international competition since the 2000 Olympics. He averaged 15.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting .462 from the field in eight Olympic contests.

Bryant has committed to playing for the national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Player profile

Bryant is a shooting guard who is capable of playing the small forward position. He is considered one of the most complete players in the NBA, has been selected to every All-NBA Team since 1999, and has been featured in the last twelve NBA All-Star games. Sports writers and sports casters have frequently compared Bryant to Michael Jordan, a comparison Bryant dislikes. In 2007, an ESPN poll of sportswriters voted him as the second best shooting guard in NBA history behind Jordan.

He is a prolific scorer, averaging 25.3 points per game for his career, along with 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.5 steals (as of the end of the 2010–2011 regular season). He is known for his ability to create shots for himself and is a standout three-point shooter, sharing the single-game NBA record for three pointers made with twelve. Bryant is often cited as one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA, though his 45.4% career field goal average is considered moderate. He utilizes his wide array of moves and shots to elude defenders and score from virtually anywhere on the floor. Some of Bryant's best moves are his turnaround jump shot, and his ability to post up his defenders and score with a fadeaway jumpshot. Chris Ballard, a ''Sports Illustrated'' NBA writer, describes a "jab step-and-pause" as a move Bryant uses where he jabs his non-pivot foot forward to let the defender relax and instead of bringing the jab foot back, he pushes off it and drive around his opponent to get to the basket.

Aside from his scoring ability, he has established himself as a standout defender, having made the All-Defensive first or second team eleven of the last twelve seasons. Bryant has also been noted being one of the premier clutch performers in the NBA. For nine consecutive seasons, Bryant has been selected by an NBA GM survey as the player they most want taking the shot with the game on the line. Both Sporting News and TNT named Bryant the NBA player of the 2000s decade.

NBA career statistics

	Led the league

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 71 || 6 || 15.5 || .417 || .375 || .819 || 1.9 || 1.3 || .7 || .3 || 7.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 79 || 1 || 26.0 || .428 || .341 || .794 || 3.1 || 2.5 || .9 || .5 || 15.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 50 || 50 || 37.9 || .465 || .267 || .839 || 5.3 || 3.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || 19.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 66 || 62 || 38.2 || .468 || .319 || .821 || 6.3 || 4.9 || 1.6 || .9 || 22.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 68 || 68 || 40.9 || .464 || .305 || .853 || 5.9 || 5.0 || 1.7 || .6 || 28.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 80 || 80 || 38.3 || .469 || .250 || .829 || 5.5 || 5.5 || 1.5 || .4 || 25.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 82 || 82 || 41.5 || .451 || .383 || .843 || 6.9 || 5.9 || 2.2 || .8 || 30.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 65 || 64 || 37.6 || .438 || .327 || .852 || 5.5 || 5.1 || 1.7 || .4 || 24.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 66 || 66 || 40.7 || .433 || .339 || .816 || 5.9 || 6.0 || 1.3 || .8 || 27.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 80 || 80 || 41.0 || .450 || .347 || .850 || 5.3 || 4.5 || 1.8 || .4 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 35.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 77 || 77 || 40.8 || .463 || .344 || .868 || 5.7 || 5.4 || 1.4 || .5 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 31.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 82 || 82 || 38.9 || .459 || .361 || .840 || 6.3 || 5.4 || 1.8 || .5 || 28.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 82 || 82 || 36.1 || .467 || .351 || .856 || 5.2 || 4.9 || 1.5 || .4 || 26.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 73 || 73 || 38.8 || .456 || .329 || .811 || 5.4 || 5.0 || 1.6 || .3 || 27.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 82 || 82 || 33.9 || .451 || .323 || .828 || 5.1 || 4.7 || 1.2 || .1 || 25.3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 1103 || 955 || 36.4 || .454 || .339 || .837 || 5.3 || 4.7 || 1.5 || .6 || 25.3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 12 || 12 || 27.3 || .507 || .345 || .808 || 5.3 || 4.5 || 2.8 || .3 || 20.3

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1997 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 9 || 0 || 14.8 || .382 || .261 || .867 || 1.2 || 1.2 || .3 || .2 || 8.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1998 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 11 || 0 || 20.0 || .408 || .214 || .689 || 1.9 || 1.5 || .3 || .7 || 8.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 8 || 8 || 39.4 || .430 || .348 || .800 || 6.9 || 4.6 || 1.9 || 1.2 || 19.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 22 || 22 || 39.0 || .442 || .344 || .754 || 4.5 || 4.4 || 1.5 || 1.5 || 21.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 16 || 16 || 43.4 || .469 || .324 || .821 || 7.3 || 6.1 || 1.6 || .8 || 29.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 19 || 19 || 43.8 || .434 || .379 || .759 || 5.8 || 4.6 || 1.4 || .9 || 26.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 12 || 12 || 44.3 || .432 || .403 || .827 || 5.1 || 5.2 || 1.2 || .1 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 32.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 22 || 22 || 44.2 || .413 || .247 || .813 || 4.7 || 5.5 || 1.9 || .3 || 24.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 7 || 7 || 44.9 || .497 || .400 || .771 || 6.3 || 5.1 || 1.1 || .4 || 27.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 5 || 5 || 43.0 || .462 || .357 || .919 || 5.2 || 4.4 || 1.0 || .4 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 32.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 21 || 21 || 41.1 || .479 || .302 || .809 || 5.7 || 5.6 || 1.7 || .4 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 30.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 23 || 23 || 40.8 || .457 || .349 || .883 || 5.3 || 5.5 || 1.7 || .9 || 30.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 23 || 23 || 40.1 || .458 || .374 || .842 || 6.0 || 5.5 || 1.4 || .7 || 29.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 10 || 10 || 35.4 || .446 || .293 || .820 || 3.4 || 3.3 || 1.6 || .3 || 22.8 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 208 || 188 || 39.3 || .448 || .335 || .815 || 5.1 || 4.8 || 1.4 || .7 || 25.4

Accomplishments and records

Bryant led the NBA in scoring during the and seasons. In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest number of points scored in a game in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance. Bryant was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in the 2007–08 season and led his team to the 2008 NBA Finals as the first seed in the Western Conference. In the 2008 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. men's basketball team, occasionally referred to as "The Redeem Team". He led the Lakers to two more championships in 2009 and 2010, winning the Finals MVP award on both occasions.

Bryant has been selected to 13 All-NBA Team (nine times to the All-NBA First Team) and 11 All-Defensive Team (nine times to the All-Defensive First Team). He was selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game on 13 occasions, winning All-Star MVP Awards in 2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011 (he shared the 2009 award with Shaquille O'Neal). He also won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1997. As of May 2011, he has had 5 sixty-point games, 24 fifty-point games, and 107 forty-point games.

Off the court

Personal life

In November 1999, 21-year-old Bryant met 17-year-old Vanessa Laine while she was working as a background dancer on the Tha Eastsidaz music video "G'd Up". Bryant was in the building working on his debut musical album, which was never released. The two began dating and became engaged just six months later in May 2000, while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. To avoid media scrutiny, she finished high school through independent study. According to Vanessa's cousin Laila Laine, there was no prenuptial agreement. Vanessa said Bryant "''loved her too much for one''".

They married on April 18, 2001, at St. Edward Roman Catholic Church in Dana Point, California. Neither Bryant's parents, his two sisters, longtime advisor and agent Arn Tellem, nor Bryant's Laker teammates attended. Bryant's parents were opposed to the marriage for a number of reasons. Reportedly Bryant's parents had problems with him marrying so young, especially to a woman who was not African-American. This disagreement resulted in an estrangement period of over two years, which ended when Bryant had his first daughter.

In January 2002, Bryant bought a Mediterranean-style house for $4 million, located in a cul-de-sac in Newport Coast, Newport Beach. The Bryants' first child, a daughter named Natalia Diamante Bryant, was born on January 19, 2003. The birth of Natalia influenced Bryant to reconcile his differences with his parents. Vanessa Bryant suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy in the spring of 2005. Their second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, was born on May 1, 2006. Gianna was born six minutes ahead of former teammate Shaquille O'Neal's daughter Me'arah Sanaa, who was born in Florida. In an early 2007 interview, it was revealed that Bryant still speaks Italian fluently. Bryant assigned himself the nickname of "Black Mamba", citing a desire for his basketball skills to mimic the snake of that name's ability to "strike with 99% accuracy at maximum speed, in rapid succession."

Sexual assault allegation

In the summer of 2003, the sheriff's office of Eagle, Colorado arrested Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by 19-year old hotel employee Katelyn Faber. Bryant had checked into The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Eagle County in advance of undergoing knee surgery nearby. Faber accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room the night before Bryant was to have the procedure. Bryant admitted an adulterous sexual encounter with his accuser, but denied her sexual assault allegation.

The accusation tarnished Bryant's reputation, as the public's perception of Bryant plummeted, and his endorsement contracts with McDonald's and Nutella were terminated. Sales for Bryant's replica jersey fell significantly from their previous highs. However, in September 2004, the assault case was dropped by prosecutors after Faber refused to testify in the trial. Afterward, Bryant agreed to apologize to Faber for the incident, including his public mea culpa: "Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter." Faber filed a separate civil lawsuit against Bryant, which the two sides ultimately settled with the specific terms of the settlement being undisclosed to the public.

Endorsements

Before starting the 1996–97 NBA season, Bryant signed a 6-year contract with Adidas worth approximately $48 million. His first signature shoe was the Equipment KB 8. Bryant's other earlier endorsements included deals with The Coca-Cola Company to endorse their Sprite soft drink, appearing in advertisements for McDonald's, promoting Spalding's new NBA Infusion Ball, Upper Deck, Italian chocolate company Ferrero SpA's brand Nutella, Russell Corporation, and appearing on his own series of video games by Nintendo. Many companies like McDonald's and Ferrero SpA terminated his contracts when rape allegations against him became public. A notable exception was Nike, Inc., who had signed him to a 5-year, $40–45 million contract just before the incident. However, they refused to use his image or market a new shoe of his for the year, but eventually did start promoting Bryant once his image recovered 2 years later. He has since resumed endorsement deals with The Coca-Cola Company, through their subsidiary Energy Brands to promote their Vitamin Water brand of drinks. Bryant was also the cover athlete for NBA '07: Featuring the Life Vol. 2 and appeared in commercials for the video games Guitar Hero World Tour (with Tony Hawk, Michael Phelps, and Alex Rodriguez) in 2008 and Call of Duty: Black Ops (alongside Jimmy Kimmel) in 2010.

In a 2008 video promoting Nike's Hyperdunk shoes, Bryant appears to jump over a speeding Aston Martin. The stunt was considered to be fake, and the Los Angeles Times said a real stunt would probably be a violation of Bryant's Lakers contract. After promoting Nike's Hyperdunk shoes, Bryant came out with the fourth edition of his signature line by Nike, the Zoom Kobe IV. In 2010 Nike launched another shoe, Nike Zoom Kobe V. In 2009, Bryant signed a deal with Nubeo to market the "Black Mamba collection", a line of sports/luxury watches that range from $25,000 to $285,000. On February 9, 2009, Bryant was featured on the cover of ESPN The Magazine. However, it was not for anything basketball related, rather it was about Bryant being a big fan of FC Barcelona. CNN estimated Bryant's endorsement deals in 2007 to be worth $16 million a year. In 2010, Bryant was ranked third behind Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan in ''Forbes'' list of the world's highest-paid athletes with $48 million.

On December 13, 2010, Bryant signed a two-year endorsement deal with Turkey's national airline, Turkish Airlines. The deal involved Bryant being in a promotional film to be aired in over 80 countries in addition to him being used in digital, print and billboard advertising.

Bryant has appeared as the cover athlete for the following video games: Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside NBA Courtside 2: Featuring Kobe Bryant NBA Courtside 2002 NBA 3 On 3 Featuring Kobe Bryant NBA '07: Featuring the Life Vol. 2 NBA '09: The Inside

NBA 2K10

Music

In 2011, Bryant was featured in Taiwanese singer Jay Chou's single, "The Heaven and Earth Challenge" (天地一鬥, pronounced "Tian Di Yi Dou"). The proceeds for downloads of both the single and ringtones were donated to impoverished schools for basketball facilities and equipment. The music video of the single also features Bryant. The song was also used by Sprite in its 2011 marketing campaign in China.

Philanthropy

Bryant is the official ambassador for After-School All-Stars (ASAS), an American non-profit organization that provides comprehensive after-school programs to children in 13 US cities. Bryant also started the Kobe Bryant China Fund which partnered with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, a charity backed by the Chinese government. The Kobe Bryant China Fund raises money within China earmarked for education and health programs. On November 4, 2010, Bryant appeared alongside Zach Braff at the Call of Duty: Black Ops launch event at the Santa Monica Airport, where they presented a $1 million check to the Call of Duty Endowment, an Activision-founded nonprofit organization that helps veterans transition to civilian careers after their military service has ended.

See also

Kobe Bryant (song)

Kobe Bryant – Shaquille O'Neal feud

Kobe Doin' Work

List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise

List of 40-plus point games by Kobe Bryant

List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game

List of NBA players with most championships

List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game

List of National Basketball Association season scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association top individual scoring season averages

References

External links

Official Site

NBA.com – The Ultimate Kobe Page

Kobe Bryant Video on ESPN Video Archive

Kobe Bryant Video on FoxSports Video Archive

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ar:كوبي براينت bn:কোবি ব্রায়ান্ট zh-min-nan:Kobe Bryant bs:Kobe Bryant bg:Коби Брайънт ca:Kobe Bryant cs:Kobe Bryant da:Kobe Bryant de:Kobe Bryant et:Kobe Bryant el:Κόμπι Μπράιαντ es:Kobe Bryant eu:Kobe Bryant fa:کوبی برایانت fr:Kobe Bryant gl:Kobe Bryant ko:코비 브라이언트 hy:Կոբի Բրայանտ hi:कोबी ब्रायंट hr:Kobe Bryant id:Kobe Bryant is:Kobe Bryant it:Kobe Bryant he:קובי בראיינט jv:Kobe Bryant kn:ಕೋಬ್ ಬ್ರ್ಯಾಂಟ್ lv:Kobe Braients lt:Kobe Bryant hu:Kobe Bryant mk:Коби Брајант mr:कोबे ब्रायंट mn:Коби Брайант nl:Kobe Bryant ja:コービー・ブライアント no:Kobe Bryant pl:Kobe Bryant pt:Kobe Bryant ro:Kobe Bryant ru:Брайант, Коби simple:Kobe Bryant sk:Kobe Bryant sl:Kobe Bryant sr:Коби Брајант sh:Kobe Bryant fi:Kobe Bryant sv:Kobe Bryant tl:Kobe Bryant ta:கோபி பிரயன்ட் te:కోబీ బ్రయన్ th:โคบี ไบรอันต์ tr:Kobe Bryant uk:Кобі Браянт vec:Kobe Bryant vi:Kobe Bryant war:Kobe Bryant zh-yue:高比拜仁 zh:科比·布莱恩特

name	Justin Timberlake
background	solo_singer
birth name	Justin Randall Timberlake
birth date	January 31, 1981
birth place	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
instrument	Vocals, keyboards, guitar, beatboxing
origin	Shelby Forest, Tennessee, United States
genre	Pop, dance, R&B;
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, actor, businessman
years active	1993–present
label	Jive
associated acts	'N Sync, The Y's, Timbaland, Nelly Furtado
website	}}

Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on ''Star Search'', and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series ''The New Mickey Mouse Club'', where he met future bandmate JC Chasez. Timberlake became famous in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the boy band 'N Sync, whose launch was financed by Lou Pearlman.

In 2002, he released his debut solo album, ''Justified'', which sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. The album was a commercial success, spawning the hits "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body". Timberlake continued his success with his second solo album, ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' (2006), debuting at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and produced the US number-one hit singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around".

Timberlake has won six Grammy Awards as well as two Emmy Awards, and his first two albums made him one of the most commercially successful singers in the world, each selling in excess of 7 million copies. He also has an acting career, while his other ventures include record label Tennman Records, fashion label William Rast, and the restaurants Destino and Southern Hospitality.

Early life

Timberlake was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lynn Harless (née Bomar) and Randall Timberlake. Timberlake is of English descent, and has also claimed unconfirmed American Indian ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Charles L. Timberlake, was a Baptist minister, and Timberlake was raised Baptist, though now considers himself more "spiritual than religious".

Timberlake's parents divorced in 1985, and both have remarried. His mother, who now runs an entertainment company called Just-in Time Entertainment, remarried to Paul Harless, a banker, when her son was five. His father, a choir director at a Baptist church, has two children, Jonathan (born c. 1993) and Steven Robert (born August 14, 1998), from his second marriage to Lisa Perry. Timberlake's half-sister, Laura Katherine, died shortly after birth on May 14, 1997, and is mentioned in his acknowledgments in the album ''*NSYNC'' as "My Angel in Heaven." Timberlake grew up in Shelby Forest, a small community between Memphis and Millington. His first attempts at a singing career were country music songs on ''Star Search'' as "Justin Randall."

In 1993, Timberlake joined the cast of ''The Mickey Mouse Club''. His castmates included future girlfriend and pop superstar Britney Spears, future tourmate Christina Aguilera, and future bandmate JC Chasez. The show ended in 1994, but late in 1995 Timberlake recruited Chasez to be in an all-male singing group organized by boy band manager Lou Pearlman that eventually became 'N Sync.

Music career

1995–2002: 'N Sync

Timberlake and JC Chasez were the two lead singers of the popular 1990s boy band 'N Sync. The group formed in 1995, started its career 1996 in Europe, and hit it big in the United States in 1998 with the U.S. release of its debut album ''*NSYNC'', which sold 11 million copies. The album included a number of hit singles, including "Tearin' Up My Heart". For the next two years, encouraged by similar developments with the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync engaged in a lengthy legal battle with manager Lou Pearlman. Eventually the band signed with Jive Records. In March 2000, 'N Sync released a long-awaited album, ''No Strings Attached'', which became the fastest-selling album of all time with 2.4 million copies sold in its first week and produced a #1 single, "It's Gonna Be Me". The release was followed by the band's third album, ''Celebrity'', which was the second-fastest selling album of all time. In 2002, after the completion of a ''Celebrity Tour'' and the release of "Girlfriend", the third single from ''Celebrity'', the group decided to take time off, at which point Timberlake began work on his first solo album and the group went into a hiatus. In its lifetime, 'N Sync was internationally famous and performed at the Academy Awards, the Olympics, and the Super Bowl, as well as selling more than 50 million copies worldwide, becoming the third-best selling boy band in history.

In late 1999, Timberlake made his acting debut in the Disney Channel movie ''Model Behavior''. He played Jason Sharpe, a model who falls in love with a waitress after mistaking her for another model. It was released on March 12, 2000.

As a member of 'N Sync, Timberlake developed into a major celebrity in his own right in addition to achieving respect as a musician, since he was the writer or co-writer of all three singles from ''Celebrity''. The rise of his own stardom and the general decline in the popularity of boy bands led to the dissolution of 'N Sync. Band member Lance Bass has stated that he believes the group is finished, and is openly critical of Timberlake's actions in his memoir ''Out of Sync''. On the other hand, Chris Kirkpatrick remarked in August 2008 that the five remain friends, and he believed a reunion was possible: he repeated that opinion in October 2009. In September 2008, Bass also made conciliatory comments.

2002–04: ''Justified'' and Super Bowl

In August 2002, after months of recording ''Justified'', his debut solo album, Timberlake performed at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. He premiered his first single, "Like I Love You", a sparse dance track produced by The Neptunes. The song reached #11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Following the single, Timberlake released ''Justified'' on November 5, 2002. The album sold fewer copies than previous 'N Sync efforts. It debuted at #2 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, selling 439,000 copies in its first week of release. It eventually went on to sell more than three million copies in the U.S. and more than seven million copies worldwide. The album also received critical acclaim, thanks to its heavy R&B; influence provided by hip-hop producers The Neptunes and Timbaland. It spun off hits throughout late 2002 and 2003, including the top ten singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body". Timberlake supported the album by co-headlining the Justified/Stripped Tour with Christina Aguilera in the summer of 2003. At the end of the year, Timberlake recorded a song entitled "I'm Lovin' It". It was used by McDonald's as the theme to its "I'm Lovin' It" campaign. The deal with McDonald's earned Timberlake an estimated $6 million. A tour entitled Justified and Lovin' It Live was included with the deal as well. Timberlake was featured on Nelly's song, "Work It", which was remixed and included on Nelly's 2003 remix album.

In February 2004, during the halftime show of the Super Bowl XXXVIII broadcast on the CBS television network, Timberlake performed with Janet Jackson before a television audience of more than 140 million viewers. At the end of the performance, as the song drew to a close, Timberlake tore off a part of Jackson's black leather costume in a "costume reveal" meant to accompany a portion of the song lyrics. According to CBS, "both Jackson and Timberlake had confirmed they planned it 'independently and clandestinely' without informing anyone." Part of the costume detached, and Jackson's breast was briefly exposed. Timberlake apologized for the incident, stating he was "sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl...." The phrase "wardrobe malfunction" has since been used by the media to refer to the incident and has entered pop culture. As a result of the controversy, Timberlake and Jackson were threatened with exclusion from the 2004 Grammy Awards unless they agreed to apologize on screen at the event. Timberlake attended and issued a scripted apology when accepting the first of two Grammy Awards he received that night (Best Pop Vocal Album for ''Justified'' and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Cry Me a River"). He had also been nominated for Album of the Year for ''Justified'', Record of the Year for "Cry Me a River", and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Where Is the Love?" with The Black Eyed Peas. In 2004 American Idol judge Simon Cowell described Timberlake in People Magazine as "just some white kid who's tried to act black over the last several years".

2004–06: Collaborations and acting

After the Super Bowl controversy, Timberlake put his recording career on hold to act in several films, having starred in a few feature films earlier in his music career. The first role he took during this time was as a journalist in the thriller ''Edison Force'', which was filmed in 2004 and received a direct-to-video release on July 18, 2006. He also appeared in the films ''Alpha Dog'', ''Black Snake Moan'', Richard Kelly's ''Southland Tales'', and voiced Prince Artie Pendragon in the animated film ''Shrek the Third'', released on May 18, 2007. He also appeared as a young Elton John, in the video for John's song "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore". Timberlake was considered to play the role of Roger Davis in the film version of the rock musical ''Rent'', but director Chris Columbus had insisted that only the original Broadway members could convey the true meaning of ''Rent''.

He continued to record with other artists. After "Where Is the Love?", he again collaborated with the Black Eyed Peas on the 2005 track "My Style" from their album ''Monkey Business''. When recording the 2005 single "Signs" with Snoop Dogg, Timberlake discovered a throat condition. Nodules were subsequently removed from his throat in an operation that took place on May 5, 2005. He was advised not to sing or speak loudly for at least a few months. In the summer of 2005, Timberlake started his own record company, JayTee Records.

Timberlake made a cameo in the video for Nelly Furtado and Timbaland's single "Promiscuous", released on May 3, 2006.

2006–07: ''FutureSex/LoveSounds''

Timberlake released his second solo album, ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'', on September 12, 2006. The album, which Timberlake created in 2005, debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, selling 684,000 copies its first week. It is the biggest album for pre-orders on iTunes, and beat Coldplay's record for the biggest one-week sales of a digital album. The album was produced by Timbaland and Danja (who produced a bulk of the album), will.i.am, Rick Rubin and Timberlake himself, and features guest vocals by Snoop Dogg, Three 6 Mafia, T.I. and will.i.am. A studio representative described it as being "all about sexiness" and aiming for "an adult feel".

The album's lead single, "SexyBack", was performed by Timberlake at the opening of the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards and reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it remained for seven consecutive weeks. "My Love", the album's second single, also produced by Timbaland and featuring rapper T.I., reached number one on the Hot 100, as did third single "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude". The song is reported to have been inspired by the break-up of his childhood friend and business partner, Trace Ayala, with actress Elisha Cuthbert. In October 2006, Timberlake said that he would focus on his music career rather than his film roles, specifying that leaving the music industry would be a "dumb thing to do at this point". He was the special guest performer at the 2006 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for being where he sang SexyBack. In January 2007, Timberlake embarked on the FutureSex/LoveShow tour. "Summer Love/Set the Mood Prelude" was the fourth U.S. single off the album, and the next single in the UK was "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows Interlude". The song "Give It to Me", a Timbaland single on which Timberlake guests with Nelly Furtado, reached the Hot 100 number-one spot.

In February 2008, Timberlake was awarded two Grammy Awards. At the 50th Grammy Awards Ceremony, Timberlake won the ''Male Pop Performance'' Award for "What Goes Around...Comes Around", and the ''Dance Recording'' Award for "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows".

2007– present

The song "4 Minutes", was first played by Timbaland at Philadelphia's Jingle Ball on December 17, 2007. When released on March 17, 2008, "4 Minutes" was revealed to be a duet between Timberlake and Madonna, with backing vocals by Timbaland. It was lead single from Madonna's eleventh studio album ''Hard Candy'', which featured four other song-writing collaborations with Timberlake. The single was an international hit, topping the charts in over 21 countries worldwide. Timberlake also appears in the music video, which was directed by Jonas & François. On March 30, 2008, Timberlake performed the song at Madonna's Hard Candy Promo Show at Roseland Ballroom in New York City. On November 6, 2008, Timberlake performed the song with Madonna on the Los Angeles stop of her Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Around June 2007 Timberlake co-wrote, produced and provided vocals for the songs "Nite Runner" and "Falling Down" for Duran Duran's album ''Red Carpet Massacre'', released on November 13, 2007. "Falling Down" had been released as a single in the UK on the previous day.

Also in 2007, Timberlake made an appearance on 50 Cent's third album, ''Curtis''. Timberlake, along with Timbaland, is featured on a track called "Ayo Technology", which was the album's fourth single. Also, another possible collaboration was to occur with Lil Wayne for his album ''Tha Carter III'' with Nelly Furtado and Timbaland.

With the wrapping up of the FutureSex/LoveSounds tour of Australasia and the Middle East in November 2007, Timberlake resumed his film career. Projects underway early in 2008 were starring roles in Mike Myers' comedy ''The Love Guru'' (released June 20, 2008) and Mike Meredith's drama ''The Open Road'' (released August 28, 2009). In March 2008 it was announced that he was be an executive producer in an American adaptation of the hit Peruvian comedy ''My Problem with Women'' for NBC.

On November 20, 2008, ''TV Guide'' reported that Timberlake’s next single, "Follow My Lead", which also featured vocals by Timberlake’s protégée, former YouTube star Esmee Denters, would be available for exclusive download through MySpace. All proceeds would go to Shriners Hospitals for Children, a charity dedicated to improving pediatric care for sick children.

In 2008 a collaboration between Timberlake and T.I., "Dead and Gone" featured on T.I.'s sixth studio album, ''Paper Trail'', and was released as its fourth single late in 2009. In November 2008, it was confirmed that Timberlake would make a guest appearance and produce some tracks on R&B;/pop singer Ciara's upcoming album ''Fantasy Ride'' due out May 5, 2009. Timberlake featured on Ciara's second single "Love Sex Magic", the video being shot on February 20, 2009. The single became a worldwide hit, reaching the top ten in numerous countries and peaking at number one in several countries including Taiwan, India, and Turkey. The single was nominated for ''Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals'' at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

Timberlake and his production team The Y's, along with Mike Elizondo, produced and co-wrote the song "Don't Let Me Down" for Leona Lewis's second studio album, ''Echo'', released (in the US) on November 17, 2009.

Timberlake also co-wrote and performed on "Carry Out", the third single from Timbaland's album ''Shock Value II'', released on December 1, 2009.

In 2010, Timberlake played the role of Napster founder Sean Parker in the acclaimed film ''The Social Network''. He also appeared at the 2010 MTV VMAs on Sept. 12, 2010.

In 2011, he starred alongside Cameron Diaz in ''Bad Teacher'' and then alongside Mila Kunis in ''Friends with Benefits''. He directed and made a cameo in the Free Sol music video "Hoodies On, Hats Low" which was released in August 2011.

Other work

Near the end of 2002, Timberlake was the first celebrity to appear on ''Punk'd'', a "candid camera" type show created by Ashton Kutcher to trick celebrities. Timberlake, who cried during the episode, later admitted to being under the influence of marijuana when he was pranked. Three episodes later, he set up Kelly Osbourne to be "punk'd", thus making him the first celebrity to appear on the show more than once. Timberlake later spoofed Ashton Kutcher and ''Punk'd'' in a 2003 episode of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live''.

Timberlake has hosted many music events, including the European MTV Music Awards in 2006. On December 16, 2006, Timberlake hosted ''Saturday Night Live'', doing double duty as both host and musical guest for the second time. During this appearance, he and Andy Samberg performed an R&B; song for a skit entitled "Dick in a Box", which some radio stations have aired as an unofficial single from Timberlake and has become one of the most viewed videos on YouTube. On May 9, 2009, he appeared in another SNL Digital Short opposite Samberg, Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson entitled "Motherlover", a quasi-sequel to "Dick in a Box".

Timberlake appeared on Jimmy Fallon's debut as host of ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' on March 2, 2009.

In 2004, ABC hired Timberlake to write a song for its NBA coverage.

Timberlake is the executive producer on the MTV reality series ''The Phone'', which premiered on April 21, 2009. According to ''People Magazine'', the series "thrusts contestants into a heart-stopping action adventure worthy of a summer blockbuster. In six hour-long episodes, a mysterious stranger on the phone invites four strangers into the dangerous game. If they accept, they're paired into two teams and dared to perform physical and mental challenges reminiscent of Matt Damon's ''The Bourne Identity'' or Shia LaBeouf's ''Eagle Eye''."

Other ventures

Business

Timberlake has co-owned or provided celebrity endorsement for three restaurants in the United States: "Chi" opened in West Hollywood, California in 2003, and "Destino" and "Southern Hospitalty" in New York opened in 2006 and 2007, respectively. He also has his own brand of tequila called 901; the name comes in part from the area code of his hometown of Memphis.

In 2005, Timberlake launched the William Rast clothing line with childhood friend Juan ("Trace") Ayala. The 2007 line contained cord jackets, cashmere sweaters, jeans and polo shirts. The pair reports inspiration from fellow Memphis native Elvis Presley: "Elvis is the perfect mixture of Justin and I," Ayala says. "You can go back and see pictures of him in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and a nice button-down shirt, but then again you can see him in a tux and a collared shirt with rhinestones on it and slacks. We like to think 'If he was alive today, what would he be wearing?'" Target has announced that a William Rast collection, including denim, outerwear and sportswear for men and women, would launch in December and be available for a month.

Timberlake provides celebrity endorsement for many commercial products, this aspect of his business being managed by IMG Sports & Entertainment since April 2008. Major endorsements in 2009 included Sony electronic products, Givenchy's men's fragrance "Play", Audi's "A1", Callaway Golf Company products, and in 2011, MySpace.

An avid amateur golfer, in 2007 Timberlake purchased the run-down Big Creek Golf Course in his home town of Millington, Tennessee, which he redeveloped as the eco-friendly Mirimichi Golf Course at a cost of some $US16 million. It was reopened on 25 July 2009 but closed again on 15 January 2010 for further improvements expected to take six months.

Charitable causes

Timberlake has been active in several charitable pursuits, initially through 'N Sync's "Challenge for the Children" aimed at a range of charities, and since 2001 through his "Justin Timberlake Foundation," which initially funded music education programs in schools, but now has a much broader agenda. In October 2005, the Grammy Association presented Timberlake with an award for his humanitarian efforts in Tennessee, alongside writer/director Craig Brewer, also a Memphis native.

In November 2007 he donated $A100,000 from takings from his Australian tour to Wildlife Warriors founded by the late Steve Irwin. On March 23, 2008, he donated $100,000 to the Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum and another $100,000 to the Memphis Music Foundation.

On November 12, 2007, the PGA Tour announced that Timberlake, an avid golfer who plays to a 6 handicap, would become the host of the tour's Las Vegas tournament starting in 2008. With Timberlake's agreement to host the tournament, its name was changed to the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He played in the celebrity pro-am on the day before the competitive tournament and hosted a charity concert during the week of the tournament. The activity was a success, and was repeated in 2009. A review of the value of celebrities to fundraising concluded that Timberlake's contribution to Shriners Hospitals for Children was the single most valuable celebrity endorsement in the US during 2009, and worth over $US9 million.

Personal life

thumb|left|upright|Timberlake golfing in 2006.Early in 1999, Timberlake began what eventually became a high-profile celebrity relationship with fellow pop singer Britney Spears, with whom he had worked on the ''New Mickey Mouse Club''. This ended abruptly in March 2002. Lynn Harless says as a mother she too was devastated regarding the break-up, but to this day speaks warmly of Spears, "Britney grew up on my living room floor. I still love her to death. They (Justin and Britney) were together 10 or 11 years and had, from day one, instant chemistry between them. She's a sweet girl. I just hate what she's going through now." The breakup influenced the lyrics and theme of Timberlake's hit "Cry Me a River", one of the most popular singles from ''Justified''.

Post-Spears, Timberlake has generally refused to discuss his personal life with the media, as a result of which his relationships have been the subject of much speculation in the tabloid and celebrity press. He was involved with singer-actress Stacy Ferguson prior to 2001. He was romantically linked with actress-dancer Jenna Dewan (in mid-2002) and actress-singer Alyssa Milano (between September and October 2002). Timberlake began dating actress Cameron Diaz soon after they met at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in April 2003. Regular rumours of break-ups reported in the tabloid press were either ignored or occasionally denied. On the December 16, 2006 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', Diaz introduced Timberlake as the night's musical guest, and the couple officially split shortly afterwards. After the tabloid press alleged an affair between Timberlake and Scarlett Johansson, with whom he had shot the video for his single "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude", Diaz and Timberlake issued a joint statement on January 11, 2007:

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Later in January 2007 Timberlake was linked to Jessica Biel when pictures surfaced of the two snowboarding in Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival. On May 12, 2007 romantic pictures of Timberlake and Biel on multiple dates were published. In the August 9–15, 2008 edition of ''Heat'' magazine, when Timberlake was asked to describe his perfect woman, he replied "About 5ft.7in.-5ft.8in., nice butt, Midwestern American, kind-of-German last name, green eyes, big pouty lips, fair skin, ahhh....sinewy bod..." However, during an appearance on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' on June 11, 2008 when Jay Leno questioned him about anything related to rumors of engagement and pregnancy, Timberlake jokingly responded that he "is engaging in a conversation with Leno" and "everybody in general can get pregnant." After four years together, the couple split in March 2011.

Timberlake was given Sexiest Man titles by ''Teen People'' and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazines. On February 17, 2009, Timberlake was named the "Most Stylish Man in America" by ''GQ'' magazine.

Timberlake is also a fan of English Football Club Manchester United.

Discography

Studio albums

2002: ''Justified''

2006: ''FutureSex/LoveSounds''

Extended plays

2003: ''Justin & Christina''

DVDs

2003: ''Justified: The Videos''

2003: ''Live from London''

2007: ''Futuresex/Loveshow – Live from Madison Square Garden''

Tours

;Headlining

Justified and Lovin' It Live (2003-04)

FutureSex/LoveShow (2007)

;Co-headlining

Justified/Stripped Tour (2003) (with Christina Aguilera)

Filmography

Film
! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
		Valet
''Model Behavior''	Jason Sharpe	TV film
2001		Make-up artist	Uncredited cameo
2005		Josh Pollack
	''Alpha Dog''	Frankie Ballenbacher
	Ronnie
	''Shrek the Third''	Artie Pendragon	Voice role
''Southland Tales''	Pvt Pilot Abilene
2008	''The Love Guru''	Jacques "Le Coq" Grande
2009	''The Open Road''	Carlton Garrett
	''Shrek Forever After''	Artie Pendragon	Voice role, deleted scene
''The Social Network''	Sean Parker
	Boo-Boo Bear	Voice role
	''Bad Teacher''	Scott
	Dylan
	Will Salas	Post-production
Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
1993–1995	''The Mickey Mouse Club''	himself
1999	''Touched by an Angel''	Street performer
2005–present	''Saturday Night Live''	Himself/Several roles	Four episodes

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Justin Timberlake

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

References

External links

Category:1981 births Category:Actors from Tennessee Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American businesspeople Category:American Christians Category:American dance musicians Category:American dancers Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American voice actors Category:Baptists from the United States Category:Beatboxers Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:Hip hop singers Category:BRIT Award winners Category:American people of English descent Category:Emmy Award winners Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Jive Records artists Category:Mouseketeers Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:'N Sync members Category:People from Memphis, Tennessee Category:Sony BMG artists Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Blue-eyed soul musicians

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name	Mariah Carey
background	solo_singer
birth date	March 27, 1970
birth place
genre	R&B;, pop, hip hop, soul, dance
years active	1988–present
occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress
spouse
label	Columbia, Virgin, Island
website	}}

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and released her self-titled debut studio album, ''Mariah Carey''. The album went multi-platinum and spawned four consecutive number one singles, on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records, including ''Emotions'' (1991), ''Music Box'' (1993) and ''Merry Christmas'' (1994), established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. ''Daydream'' (1995), made music history when the second single, "One Sweet Day" a duet with Boyz II Men, spent a record sixteen weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100, and remains the longest running number one song in US chart history. During the recording of the album Carey began to deviate from her pop background, and slowly traversed into R&B; and Hip-hop. After her separation from Mottola, this musical change was evident with the release of ''Butterfly'' (1997).

Carey left Columbia in 2000, and signed a record-breaking $100 million recording contract with Virgin Records. In 2001, Carey ventured into film with ''Glitter'' (2001). Before the film's release she suffered a physical and emotional breakdown and was hospitalized for severe exhaustion. Following the film's poor reception, she was bought out of her recording contract for $50 million, which led to a decline in her career. She signed a multi-million dollar contract deal with Island Records in 2002, and after an unsuccessful period, returned to the top of music charts with ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005). Its second single "We Belong Together", which became the most successful solo single of her music career, and was later named "Song of the Decade" by ''Billboard''. Carey once again ventured into film, and starred in ''Precious'' (2009). Her role in the film was well-received, and she was awarded the "Breakthrough Performance Award" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and a NAACP Image Award nomination.

In a career spanning over two decades, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 1998, she was honored as the world's best-selling recording artist of the 1990s at the World Music Awards. Carey was also named the best-selling female artist of the millennium in 2000. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the third best-selling female artist in the United States, with 63 million certified albums. With the release of "Touch My Body" (2008), Carey gained her eighteenth number one single in the United States, more than any other solo artist. Aside from her commercial accomplishments, Carey has won five Grammy Awards, and is famed for her five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style and signature use of the whistle register.

Biography

1970–87: Early life and struggles

Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York, on March 27, 1970. The singer's father, Alfred Roy, was of African American and Venezuelan descent, while her mother, Patricia (née Hickey), was an Irish American. Patricia's father had died while she was young; however, she inherited his passion for music. She developed a career as an occasional opera singer and vocal coach, and met Alfred in 1960. As he began earning a living as an aeronautical engineer, the couple wed later that year, and moved into a small suburb in New York. After the pair's elopement, Patricia's family disowned her, due to marrying a man of color. Carey later explained that growing up, she felt a notion of neglect from her maternal family, a mark that affected her greatly: "So later I was like, 'Well, where does this leave me? Am I a bad person?' You know. It's still not that common to be a multi-racial person, but I'm happy with the combination of things that I am." During the interval of years in between Allison and the singer's birth, the Carey family experienced personal struggles within the community due to their ethnicity. Carey's name was derived from the song "They Call the Wind Mariah", originally from the 1951 Broadway musical ''Paint Your Wagon.'' When Carey was only three years old, her parents divorced, due to the increasingly strenuous nature of their marriage.

}} After their separation, Carey's older sister Allison moved in with her father, while the other two children remained with Patricia. As the years passed, Carey would grow apart from her father, and would later stop seeing him altogether. By the age of four, Carey recalled that she had begun to sneak the radio under her covers at night, and just sing from her heart, and try and find peace within the music. During elementary school, she would excel in subjects that she enjoyed, such as literature, art and music, while not finding interest in others. After several years of financial struggling, Patricia earned enough money to move her family into a stable and more affluent sector in New York. Carey had already enrolled in Greenlawn's Harborfields High School. She had begun writing poems, and adding melodies to them, thus starting as a singer-songwriter. Even from a young age, Carey excelled in her music, and demonstrated usage of the whistle register, though only beginning to master and control it through her training with her mother. Though opening her daughter to the world of classical opera, Patricia never pressured Carey to pursue a career in that type of genre, as she never seemed interested in that world of music. Carey recalled that she kept her singer-songwriter works a secret and noted that Patricia had "never been a pushy mom. She never said, 'Give it more of an operatic feel'. I respect opera like crazy, but it didn't influence me."

Towards the end of her high school Carey developed a relationship with Gavin Christopher, with whom she shared musical aspirations. The song-writing duo, however, needed an assistant who could play the keyboard; "We called someone and he couldn't come, so by accident we stumbled upon Ben [Margulies]. Ben came to the studio, and he really couldn't play the keyboards very well - her was really more of a drummer - but after that day, we kept in touch, and we sort of clicked as writers." The two began writing and composing songs in his father's store basement, during Carey's senior year. After composing their first song together, "Here We Go Round Again", which Carey described as having a Motown-vibe, they continued writing material for a full length demo. After Carey's graduation her mother wed once more, which ultimately prompted her to move out from Patricia's apartment, and into a one bedroom studio in Manhattan, which she shared with four other female students. During this period, Carey worked several jobs as a waitress, usually getting fired after two week intervals. While requiring work to pay for her rent, Carey's mind and effort still remained with her musical ambitions, as she continued working late into the night with Margulies, in hopes of completing a demo take that could be passed on to record executives. After completing her four song demo tape, Carey tried to pass it to music labels, but was met with failure each time. It was then she was introduced to rising pop singer of Puerto Rican descent, Brenda K. Starr.

1988–92: Recording debut and career beginnings

As Carey's friendship with Starr grew, so did her interest in helping Carey succeed in the industry. On a Friday night in November 1987, Carey accompanied Starr to a record executives gala, where she handed her demo tape to Tommy Mottola, head of Columbia Records, who listened to it on his way back home. After the first two songs, he became so enamored at the sound and quality of Carey's voice that he turned around returned to the event, only to find that she had left. In what has been widely described by critics as a modern day Cinderella-like tale, after searching Carey for two weeks, and eventually contacting her through Starr's management, he immediately signed her and began mapping out her debut into mainstream music. While she maintained that she wanted to continue working with Margulies, Mottola enlisted top producers of the time, including Ric Wake, Narada Michael Walden and Rhett Lawrence. Mottola and the staff at Columbia had planned to market Carey as the main female pop artist on their roster, competing with the likes of Whitney Houston and Madonna, who were signed to Arista and Sire Records respectively. After the completion of the album, titled ''Mariah Carey'', Columbia spent an upward of $1 million to promote it. Though opening with weak sales, the album eventually reached the top of the ''Billboard'' 200, after Carey's exposure at the 33rd annual Grammy Awards. ''Mariah Carey'' stayed atop the charts for eleven consecutive weeks, and she won the Best New Artist, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance trophies for her single "Vision of Love". The album yielded an additional three number one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, following the four week number-one run of "Vision of Love". Carey became the first artist since The Jackson 5 to have their first four singles reach number one. ''Mariah Carey'' finished as the best-selling album in the United States of 1991, while totaling sales of over 15 million copies.

Only months after the ''Mariah Carey'' began its descent on the charts, Carey already began working on her second studio effort, eventually titled ''Emotions'' (1991). The album, as Carey described it, paid homage to Motown soul music, as she felt the need to pay tribute to the type of music and genre that truly influenced her as a struggling child. For the project, Carey worked with Walter Afanasieff, who only had a small role on her debut, as well as Clivillés and Cole, from the dance group C+C Music Factory. However, Carey's relationship with Margulies deteriorated over a contract Carey had signed prior to her signing with Columbia, agreeing to split not only the songwriting royalties from the songs, but half of her earnings as well. However, when the time came to write music for ''Emotions,'' Sony officials made it clear he would only be paid the fair amount given to co-writers on an album. Subsequently, Margulies filed a lawsuit against Sony which ultimately led to their parting of ways. On September 17, 1991, ''Emotions'' was released around the world, and was accepted by critics as a more mature album than its predecessor. While praised for Carey's improved songwriting, production and new sound, the album was criticized for its material, which many felt was noticeably weaker than her debut. Though the album managed sales of over eight million copies globally, ''Emotions'' failed to reach the commercial and critical heights of its predecessor.

As they had done after the release of her debut, critics once again questioned whether Carey would embark on a world tour, in promotion for her material. Although Carey explained that due to her stage fright, and the general strenuous nature of her songs, a tour sounded very daunting, speculation grew that Carey was a "studio worm", and that she wasn't capable of producing the perfect pitch and 5-octave vocal range for which she was known. In hopes of putting any claims of her being a manufactured artist to rest, Carey and Walter Afanasieff decided to book an appearance on MTV Unplugged, a television program aired by MTV. The show's purpose was to present name artists, and feature them "unplugged" or stripped of studio equipment. While Carey felt strongly of her more soulful and powerful songs, it was decided that her most popular content to that point would be included. Days prior to the show's taping, Carey and Afanasieff thought of adding a cover version of an older song, in order to provide something different and unexpected. They chose "I'll Be There", a song made popular by The Jackson 5 in 1970, rehearsing it few times before the night of the show. On March 16, 1992, Carey recorded a seven-piece set-list at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. The revue was met with critical acclaim, leading to it being aired over three times as often as an average episode would. The revue's success tempted Sony officials to use it as some form of an album. Sony decided to release it as an EP, selling for a reduced price due to its shorter length. The EP proved to be a success, shunning critics and speculations that Carey was just a studio artist, and was given a triple-Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and managed Gold and Platinum certfications in several European markets.

1993–96: First marriage, ''Music Box'' and ''Daydream''

During early 1993, Carey began working on her third studio album, ''Music Box''. After ''Emotions'' failed to achieve the commercial heights of her debut album, Carey and Columbia came to the agreement that the next album would contain a more pop influenced sound, in order to appeal to a wider audience. During Carey's writing sessions, she began working mostly with Afanasieff, with whom she co-wrote and produced most of ''Music Box''. During the album's recording, Carey and Mottola became romantically involved. They wed in a lavish ceremony on June 5, 1993, with several high profile guests including Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Gloria Estefan and Ozzy Osbourne. One month later, on August 31, ''Music Box'' was released around the world, debuting at number-one on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album was met with mixed reception from music critics; while many praised the album's pop influence and strong content, others felt that Carey made less usage of her acclaimed vocal range. Ron Wynn from Allmusic described Carey's different form of singing on the album: "It was wise for Carey to display other elements of her approach, but sometimes excessive spirit is preferable to an absence of passion." The album's second single, "Hero", would eventually come to be one of Carey's most popular and inspirational songs of her career. The song became Carey's eighth chart topper in the United States, and began expanding Carey's popularity throughout Europe. With the release of the album's third single, Carey achieved several career milestones. Her cover of Badfinger's "Without You" became her first number one single in several European countries, including Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Due to the song's success, ''Music Box'' spent prolonged periods at number one on the album charts of several countries, and eventually became one of the best-selling albums of all time, with worldwide sales of over 32 million copies. After declining to tour for her past two albums, Carey agreed to embark on a short stateside string of concerts, titled the Music Box Tour. Spanning only six dates across North America, the short but successful tour was a large step for Carey, who dreaded the hassle of touring.

Following ''Music Box'', Carey took a relatively large period of time away from the public eye, and began working on an unknown project throughout 1994. The project was kept very secretive until ''Billboard'' announced on their October issue, that Carey would release a holiday album later that year. In late 1994, Carey recorded a duet with Luther Vandross; a cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's "Endless Love". By that point, Columbia felt Carey had already established herself as a pop singer, and vocalist, but wanted to to try and feature her as more of an entertainer. Through the release of ''Merry Christmas'', Columbia hoped that audiences would buy Carey's material solely for her name and reputation, and squash fears of her being a typical pop singer. The album was released on November 1, 1994, on the same day that the album's first single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", was released. The album eventually became the best-selling Christmas album of all time, with global sales reaching over 15 million copies. Additionally, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was critically lauded, and is considered "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon." ''Rolling Stone'' described it as a "holiday standard", and ranked it fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list. Commercially, it became the best-selling holiday ringtone of all time, and the best-selling single by a non-Asian artist in Japan, selling over 2.1 million units (both ringtone and digital download). By the end of the holiday season of 1994, Carey and Afanasieff had already begun writing material for her next studio album, which would be released in the fall of of the following year.

Released on October 3, 1995, ''Daydream'' combined the pop sensibilities of ''Music Box'' with downbeat R&B; and hip hop influences. The album's second single, "One Sweet Day" was inspired by the death of Cole, as well as her sister Allison, who had contracted AIDS. The song remained atop the Hot 100 for a record-breaking sixteen weeks, and became the longest running number one song in history. ''Daydream'' became her biggest-selling album in the United States, and became her second album to be certified Diamond by the RIAA, following ''Music Box''. The album again was the best-seller by an international artist in Japan, shifting over 2.2 million copies, and eventually reaching global sales of over 25 million units. Critically, the album was heralded as Carey's best to date; ''The New York Times'' named it as one of 1995's best albums, and wrote, "best cuts bring R&B; candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement [...] Carey's songwriting has taken a leap forward and become more relaxed, sexier and less reliant on thudding clichés." Carey once again opted to embark on a short world tour titled Daydream World Tour. It had seven dates, three in Japan and four throughout Europe. When tickets went on sale, Carey set records when all 150,000 tickets for her three shows at Japan's largest stadium, Tokyo Dome sold out in under three hours, breaking the previous record help by The Rolling Stones. Due to the album's success, Carey won two awards at the American Music Awards for her solo efforts: Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B; Female Artist. ''Daydream'' and its singles were respectively nominated in six categories at the 38th Grammy Awards. Carey, along with Boyz II Men, opened the event with a performance of "One Sweet Day". However, Carey did not receive any award, prompting her to comment "What can you do? I will never be disappointed again. After I sat through the whole show and didn't win once, I can handle anything." In 1995, due to ''Daydream''s enormous Japanese sales, ''Billboard'' declared Carey the "Overseas Artist of the Year" in Japan.

1997–2000: New image and independence, ''Butterfly'' and ''Rainbow''

" }} After the release of ''Daydream'' and the success that followed, Carey began focusing on her personal life, which was a constant struggle at the time. Carey's relationship with Mottola began to deteriorate, due to their growing creative differences in terms of her albums, as well as his controlling nature. With each following album, and her continual established fame and popularity, Carey began to take more initiative and control with her music, and started infusing more genres into her work. During mid-1997, Carey was well underway, writing and recording material for her next album, ''Butterfly'' (1997). She sought to work with other producers and writers other than Afansieff, such as Sean Combs, Kamaal Fareed, Missy Elliott and Jean Claude Oliver and Samuel Barnes from Trackmasters. During the album's recording, Carey and Mottola separated, with Carey citing is as her way of achieving freedom, and a new lease on life. Aside from the album's different approach, critics took notice of Carey's altered style of singing, which she describe as breathy vocals. Her new-found style of singing was met with mixed reception; some critics felt is was a sign of maturity, that she didn't feel the need to always show off her upper range, while others felt it was a sign of her weakening and waning voice. The album's lead single, "Honey", and its accompanying music video, introduced a more overtly sexual image than Carey had ever demonstrated, and furthered reports of her freedom from Mottola. Carey stated that ''Butterfly'' marked the point when she attained full creative control over her music. However, she added, "I don't think that it's that much of a departure from what I've done in the past [...] It's not like I went psycho and thought I would be a rapper. Personally, this album is about doing whatever the hell I wanted to do." Growing creative differences with producer Afanasieff continued, and eventually ended their working relationship, after collaborating on most of Carey's material. Reviews for ''Butterfly'' were generally positive: ''Rolling Stone'' wrote, "It's not as if Carey has totally dispensed with her old saccharine, Houston-style balladry [...] but the predominant mood of 'Butterfly' is one of coolly erotic reverie. [... Except "Outside" the album sounds] very 1997. [...] Carey has spread her wings and she's ready to fly", Allmusic editor, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Carey's vocals as "sultrier and more controlled than ever", and heralded ''Butterfly'' as her "best record and illustrates that Carey continues to improve and refine her music, which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers." The album was a commercial success, although not to the degree of her previous three albums.

Toward the turn of the millennium, Carey began developing other projects, many of which she wasn't able to during her marriage. On April 14, 1998, Carey partook in the VH1 Divas benefit concert, where she sang alongside Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan and Carole King. Carey had begun developing a film project ''All That Glitters'', later re-titled to simply ''Glitter'', and intended her songwriting to other projects, such as ''Men in Black'' (1997) and ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000). After ''Glitter'' fell into developmental hell, Carey postponed the project, and began writing material for a new album. The executives at Sony Music, the parent company of Carey's label Columbia, wanted her to prepare a greatest hits collection in time for the commercially favorable holiday season. However, they disagreed as to what content and singles should constitute the album. Sony wanted to release an album that featured her number one singles in the United States, and her international chart toppers on the European versions, void of any new material, while Carey felt that a compilation album should reflect on her most personal songs, not just her most commercial. She felt that not including any new material would result in cheating her fans, therefore including four new songs that she had recorded. While compromised, Carey often expressed distaste towards the album's song selection, expressing her disappointment in the omission of her "favorite songs". The album titled, ''#1's'' (1998), featured a duet with Whitney Houston, "When You Believe", and was included on the soundtrack for ''The Prince of Egypt'' (1998). During the development of ''All That Glitters'', Carey had been introduced to DreamWorks producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, who asked her if she would record the song "When You Believe" for the soundtrack to the animated film ''The Prince of Egypt''. In an interview with ''Ebony'', Houston described working with Carey, as well as their growing friendship: "Mariah and I got along very great. We had never talked and never sang together before. We just had a chance for camaraderie, singer-to-singer, artist-to-artist, that kind of thing. We just laughed and talked and laughed and talked and sang in between that ... It's good to know that two ladies of soul and music can still be friends." ''#1's'' became a phenomenon in Japan, selling over one million copies in its opening week, and placing as the only international artist to accomplish this feat. When describing Carey's popularity in Japan throughout the 1990s, author Chris Nickson compared it to Beatlemania in the 1960s. The album sold over 3.25 million copies in Japan after only the first three months, and holds the record as the best-selling album by a non-Asian artist, while amassing global sales of over 17 million copies.

During the spring of 1999, Carey began working on the final album of her record contract with Sony, her ex-husband's label. During this time, Carey's strained relationship with Sony affected her work with writing partner Afanasieff, who had worked extensively with Carey throughout the first half of her career. She felt Mottola was trying to separate her from Afanasieff, in hopes of keeping their relationship permanently strained. Due to the pressure and the awkward relationship Carey had now developed with Sony, she completed the album in a period of three months in the summer of 1999, quicker than any of her other albums. The album, titled ''Rainbow'' (1999), found Carey once again working with a new array of music producers and songwriters, such as Jay-Z and DJ Clue. Carey also wrote two ballads with David Foster and Diane Warren, whom she seemingly used to replace Afanasieff. ''Rainbow'' was released on November 2, 1999, to the highest first week sales of her career at the time, however debuting at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200. Throughout early-2000, Carey's troubled relationship with Columbia grew, as they halted promotion after the album's first two singles. They felt ''Rainbow'' didn't have any strong single to be released, whereas Carey wanted a ballad regarding personal and inner strength released. The difference in opinion led to a very public feud, as Carey began posting messages on her webpage in early and mid-2000, telling fans inside information on the dispute, as well as instructing them to request "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" on radio stations. One of the messages Carey left on her page read: "Basically, a lot of you know the political situation in my professional career is not positive. It's been really, really hard. I don't even know if this message is going to get to you because I don't know if they want you to hear this. I'm getting a lot of negative feedback from certain corporate people. But I am not willing to give up." Fearing to lose their label's highest seller, Sony chose to release the song. Carey, initially content with the agreement, soon found out that the song had only been given a very limited and low-promotion release, which made charting extremely difficult and unlikely. Critical reception of ''Rainbow'' was generally enthusiastic, with the ''Sunday Herald'' saying that the album "sees her impressively tottering between soul ballads and collaborations with R&B; heavyweights like Snoop Doggy Dogg and Usher [...] It's a polished collection of pop-soul." ''Vibe'' magazine expressed similar sentiments, writing, "She pulls out all stops [...] ''Rainbow'' will garner even more adoration". Though a commercial success, ''Rainbow'' became Carey's lowest selling album to that point in her career.

2001–04: ''Glitter'', ''Charmbracelet''; personal and professional struggles

After she received ''Billboard'''s Artist of the Decade Award and the World Music Award for Best-Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, Carey parted from Columbia and signed a record-breaking $100 million five-album recording contract with Virgin Records (EMI Records), Carey was given full conceptual and creative control over the project. She opted to record an album partly mixed with 1980s influenced disco and other similar genres, in order to go hand-in-hand with the film's setting. She often stated that Columbia had regarded her as a commodity, with her separation from Mottola exacerbating her relations with label executives. Just a few months later, in July 2001, it was widely reported that Carey had suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. She had left messages on her website that complained of being overworked, and her relationship with the Latin icon Luis Miguel ended. In an interview the following year, she said, "I was with people who didn't really know me and I had no personal assistant. I'd do interviews all day long and get two hours of sleep a night, if that." Due to the pressure from the media, her heavy work schedule and the split from Miguel, Carey began posting a series of disturbing messages on her official website, and displayed erratic behavior on several live promotional outings. On July 19, 2001, Carey made a surprise appearance on the MTV program ''Total Request Live'' (TRL). As the show's host Carson Daly began taping following a commercial break, Carey came out pushing an ice cream cart while wearing a large men's shirt, and began a striptease, in which she shed her shirt to reveal a tight yellow and green ensemble. While she later revealed that Daly was aware of her presence in the building prior to her appearance, Carey's appearance on TRL garnered strong media attention. Only days later, Carey began posting irregular voice notes and messages on her official website: "I'm trying to understand things in life right now and so I really don't feel that I should be doing music right now. What I'd like to do is just a take a little break or at least get one night of sleep without someone popping up about a video. All I really want is [to] just be me and that's what I should have done in the first place ... I don't say this much but guess what, I don't take care of myself." Following the quick removal of the messages, Berger commented that Carey had been "obviously exhausted and not thinking clearly" when she posted the letters.

On July 26, she was suddenly hospitalized, citing "extreme exhaustion" and a "physical and emotional breakdown". Carey was inducted at an un-disclosed hospital in Connecticut, and remained hospitalized and under doctor's care for two weeks, followed by an extended absence from the public. Following the heavy media coverage surrounding Carey's publicized breakdown and hospitalization, Virgin Records and 20th Century Fox delayed the release of both ''Glitter'', as well as its soundtrack of the same name. Consequently, critics suggested that in delaying ''Glitter'', hype for the project would have largely subsided, and would possibly hurt both ticket and album sales. When discussing the project's weak commercial reaction, Carey blamed both her frame of mind during the time of its release, its postponement, as well as the soundtrack having been released on September 11. Critics panned ''Glitter'', as well as its accompanying soundtrack; both were unsuccessful commercially. The accompanying soundtrack album, ''Glitter'', became Carey's lowest-selling album to that point. The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' dismissed it as "an absolute mess that'll go down as an annoying blemish on a career that, while not always critically heralded, was at least nearly consistently successful." Following the negative cloud that was ensuing Carey's personal life at the time, as well as the project's poor reception, her unprecedented $100 million five-album record deal with Virgin Records (EMI Records) was bought out for $50 million. Soon after, Carey flew to Capri, Italy for a period of five months, in which she began writing material for her new album, stemming from all the personal experiences she had endured throughout the past year. Carey later said that her time at Virgin was "a complete and total stress-fest [...] I made a total snap decision which was based on money and I never make decisions based on money. I learned a big lesson from that." Later that year, she signed a contract with Island Records, valued at more than $24 million, and launched the record label MonarC. To add further to Carey's emotional burdens, her father, with whom she had little contact since childhood, died of cancer that year.

In 2002, Carey was cast in the independent film, ''WiseGirls'', alongside Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters, who co-starred as waitresses at a mobster-operated restaurant. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and received generally negative critical response, though Carey's portrayal of the character was praised; Roger Friedman of Fox News referred to her as "a Thelma Ritter for the new millennium", and wrote , "Her line delivery is sharp and she manages to get the right laughs". Later that year, Carey performed the American national anthem to rave reviews at the Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Towards the end of 2002, Carey released her next studio album ''Charmbracelet'', which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her. Though released in the wake of ''Glitter'' and Carey's return to the music scene, sales of ''Charmbracelet'' were moderate and the quality of Carey's vocals came under criticism. Joan Anderson from ''The Boston Globe'' declared the album "the worst of her career, and revealed a voice [that is] no longer capable of either gravity-defying gymnastics or soft coos", while Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine expressed similar sentiments and wrote, "What is a greater problem is that Mariah's voice is shot, sounding in tatters throughout the record. She can no longer coo or softly croon nor can she perform her trademark gravity-defying vocal runs." In an attempt to "relaunch" her career following the poor reception to ''Glitter'', as well as her breakdown, Carey announced a world tour in April 2003. Lasting over eight months, the Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey, became her most extensive tour to date, spanning sixty-nine shows around the world. Throughout the United States, the shows were done in smaller theaters, and something more Broadway-influenced, "It's much more intimate so you'll feel like you had an experience. You experience a night with me." However, while smaller productions were booked throughout the tour's stateside leg, Carey performed at stadiums in Asia and Europe, performing for a crowd of over 35,000 in Manila, 50,000 in Malaysia, and to over 70,000 people in China. In the United Kingdom, it became Carey's first tour to feature shows outside of London, booking arena stops in Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester. Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey garnered generally positive reviews from music critics and concert goers, with many complimenting the quality of Carey's live vocals, as well as the production as a whole.

2005–07: Return to prominence with ''The Emancipation of Mimi''

Throughout 2004, Carey focused on composing material for her tenth studio album, ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005). The album found Carey working predominantly with Jermaine Dupri, as well as Bryan-Michael Cox, Manuel Seal, The Neptunes, Kanye West and Carey's longtime collaborator, Jermaine Dupri. The album debuted atop the charts in several countries, and was warmly accepted by critics. Caroline Sullivan of ''The Guardian'' defined it as "cool, focused and urban [... some of] the first Mariah Carey tunes in years which I wouldn't have to be paid to listen to again", while ''USA Today''s Elysa Gardner wrote, "The ballads and midtempo numbers that truly reflect the renewed confidence of a songbird who has taken her shots and kept on flying." The album's second single, "We Belong Together", became a "career re-defining" song for Carey, at a point when many critics had considered her career over. music critics heralded the song as her "return to form", as well as the "return of The Voice", while many felt it would revive "faith" in Carey's potential as a balladeer. "We Belong Together" broke several records in the United States and became Carey's sixteenth chart topper on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. After staying at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, the song became the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men, "One Sweet Day". ''Billboard'' listed it as the "song of the decade" and the ninth most popular song of all time. Besides its chart success, the song broke several airplay records, and according to Nielsen BDS, gathered both the largest one-day and one-week audiences in history.

During the week of September 25, 2005, Carey set another record, becoming the first female to occupy the first two spots atop the Hot 100, as "We Belong Together" remained at number one, and her next single, "Shake It Off" held the number two spot. On the Billboard Hot 100 Year-end Chart of 2005, the song was declared the number one song, a career first for Carey. ''Billboard'' listed "We Belong Together" ninth on The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and was declared the most popular song of the 2000s decade by ''Billboard''. The album earned ten Grammy Award nominations in 2006–07: eight in 2006 for the original release (the most received by Carey in a single year), and two in 2007 for the ''Ultra Platinum Edition''. In 2006 Carey won Best Contemporary R&B; Album for ''The Emancipation of Mimi'', as well as Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance and Best R&B; Song for "We Belong Together". ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' was the best-selling album in the United States in 2005, with nearly five million units sold. It was the first album by a solo female artist to become the year's best-selling album since Alanis Morissette's ''Jagged Little Pill'' in 1996. At the end of 2005, the IFPI reported that ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' had sold more than 7.7 million copies globally, and was the second best-selling album of the year after Coldplay's ''X&Y;''. It was the best-selling album worldwide by a solo and female artist. To date, ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. At the 48th Grammy Awards, Carey performed a medley of "We Belong Together" and "Fly Like a Bird". The performance earned the night's only standing ovation, prompting Teri Hatcher, who was presenting the next award, to exclaim, "It's like we've all just been saved!"

In support of the album, Carey embarked on her first headlining tour in three years, named The Adventures of Mimi: The Voice, The Hits, The Tour after a "Carey-centric fan's" music diary. The tour spanned forty stops, with thirty-two in the United States and Canada, two in Africa, and six in Japan. Tickets for the tour went on sale on June 2, 2006, with prices ranging from $95 to $150 USD, and featured Carey's long-time friend Randy Jackson as the tour's musical director. Carey's performances consisted of old songs from her catalog as well as her newest singles. The tour received warm critical reaction from music critics and concert goers, many of which celebrated the quality of Carey's live vocals, as well as the show as a whole. However, critics felt the show's excesses, such as Carey's often costume changes and pre-filmed clips, were unnecessary distractions. The tour proved successful, with Carey playing to over 60,000 fans in the two stop in Tunis alone. Midway through the tour, Carey booked a two-night concert engagement in Hong Kong, which was scheduled to take place following her Japanese shows. The shows were cancelled, however, after tickets went on sale. According to Carey's then-manager Benny Medina, the cancellation was due to the concert promoter's refusal to pay Carey her agreed-upon compensation. The promoter instead blamed poor ticket sales (allegedly, only 4,000 tickets had sold) and "Carey's outrageous demands". Carey ultimately sued the promoter, claiming $1 million in damages due to the concert's abrupt cancellation.

2007–09: ''E=MC²'', second marriage, ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' and acting breakthrough

By spring 2007, Carey had begun to work on her eleventh studio album, ''E=MC²'', in a private villa in Anguilla. When asked regarding the album title's meaning, Carey said "Einstein's theory? Physics? ''Me?'' Hello! ...Of course I'm poking fun." She characterized it as "''Emancipation of Mimi'' to the second power", and said that she was "freer" on this album than any other. Although ''E=MC²'' was well received by most critics, some of them criticized it for being very similar to the formula used on ''The Emancipation of Mimi''. Two weeks before the album's release, "Touch My Body", the record's lead single reached the top position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Carey's eighteenth number one and making her the solo artist with the most number one singles in United States history, surpassing the record held by Elvis Presley. Additionally, it gave Carey her 79th week atop the Hot 100, tying her with Presley as the artist with the most weeks at number one in the ''Billboard'' chart history." ''E=MC²'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 463,000 copies sold, the biggest opening week sales of her career. With six number one albums, Carey is now tied with Britney Spears and Janet Jackson in the United States for the third most number one albums for a female artist, behind Madonna with seven and Barbra Streisand's nine chart toppers. In 2008, ''Billboard'' magazine ranked her at number six on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists", making Carey the second most successful female artist in the history of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Carey and actor/comedian Nick Cannon met while they shot her music video for her second single, "Bye Bye", on an island off the coast of Antigua. On April 30, 2008, Carey married Cannon at her private estate on Windermere Island in The Bahamas. Carey had a cameo appearance in Adam Sandler's 2008 film ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan'', playing herself. On January 20, 2009, Carey performed "Hero" at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball after Barack Obama was sworn as America's first African-American president. On July 7, 2009, Carey – alongside Trey Lorenz – performed her version of The Jackson 5 song "I'll Be There" at the memorial service for Michael Jackson. At the sight of Jackson's casket, Carey's voice, overwhelmed with emotion, cracked in the opening line of the song. She later apologized on ''The Today Show'', explaining how she did her best effort despite the circumstances.

In 2009, she appeared as a social worker in ''Precious'', the movie adaptation of the 1996 novel ''Push'' by Sapphire. The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics, as has Carey's performance. ''Variety'' described her acting as "pitch-perfect". ''Precious'' won awards at both the Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival, receiving top honors there. In January 2010, Carey won the Breakthrough Actress Performance Award for her role in ''Precious'' at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. September 25, 2009, Carey's twelfth studio album, ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'', was released. Reception for the album was generally positive, but mixed in certain aspects; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called it "her most interesting album in a decade", while Jon Caramanica from ''The New York Times'' criticized Carey's vocal performances, decrying her overuse of her softer vocal registers at the expense of her more powerful lower and upper registers. Commercially, the album debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' 200, and became the lowest-selling studio album of her career. The album's lead single, "Obsessed", became her 40th entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and her highest debut on the chart since "My All" in 1998. The song debuted at number eleven and peaked at number seven on the chart, and became Carey's 27th US top-ten hit, tying her with Elton John and Janet Jackson as the fifth most top-ten hits. Within hours after the song's release, various outlets speculated that its target was rapper Eminem, in response to his song "Bagpipes from Baghdad", in which he taunted Carey's husband, Nick Cannon. According to MTV, Carey alludes to drug problems in "Obsessed", which Eminem opened up about on his sixth studio album, ''Relapse''. The album's follow-up single, a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is", failed to achieve any significant chart success in the United States, or much throughout Europe, but managed to break airplay records in Brazil. The song spent 27 weeks atop the Brasil Hot 100 Airplay, making it the longest running song in the chart's history. On December 31, 2009, Carey embarked her seventh concert tour, Angels Advocate Tour, which visited the United States and Canada. Though stateside, the tour spanned few international dates, such as in Brazil and Singapore, where Carey played to over 100,000 spectators. On January 30, 2010, it was announced that Carey would release a remix album of ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel''; titled ''Angels Advocate'' (an R&B; remix album featuring a collection of newly remixed duets with some of Carey's favorite artists). The album was slated for a March 30, 2010 release, but was eventually cancelled.

2010–present: ''Merry Christmas II You'', motherhood and fourteenth studio album

Following the cancellation of the ''Angels Advocate'', it was announced that Carey would return to the studio to start work on her thirteenth studio album. It was later revealed that it would be her second Christmas album, the follow-up to ''Merry Christmas'' (1994), which became the best-selling Holiday album of all time. Long time collaborators for the project include Jermaine Dupri, Johntá Austin, Bryan-Michael Cox and Randy Jackson, as well as new collaborators such as Marc Shaiman. Dupri stated that a single would be released alongside the album before the year's end. During a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, in August 2010, Island Def Jam executive Matt Voss announced that the album would be out on November 2, 2010. and would include six new songs and a remix of her classic hit "All I Want for Christmas Is You". The album, titled ''Merry Christmas II You'', was released alongside an accompanying DVD, and was sent to retailers on November 2, 2010. ''Merry Christmas II You'' debuted at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200 with sales of 56,000 copies, surpassing the opening week sales of Carey's previous holiday album of 45,000 copies 16 years prior. It also became Carey's 16th top ten album in the United States. The album debuted at number one on the R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it only the second Christmas album to top this chart.

In May 2010, Carey dropped out of her planned appearance in ''For Colored Girls'', the film adaptation of the play ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf'', citing medical reasons. After much media speculation, Carey confirmed on October 28, 2010, that she and Cannon were expecting a baby, and that she would be due in the spring of 2011. Carey also revealed that she had been pregnant shortly after her wedding with Cannon, but she miscarried. On April 30, 2011, the couple's third wedding anniversary, Carey gave birth to fraternal twins via C-section. The twins were named Monroe, after Marilyn Monroe, and Moroccan Scott, after Cannon proposed to Carey in her Moroccan-style room; Scott is Cannon's middle name and his grandmother's maiden name. On February 11, 2011, Carey announced on HSN, that she recorded a duet with Tony Bennett for his upcoming "Duets" album, titled "When Do The Bells Ring For Me". Following the birth of their children, Cannon revealed during an interview with ''Billboard'' that Carey had already begun working on a new record. Cannon said "She's been working away, and we have a studio in the crib, and [the pregnancy] has totally inspired her on so many different levels. You're definitely gonna see some new phenomenal music from Mariah" and assured Carey would plan on releasing it by the end of the year. In October 2011, Carey announced that she re-recorded her song "All I Want for Christmas Is You" with Justin Bieber as a duet for his Christmas album, ''Under the Mistletoe''. On November 5, 2011, Carey and Bieber filmed a music video for the duet at the Macy's in New York City. On October 21, 2011, a pre-taped interview with Barbara Walters aired on ABC's 20/20, during the interview Carey and Cannon allowed the cameras to photograph/film twins Moroccan and Monroe for the first time ever. In November 2011, Carey was included in the remix to the mixtape single "Warning" by Uncle Murda, the remix also features 50 Cent and Young Jeezy. That same month, Carey announced that she and John Legend collaborated on a duet, "When Christmas Comes", which was originally part of Carey's 2010 holiday album ''Merry Christmas II You''.

On February 8th, 2012, Mariah uploaded a video on her Youtube channel for the song "Love Story".

Artistry

Musical style

Love is the subject of the majority of Carey's lyrics, although she has written about themes such as racism, social alienation, death, world hunger, and spirituality. She has said that much of her work is partly autobiographical, but ''Time'' magazine wrote: "If only Mariah Carey's music had the drama of her life. Her songs are often sugary and artificial—NutraSweet soul. But her life has passion and conflict," applying it to the first stages of her career. He commented that as her album's progressed, so too her songwriting and music blossomed into more mature and meaningful material. Jim Faber of the ''New York Daily News'', made similar comments, "For Carey, vocalizing is all about the performance, not the emotions that inspired it. Singing, to her, represents a physical challenge, not an emotional unburdening." While reviewing ''Music Box'', Stephen Holden from ''Rolling Stone'' commented that Carey sang with "sustained passion", while ''Entertainment Weekly''s Arion Berger wrote that during some vocal moments, Carey becomes "too overwhelmed to put her passion into words." In 2001, ''The Village Voice'' wrote in regards to what they considered Carey's "centerless ballads", writing, "Carey's Strawberry Shortcake soul still provides the template with which teen-pop cuties draw curlicues around those centerless [Diane] Warren ballads [...] it's largely because of [Blige] that the new R&B; demands a greater range of emotional expression, smarter poetry, more from-the-gut testifying, and less unnecessary notes than the squeaky-clean and just plain squeaky Mariah era. Nowadays it's the Christina Aguileras and Jessica Simpsons who awkwardly oversing, while the women with roof-raising lung power keep it in check when tune or lyric demands."

Carey's output makes use of electronic instruments such as drum machines, keyboards and synthesizers. Many of her songs contain piano-driven melodies, as she was given piano lessons when she was six years old. Carey said that she cannot read sheet music and prefers to collaborate with a pianist when composing her material, but feels that it is easier to experiment with faster and less conventional melodies and chord progressions using this technique. While Carey learned to play the piano at a young age, and incorporates several ranges of production and instrumentation into her music, she has maintained that her voice has always been her most important asset: "My voice is my instrument; it always has been." Carey began commissioning remixes of her material early in her career and helped to spearhead the practice of recording entirely new vocals for remixes. Disc jockey David Morales has collaborated with Carey on several occasions, starting with "Dreamlover" (1993), which popularized the tradition of remixing R&B; songs into house records, and which ''Slant'' magazine named one of the greatest dance songs of all time. From "Fantasy" (1995) onward, Carey enlisted both hip-hop and house producers to re-structure her album compositions. ''Entertainment Weekly'' included two remixes of "Fantasy" on a list of Carey's greatest recordings compiled in 2005: a National Dance Music Award-winning remix produced by Morales, and a Sean Combs production featuring rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. The latter has been credited with popularizing the R&B;/hip-hop collaboration trend that has continued into the 2000s, through artists such as Ashanti and Beyoncé. Combs said that Carey "knows the importance of mixes, so you feel like you're with an artist who appreciates your work—an artist who wants to come up with something with you".

Voice and timbre

Mariah Carey possesses a 5-octave vocal range, and has the ability to reach notes beyond the 7th octave. She was ranked first in a 2003 MTV and ''Blender'' magazine countdown of the 22 Greatest Voices in Music, as voted by fans and readers in an online poll. Carey said of the poll, "What it really means is voice of the MTV generation. Of course, it's an enormous compliment, but I don't feel that way about myself." She also placed second in ''Cove'' magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists".

Regarding her voice type, Carey said that she is alto, while French-American baritone and singing teacher in the Conservatoire de Paris Malcolm Walker states that she is light lyric soprano, "because the upper register is much more healthy than the lower register." However, within contemporary forms of music, singers are classified by the style of music they sing. There is currently no authoritative voice classification system within non-classical music. Attempts have been made to adopt classical voice type terms to other forms of singing, but they are controversial, because the development of classic voice categorizations were made with the understanding that the singer would amplify his or her voice with their natural resonators, without a microphone.

Baritone Malcolm Walker as well as music critic Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' and vocal pedagogue Jeannette Lo Vetri describes Carey's voice as "pure, full, rounded and warm", adding that belting and head voices has a great brightness. Malcolm Walker praise her belting voice, saying it "works very well" and states that Carey "passes easily in head voice. It's her true voice." The middle register is "ample and full" and the voice resonates with strong vibrato. Jon Pareles, of ''The New York Times'', describes Carey's lower register as "rich" and "husky", on the other hand, Walker, Holden, and Lo Vetri state it's "tired", "distended" in its lowest parts. Carey also possesses a "whisper register". In an interview with the singer, Ron Givens of ''Entertainment Weekly'' described it this way, "In one brief swoop, she seems to squeal and roar at the same time: whisper register." Additionally, towards the late 1990s, Carey began incorporating breathy vocals into her material, usually beginning the song and then building up to a "full throated" climax. Tim Levell from the BBC News described her vocals as "sultry close-to-the-mic breathiness", while ''USA Today''s Elysa Gardner wrote "it's impossible to deny the impact her vocal style, a florid blend of breathy riffing and resonant belting, has had on today's young pop and R&B; stars." Tenor Juan Diego Flórez has described her whistle register in detail, saying "Her whistle register is beautiful, fluid, very free and resonant—she has a "ring" in it. She shows an exceptionnal texture manipulation in this register : It can be bright, silky, crystalline, airy, piercing, metallic. She can imitate an electric guitar, a bird chirping, a piccolo... She can also phrase in that register. And the greatest thing about her whistle is that she use it for express different moods and feelings. She is the only pop singer who do that."

Voice experts praise Carey's vocal technique, stating that she can deliver very fast staccatos, marcato, portato and arpeggios with great control, "always keeps a neutral larynx position—except sometimes in her lower register" and "glides effortlessly from bottom to top and vice versa." Diego Flórez said "either in chest, head voices and whistle, she has a gorgeous mastery of dynamics" and describes her legato as "silky." Carey's musicianship is of high-level. Soprano Montserrat Caballé and Diego Flòrez said she has a "refined", "subtle" phrasing, a "perfect" sense of rhythm, and a high architectural sense of line-proportion, climax and resolve, ideas and themes. Jon Pareles adds "she can linger over sensual turns, ... syncopate like a scat singer." Her sense of pitch is admired, Flórez specify that "no matter how fast she executes her melismas, she always stay in tune."

Influences

Carey has said that from childhood she has been influenced by R&B; and soul musicians such as Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. Her music contains strong influences of gospel music, and she credits The Clark Sisters, Shirley Caesar and Edwin Hawkins as the most influential in her early years. When Carey incorporated hip-hop into her sound, speculation arose that she was making an attempt to take advantage of the genre's popularity, but she told ''Newsweek'', "People just don't understand. I grew up with this music". She has expressed appreciation for rappers such as The Sugarhill Gang, Eric B. & Rakim, the Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G. and Mobb Deep, with whom she collaborated on the single "The Roof (Back in Time)" (1998). Carey was heavily influenced by Minnie Riperton, and began experimenting with the whistle register due to her original practice of the range.

During Carey's career, her vocal and musical style, along with her level of success, has been compared to Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. Carey and her peers, according to Garry Mulholland, are "the princesses of wails [...] virtuoso vocalists who blend chart-oriented pop with mature MOR torch song". Author and writer Lucy O'Brien attributed the comeback of Barbra Streisand's "old-fashioned showgirl" to Carey and Dion, and described them and Houston as "groomed, airbrushed and overblown to perfection". Carey's musical transition and use of more revealing clothing during the late 1990s were, in part, initiated to distance herself from this image, and she subsequently said that most of her early work was "schmaltzy MOR". Some have noted that unlike Houston and Dion, Carey co-writes her own songs, and the ''Guinness Rockopedia'' (1998) classified her as the "songbird supreme".

Legacy

Carey's vocal style and singing ability have significantly impacted popular and contemporary music. As music critic G. Brown from ''The Denver Post'' wrote, "For better or worse, Mariah Carey's five-octave range and melismatic style have influenced a generation of pop singers." According to ''Rolling Stone'', "Her mastery of melisma, the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like "Vision of Love", inspired the entire ''American Idol'' vocal school, for better or worse, and virtually every other female R&B; singer since the Nineties." Jody Rosen of ''Slate Magazine'' wrote of Carey's influence in modern music, calling her the most influential vocal stylist of the last two decades, the person who made rococo melismatic singing. Rosen further exemplified Carey’s influence by drawing parallel with American Idol, which to her, “often played out as a clash of melisma-mad Mariah wannabes. And, today, nearly 20 years after Carey's debut, major labels continue to bet the farm on young stars such as the winner of Britain's X Factor show, Leona Lewis, with her Generation Next gloss on Mariah's big voice and big hair." Sean Daly of ''St. Petersburg Times'' wrote, "Depending on how you feel about public humiliation, the best/worst parts of American Idol are the audition shows, which normally break down into three distinct parts:(1) The Talented Kids.(2) The Weird Kids.(3) The Mariahs." Daly further commented, "The Mariahs are the hardest ones to watch, mainly because most of them think they're reeeaaally good. The poor, disillusioned hopefuls plant themselves in front of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson – then proceed to stretch, break and mutilate every note of a song, often Mariah's Hero, a tune that has ruined more throats than smoker's cough." ''New York Magazine's'' editor Roger Deckker said that in regarding Carey as an influential artist in music, he commented that "Whitney Houston may have introduced melisma (the vocally acrobatic style of lending a word an extra syllable or twenty) to the charts, but it was Mariah—with her jaw-dropping range—who made it into America’s default sound." Deckker also added that "Every time you turn on American Idol, you are watching her children". Despite her vocal prowess, Carey's vocal technique particularly with the use of melisma and belting, has been subject to public scrutiny mainly because of young singers such as from talent shows have been overly imitating her singing technique in which critics commented "Mariah Carey is, without a doubt, the worst thing to happen to amateur singing since the karaoke machine". As Professor Katherine L. Meizel noted in her book, ‘’The Mediation of Identity Politics in American Idol’’, “Carey’s influence not just stops in the emulation of melisma or her singing amongst the wannabe’s, it’s also her persona, her diva, her stardom which inspires them.... a pre-fame conic look.”

}} Carey’s influence is notable in numerous hip hop, pop and R&B; artists, including Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Nelly Furtado, Leona Lewis, Brandy Norwood, Pink, Mary J. Blige, and Missy Elliott, among others. Knowles credits Carey's singing and her song "Vision of Love" as influencing her to begin practicing vocal "runs" as a child, as well as helping her pursue a career as a musician. Rihanna has stated that Carey is one of her major influences and idol. Christina Aguilera has cited in her early stages of her career that Carey is a big influence in her singing career and being one of her idols. According to Pier Dominguez, author of ''Christina Aguilera: a star is made : the unauthorized biography'', Aguilera has stated how she loved listening to Whitney Houston, but it was Carey who had the biggest influence on her vocal styling. Carey's carefully choreographed image of a grown woman struck a chord on Aguilera. Her influence on Aguilera also grew from the fact that both were of mixed heritage. Philip Brasor, editor of ''The Japan Times'', expressed how Carey's vocal and melismatic style even influenced Asian singers. He wrote regarding Japanese superstar Utada Hikaru, "Utada sang what she heard, from the diaphragm and with her own take on the kind of melisma that became de rigueur in American pop after the ascendance of Mariah Carey." In an article called "Out With Mariah's Melisma, In With Kesha's Kick", writer David Browne of ''The New York Times'' discusses how the ubiquitous melisma pop style has suddenly fallen down from pop culture in favor of young stars who uses the now ubiquitous autotune in which the first mentioned was heavily popularized into mainstream pop culture with the likes of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Browne had commented "But beginning two decades ago, melisma overtook pop in a way it hadn’t before. Mariah Carey’s debut hit from 1990, “Vision of Love,” followed two years later by Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You,” set the bar insanely high for notes stretched louder, longer and knottier than most pop fans had ever heard." Browne further added "A subsequent generation of singers, including Ms. Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé, built their careers around melisma. (Men like Brian McKnight and Tyrese also indulged in it, but women tended to dominate the form.)"

Carey is also credited for introducing R&B; and hip hop into mainstream pop culture, and for popularizing rap as a featuring act through her post-1995 songs. Sasha Frere-Jones, editor of ''The New Yorker'' commented, "It became standard for R&B;/hip-hop stars like Missy Elliott and Beyoncé, to combine melodies with rapped verses. And young white pop stars—including Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera, and 'N Sync—have spent much of the past ten years making pop music that is unmistakably R&B.;" Moreover Jones concludes that "[Carey’s] idea of pairing a female songbird with the leading male MCs of hip-hop changed R&B; and, eventually, all of pop. Although now anyone is free to use this idea, the success of “The Emancipation of Mimi” suggests that it still belongs to Carey." Judnick Mayard, writer of ''The Fader'', wrote that in regarding of R&B; and hip hop collaboration, "The champion of this movement is Mariah Carey." Mayard also expressed that "To this day ODB and Mariah may still be the best and most random hip hop collaboration of all time", citing that due to the record "Fantasy", "R&B; and Hip Hop were the best of step siblings." Kelfa Sanneh of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "In the mid-1990s Ms. Carey pioneered a subgenre that some people call the thug-love duet. Nowadays clean-cut pop stars are expected to collaborate with roughneck rappers, but when Ms. Carey teamed up with Ol' Dirty Bastard, of the Wu-Tang Clan, for the 1995 hit "Fantasy (Remix)", it was a surprise, and a smash." Aside from her pop culture and musical influence, Carey is credited for releasing a classic Christmas song called "All I Want For Christmas Is You". In a retrospective look at Carey's career, Sasha Frere-Jones of ''The New Yorker'' said, the "charming" song was one of Carey's biggest accomplishments, calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon". ''Rolling Stone'' ranked "All I Want for Christmas Is You" fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard." Following the release of her ''Greatest Hits'' album, Devon Powers of Popmatters has said in his review that "She has influenced countless female vocalists after her. At 32, she is already a living legend—even if she never sings another note." Carey’s business ventures include the launch of her perfumes, her clothing line, and books. She has portrayed the true nature of being a superstar, according to sociologist Naomi Hirahara, and is a classic example of the word "diva". Carey is never seen without her large entourage, whether it be award shows, performances or as guests on late night specials. Hirahara says, "her demands are sporadic, her looks are glamorous, she is hardly of her age, but she is still ruling. Nowadays people emulate the idea of being a diva, but Carey was the original one in true sense of the term."

Honors and awards

Throughout Carey's career, she has collected many honors and awards, including the World Music Awards' Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium, the Grammy's Best New Artist in 1991, ''Billboard'''s Special Achievement Award for the Artist of the Decade during the 1990s. In a career spanning over 20 years, Carey has sold over 200 million albums, singles, and videos worldwide, making her one of the biggest-selling artists in music history. Carey is ranked as the best-selling female artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, with over 52 million copies sold. Possessing a five-octave vocal range, Carey was ranked first in MTV and ''Blender'' magazine's 2003 countdown of the 22 Greatest Voices in Music, and was placed second in ''Cove'' magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists". Aside from her voice, she has become known for her songwriting. Yahoo Music editor Jason Ankeny wrote, "She earned frequent comparison to rivals Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, but did them both one better by composing all of her own material." According to ''Billboard'' magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States. At the 2000 World Music Awards, Carey was given a Legend Award for being the "best-selling female pop artist of the millennium", as well as the "Best-selling artist of the 90s" in the United States, after releasing a series of albums of multi-platinum status in Asia and Europe, such as ''Music Box'' and ''Number 1's''. She is also a recipient of the Chopard Diamond Award in 2003, recognizing sales of over 100 million albums worldwide. Additionally, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) lists Carey as the third-best-selling female artist, with shipments of over 63 million units in the US. In Japan, Carey has the top four highest-selling albums of all time by a non-Asian artist.

Carey has spent a record 79 weeks at the number-one position on ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the artist with the most weeks at number-one in US chart history. On that same chart, she has accumulated 18 number-one singles, which ties her with Elvis Presley for the second most number-one singles in the chart's history (after only The Beatles). In 1994, Carey released her holiday album ''Merry Christmas'' has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, and is the best-selling Christmas album of all time. It also produced the successful single "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which became the only holiday song and ringtone to reach multi-platinum status in the US. In Japan, ''Number 1's'' has sold over 3,250,000 copies and is the best-selling album of all time in Japan by a non-Asian artist. Her hit single "One Sweet Day", which featured Boyz II Men, spent sixteen consecutive weeks at the top of ''Billboard''s Hot 100 chart in 1996, setting the record for the most weeks atop the Hot 100 chart in history. After Carey's success in Asia with ''Merry Christmas'', ''Billboard'' estimated Carey as the all-time best-selling international artist in Japan. In 2008, ''Billboard'' listed "We Belong Together" ninth on The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and second on Top Billboard Hot 100 R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The song was also declared the most popular song of the 2000s decade by ''Billboard''. In 2009, Carey's cover of Foreigner's song "I Want to Know What Love Is" became the longest-running number-one song in Brazilian singles chart history, spending 27 consecutive weeks at number-one. Additionally, Carey has had three songs debut at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: "Fantasy", "One Sweet Day" and "Honey", making her the artist with the most number-one debuts in the chart's 52-year history. Also, she is the first female artist to debut at number 1 in the U.S. with "Fantasy". In 2010, Carey's 13th album and second Christmas album, ''Merry Christmas II You'', debuted at No.1 on the R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it only the second Christmas album to top that chart. On November 19, 2010, ''Billboard'' magazine named Carey in their "Top 50 R&B;/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years" chart at number four.

Philanthropy and other activities

Carey is a philanthropist who has donated time and money to organizations such as the Fresh Air Fund. She became associated with the Fund in the early 1990s, and is the co-founder of a camp located in Fishkill, New York, that enables inner-city youth to embrace the arts and introduces them to career opportunities. The camp was called Camp Mariah "for her generous support and dedication to Fresh Air children", and she received a Congressional Horizon Award for her youth-related charity work. She is well-known nationally for her work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in granting the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses, and in November 2006 she was awarded the Foundation's Wish Idol for her "extraordinary generosity and her many wish granting achievements". Carey has volunteered for the New York City Police Athletic League and contributed to the obstetrics department of New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell Medical Center. A percentage of the sales of ''MTV Unplugged'' was donated to various other charities. In 2008, Carey was named Hunger Ambassador of the World Hunger Relief Movement. In February 2010, the song, "100%", which was originally written and recorded for the film, ''Precious'', was used as one of the theme songs for the 2010 Winter Olympics, with all money proceeds going to Team USA.

One of Carey's most high-profile benefit concert appearances was on VH1's 1998 ''Divas Live'' special, during which she performed alongside other female singers in support of the Save the Music Foundation. The concert was a ratings success, and Carey participated in the Divas 2000 special. In 2007, the Save the Music Foundation honored Carey at their tenth gala event for her support towards the foundation since its inception. She appeared at the ''America: A Tribute to Heroes'' nationally televised fundraiser in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, and in December 2001, she performed before peacekeeping troops in Kosovo. Carey hosted the CBS television special ''At Home for the Holidays'', which documented real-life stories of adopted children and foster families, from the Wayback Machine on October 22, 2001. In 2005, Carey performed for Live 8 in London and at the Hurricane Katrina relief telethon "Shelter from the Storm". In August 2008, Carey and other singers recorded the charity single, "Just Stand Up" produced by Babyface and L. A. Reid, to support "Stand Up to Cancer".

Declining offers to appear in commercials in the United States during her early career, Carey was not involved in brand marketing initiatives until 2006, when she participated in endorsements for Intel Centrino personal computers and launched a jewelry and accessories line for teenagers, Glamorized, in American Claire's and Icing stores. During this period, as part of a partnership with Pepsi and Motorola, Carey recorded and promoted a series of exclusive ringtones, including "Time of Your Life". She signed a licensing deal with the cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden, and in 2007, she released her own fragrance, "M". In 2007, ''Forbes'' named her as the fifth richest woman in entertainment, with an estimated net worth of US $270 million. In November 2011, it was reported that Carey's net worth was valued at more than $500 million. On November 29, 2010, she debuted a collection on HSN, the collection range included jewelry, shoes and fragrances. In November 2011, Carey was announced as the new global ambassador for Jenny Craig, following her weight loss with the program after giving birth to fraternal twins in April. Carey claims she lost on the program.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	!scope="row"	Ilana
2001	!scope="row"	Billie Frank
2002	''WiseGirls''	Raychel
2003	''Death of a Dynasty''	Herself	Cameo appearance
2005	''State Property 2''	Dame's Wifey
2008	''You Don't Mess with the Zohan''	Herself	Cameo appearance
2009	!scope="row"	Krystal
2009	!scope="row"	Mrs. Weiss		Palm Springs International Film Festival>Palm Springs International Film Festival Breakthrough Performance Award	Capri Hollywood International Film Festival Award for Supporting Actress of the Year	Black Reel Awards of 2010>Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble	Boston Society of Film Critics>Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Ensemble Cast	Black Reel Awards of 2010>Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress	Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2009>Critics' Choice Awards for Best Acting Ensemble

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2002	''Ally McBeal''	Candy Cushnip
2003	''The Proud Family''	Herself	Voice role

Discography

''Mariah Carey'' (1990)

''Emotions'' (1991)

''Music Box'' (1993)

''Merry Christmas'' (1994)

''Daydream'' (1995)

''Butterfly'' (1997)

''Rainbow'' (1999)

''Glitter'' (2001)

''Charmbracelet'' (2002)

''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005)

''E=MC²'' (2008)

''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' (2009)

''Merry Christmas II You'' (2010)

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart

List of awards received by Mariah Carey

List of best-selling music artists

List of best selling music artists in U.S.

List of Mariah Carey tours

Notes

References

Hardy, Phil. ''The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music: Fully Revised Third Edition'' (2001). pg. 156–157. UK: Faber and Faber Limited. ISBN 0-571-19608-X.

Mulholland, Garry. ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music'' (2003). pg. 57. UK: Flame Tree Publishing. ISBN 1-904041-70-1.

''Fred Bronson's Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, 5th Edition'' (ISBN 0-8230-7677-6)

''Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Sixties'' (ISBN 0-89820-074-1)

''Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Nineties'' (ISBN 0-89820-137-3)

Additional information concerning Carey's chart history can be retrieved and verified in ''Billboard's'' online archive services and print editions of the magazine.

External links

Mariah Carey at LAUNCHcast

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Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from New York City Category:African American female singer-songwriters Category:African American film actors Category:African American record producers Category:American dance musicians Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American music video directors Category:American people of Venezuelan descent Category:American philanthropists Category:American pop singer-songwriters Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American sopranos Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:Virgin Records artists Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Island Records artists Category:Musicians from New York City Category:People from Long Island Category:Singers with a five octave vocal range Category:Spanish-language singers Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Article Feedback 5

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name	Regine Velasquez-Alcasid
background	solo_singer
birth name	Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez
born	April 22, 1970Manila, Philippines
genre	OPM, pop, adult contemporary, soul, R&B;, broadway
occupation	Singer, actress, record producer, TV host, stage director, fashion designer, model
instrument	Vocals
vocal classification	Lyric Colatura Soprano
years active	1986—present
label	Vicor (1990—1991)Polygram (1993—1998)VIVA (1998—2006)Universal (2006—present)
website	140pxRegine Velasquez's signature }}

Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez (born April 22, 1970), better known as Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, is a Filipino singer, actress, record producer and TV host. She won the 1989 Asia Pacific Singing Contest in Hong Kong, and is widely known for possessing a wide and powerful vocal range.

Velasquez is the first Asian artist to stage a solo concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York, as part of Carnegie Hall's centennial-year concert series.

In 1994, Polygram Records produced her first Asia-released album, ''Listen Without Prejudice''. It is considered as Velasquez' most successful album to date, selling more than 1.2 million copies in Asia. It sold over 700,000 units in China, making it the best-selling album in the country by a foreign artist until 1999. The album has sold over 100,000 units in the Philippines and over 320,000 units in other Asian countries.

She has collaborated with artists such as Paul Anka, David Hasselhoff, 98 Degrees, Brian McKnight, Mandy Moore, Ronan Keating, Stephen Bishop, Jim Brickman, Peabo Bryson, Jeffrey Osborne, Dave Koz, Grasshopper, Coco Lee, Michel Legrand, David Pomeranz, Eduardo Capetillo, Fernando Carrillo, and Billy Crawford. "In Love with You," a duet with Jacky Cheung, landed the top spot in MTV Asia's Top 20 Asian Videos in 2000.

In 2000, She performed the country's millennial theme ''Written In The Sand'' together with 2,000 children in the top-roof of The Peninsula Manila, televised in 67 broadcast networks throughout the world to coincide with midnight in Manila for the BBC's millennium special 2000 Today .

She has also embarked on several television and film projects, receiving a Best Actress award for her portrayal of a mentally challenged woman in a ''Maalaala Mo Kaya'' episode entitled "Lobo." Velasquez formed IndiMusic (iMusic), a record label partnered with Bella Tan's Universal Records. She is currently managed by Aria Productions.

Biography

1970–1985: Early life and discovery

Velasquez is the first child of Teresita and Gerardo Velasquez, born in Tondo, Metro Manila, Philippines on April 22, 1970. Her family moved to Hinundayan, Southern Leyte, where Velasquez studied at the Hinundayan Central School. Music figured largely in her early development; her father always sang Frank Sinatra songs to the children and her mother accompanied on guitar. Velasquez always loved music and even before she could read, she was singing along with the family. Her father signed her up for small local singing competitions. He helped train her voice by having her sing while neck-deep in the ocean and copy other song. Her mother also helped by teaching her how to move on stage and interpret songs. At the age of six, Velasquez participated in a nationally-televised amateur singing competition, The Tita Betty's Children's Show. Her piece, "Buhat Nang Kita'y Makilala" ("Since I Met You"), won third place. Velasquez continued to compete in more singing competitions in small towns around the country. By nine, Velasquez and her family had moved to Balagtas, Bulacan, where she studied at Balagtas Central School. She later studied at St. Lawrence Academy, where she won Vocal Solo and Vocal Duet awards for her school at the annual BULPRISA (Bulacan Private School Association) competition. At fourteen, Velasquez entered the senior division of Ang Bagong Kampeon (The New Champion), a nationally-televised singing competition, hosted by Bert "Tawa" Marcelo and Pilita Corrales. Her father suggested that she audition with "Saan Ako Nagkamali" ("Where Did I Go Wrong"). She won for eight straight weeks and became the first grand champion of the show. The show's musical director, Dominic Salustiano, suggested her winning piece, George Benson's "In Your Eyes." She won a contract with Octoarts, recording the single "Love Me Again" as "Chona Velasquez," her nickname at the time. She then joined the Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM), an organization of Filipino singers, performing in music lounges all over Metro Manila. Members of OPM helped her out by giving her industry advice and by lending their gowns for her performances.

1986–1987: Debuts

At the behest of friend and fellow Octoarts recording artist, Pops Fernandez, Velasquez guested on the GMA 7 Variety TV show, 'Penthouse Live', on February 16, 1986. Martin Nievera, Pops' husband and co-host of the show, suggested to Velasquez that she drop the name Chona and use Regine as her screen name. That year, her father resigned from his job as a construction estimator to fully attend to his daughter's blossoming career.

Viva Records signed Velasquez to a contract in 1987, releasing her self-titled debut album. The album contained the songs "Kung Maibabalik Ko Lang," "Isang Lahi, " and "Urong Sulong." Her first regularly televised performances were musical variety shows with ensemble casts, such as ABS-CBN's Triple Treat and the Sunday variety show Teen Pan Alley. Velasquez and Alley's Janno Gibbs continued to collaborate throughout the years, creating the musical Kenkoy at Rosing, recording the cover song "Magkasuyo Buong Gabi," and performing duets in concert.

1988–1991: International exposure

In 1988, Velasquez cut her hair short out of protestations that she was not given a chance to stage her first concert entitled, "True Colors" because "The Jets" were performing on that same day which was on her 18th birthday.

In 1989, Velasquez was chosen to represent the Philippines in the ''Asia-Pacific Singing Contest'' held in Hong Kong. On Dececember 23, 1989, Velasquez won the grand prize with "You'll Never Walk Alone" from ''Carousel'' and "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from ''Dreamgirls''. After the competition, media started calling her "''Asia's Songbird''."

Jose Mari Chan, picked Velasquez to do a duet for his album entitled ''Constant Change''. The album was awarded a Certified Diamond Record Award by the PRIMA. Gary Valenciano penned the song 'Each Passing Night' which they sang together for his album 'Faces of Love'.

Velasquez signed with Vicor records and released several albums, starting with Nineteen 90. The album included t "''Narito Ako''" ("Here I Am"), her first Ogie Alcasid-penned song, "I Have To Say Goodbye, " and "Promdi". Her first major solo concert, ''Narito Ako'', was standing-room only at the Folk Arts Theater, with Gary Valenciano as a guest performer. Velasquez's debut United States solo concert, ''Narito Ako sa New York'' (Here I Am in New York), was held at the Main Hall of Carnegie Hall on October 11, 1991 Velasquez Velasquez delivered an outstanding performances at the Carnegie Hall in New York, considered to be one of the world's most coveted performance venues. Her special guest was Ray-An Fuentes. The concert was a roaring success that earned three standing ovations from the audience.

She sang "Urong-Sulong" and "Narito Ako" plus "I'm Your Baby Tonight" "Greatest Love of All," "You'll Never Walk Alone," "We Can Work It Out," "Somewhere" and a Barbra Streisand medley and romance medley with guest Ray An Fuentes.

She next released an album, Tagala Talaga ("A Genuine Tagalog Lady"). It comprises her renditions of classic Filipino compositions by Nonong Pedero, Willy Cruz, George Canseco, Louie Ocampo, Freddie Aguilar, and National Artists for Music Awardees Ryan Cayabyab, Lucio D. San Pedro, and Levi Celerio.

1992–1998: Asian music scene

In 1992, she continued to guest on variety shows in the Philippines. She was discovered by Alex Chan and Norman Cheng. Chan is the regional marketing manager of Polygram Far East and Cheng is the president of Polygram Far East. They watched her "Music and Me" concert in July 1993. Afterward, they approached her and they told her that they wanted to work with her.

First, they featured Velasquez in a duet with Paul Anka titled "It's Hard to Say Goodbye" which is included in the album her fourth album, ''Reason Enough'', which was released in 1993 and achieved platinum album status. It featured "Sana Maulit Muli," "Babalikang Muli," and a duet with Gary Valenciano, "Slip Away."

In November 4, 1994, she performed with Janno Gibbs and Ariel Rivera at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. About 6,100 people came. On November 12, they performed at Cow Palace Auditorium in San Francisco. Ticket sales exceeded 8,200. On November 18, they performed at the Beacon Theatre in New York. 400 standing-room-only tickets were released along with 3,000 seats sold out two weeks before the concert date.

PolyGram Records produced her first Asian album, ''Listen Without Prejudice''. "In Love With You," a duet with Jacky Cheung, turned platinum in Taiwan seven days after its release. In its year-end sales of 1994, ''Listen Without Prejudice'' reported sales of over 300,000+ units in Asia in three months. It was reportedly the first huge success of PolyGram in Asia.

Velasquez' second album, ''My Love Emotion'', featured "You've Made Me Stronger," composed by Trina Belamide. She said that this album was born from a live performance in Singapore. She performed there in the Perfect 10 Music Awards in 1995. She was nominated in two categories (Favorite New Act and Favorite Performance in a song for "In Love With You") but she lost. She sang "In Love With You" with a Singaporean singer and "What Kind of Fool Am I?" After singing "What Kind of Fool Am I?" Phil Buckle (the guitarist of Southern Sons, an Australian band) congratulated her and he told her that he'd like to write her a song. Phil composed "My Love Emotion," which is the title of the album. She did two videos for "You've Made Me Stronger" and "My Love Emotion" and sold 100,000 copies Asia-wide on the first month of its release. In the year-end sales of "My Love Emotion," it sold more than 250,000 units across Asia.

As a part of her ''My Love Emotion'' Japanese album launch, Japan Velasquez was invited with many concert guestings, Asian music gatherings, and festivals such as Yoshinogari Ruins in Saga Prefecture 1995 when she did the opening and closing numbers.

Before Velasquez participated in the Asian music scene in Manila in October 18, 1996, her third Asian album ''Retro'' was released. The album contains re-arrangements of her favorite songs. She and Remus Choy made a video for the duet "I Can't Help It."

As a part of her ''Retro'' album promotion, Velasquez guested and performed with the some of the songs included in her album at the event called The Open Concert in South Korea.

Velssquez joined Ryan Cayabyab's musical adaptation of José Rizal's ''Noli Me Tangere'' at the CCP in 1995. She played the tragic role of Maria Clara opposite Audie Gemora's Crisostomo Ibarra, directed by Nonong Padilla. Vic Del Rosario of Viva saw her performance and offered her the lead in ''Wanted: Perfect Mother'', a movie adaptation of the Mars Ravelo comic book series, loosely based on ''The Sound of Music''. Martin Nievera wrote the theme, "You Are My Song," one of Velasquez's original hit singles. The movie was her first starring role and first pairing with Christopher De Leon.

On April 20, 1996, she did a free concert at the UP Sunken Garden to celebrate her tenth year in show business. It was her way of thanking her country for supporting her all these years. The special guests were Ivy Violan, Nanette Inventor, Bernardo Bernardo, the Tux, Louie Ocampo, Janno Gibbs and Cacai Velasquez. She was the stage director and she conceptualized the show. The musical director was Ryan Cayabyab. They were backed up by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. In the same year, Velasquez recorded a Christmas album, ''Love Was Born on Christmas Day'', her final album under Polycosmic Records. She also ended her contract with Primeline, Inc., opting to manage her own career with her sister, Cacai Velasquez.

June 7, 1997, she and Kuh Ledesma staged the "Power of 2" in San Francisco and Pasadena in the U.S. The show was huge with over 12,000 people in attendance. Afterward, she had a Canada tour (Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary) and shows with Pops Fernandez in Italy which were all successful.

Viva Records released her multi-platinum R&B; and hip hop album ''Drawn'', produced by Mark J. Feist, featuring a portrait made by Velasquez on the cover. Songs like "How Could You Leave," "Never Ever Say Goodbye," and more upbeat songs like "Once in a Lifetime" and "Messin' With My Head" celebrated her vocal power, technique, and versatility. A mix of original and cover tracks with an R&B; flair comprised the album. The only Filipino track in the album, "Ikaw (You)," was the theme song of her movie with matinee idol Aga Muhlach. The single "Emotions" was produced by Mark Feist, who later produced the Destiny's Child cover of the same song in 2001 with very little variation. Velasquez also developed a more sexy public image, distancing herself from her former demure one.

''Drawn'' was the one of Velasquez best selling albums: Two weeks after its release, it turned platinum with 40,000 copies sold and ended up on 8x Platinum (350,000+ copies sold). It was considered the figure two weeks after the set of its release. ''Drawn'' was officially available on November 22, 1998 but, according to VMG advertising and promotion manager Bambi Diploma, a number of outlets sold the album around November 16, 1998.

Eventually, her star shone brighter year after year. Velasquez became an international star and released three multi-platinum albums in Asia. She toured the Philippines and other countries, captivating jam-packed crowds with her performances. She was really a crowd favorite, in large part to her charm and endearing personality. "I work hard at what I do. I try to do better all the time," she says.

1999–2005: Transition and independence

In November 10, 1999, Velasquez released her album ''R2K'' a mnemonic of (Regine 2000) which consists covers of international artists. It went platinum (40,000) within 2 weeks of its release on Nov. 27, 1999, it is also the first album by a local artist to include a bonus VCD that is available only include in the album, contains 6 videos of songs from the audio CD. In 2001''R2k'' reportedly ended up with the certification of Octuple Platinum Record Award which equivalent in the Philippines of 8X Platinum (350,000+ copies sold). But in 2004 it was reportedly certified 12X Platinum (480,000+ copies sold), but never awarded by its own label.

In 31 December 1999, she performed the country's millennial theme, "Written in the Sand" was beamed to 67 major broadcast networks in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and Africa — reaching more than a billion of people. The first to view the broadcast were the people of the Kiribati Islands in Fiji, and the song crossed 24 time zones, culminating in the Samoa Islands. On the evening of 31 December 1999, Christian Lanzar a Hemophilia stricken child was joined by more than 2,000 children, some who arrived as early as 10:00 a.m. to rehearse, at the top of Manila Peninsula Hotel. "I was gathering enough energy and strength to face a magnificent milestone in my life," said Christian. Velasquez joined the contingent to perform "Written in the Sand". She released an album entitled ''R2K'' ("Regine 2000"), containing covers of international artists and achieving Sixtuple platinum status in sales and even reached to Ten Times platinum.

Two years later, she released an all-original album titled ''Reigne''. The album included songs like "To Reach You," "''Dadalhin''," and "''Sa Aking Pag-iisa''"which had a remix version. She also worked with singer Marvi Napoles in reviving Mariah Carey/Brian Mcknight Whenever You Call.

Velasquez became the spokesperson for American fast-food chains like KFC and Wendy's in Asia. As an actress, she appeared in a number of Filipino films. In 2002, she received ''Best Actress'' in Star Awards for Television in her portrayal of a retarded woman seeking acceptance and love. She also released the film "''Ikaw Lamang, Hanggang Ngayon''" and received an MTV Asia award for "Best Philippine Artist,". She was named the "Box Office Queen" award the same year from the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial foundation.

She also staged the Bantay Bata Benefit concert, ''One Night with Regine'', set at the stairs of the Philippine National Museum which won Best Musical Special at the ''2003 Asian Television Awards''. Her MTV Asia special entitled ''Speak Your Mind'' was nominated for the UNICEF Child Rights Awards. The production was highly commended for its agenda on child welfare, documenting the plight of homeless children swarming the streets of Metro Manila, in an effort to protect and safeguard their rights.

She also hosted the amateur singing contest Star For A Night which aimed to discover new talents. The weekly show was aired on IBC-13 and was a co-production with Viva.

Velasquez became the first and second recipient of the MTV Favorite Artist Award (Philippines) in 2002 and 2003. During the 2002 award ceremony held in Singapore, she sang "Cry" in a duet with Mandy Moore, one of the hosts.

In 2003, Velasquez reunited with Martin Nievera in the Martín Nievera and Regine Velasquez World Concert Tour. The concert was an artistic and commercial success. The first quarter of 2004 saw Velasquez and co-artist, singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid in much-anticipated back-to-back concerts entitled The Songbird and the Songwriter. Velasquez formed her own record label called Songbird Music in that same year. She produced an album for Gabby Eigenmann who was her co-host in ''SOP''. Velasquez won her MTV Favorite Artist Award (Philippines) for the second time in MTV Asia Awards.

In 2004, Velasquez released ''Covers Vol. 1'', comprising cover songs including Original Pilipino Music (OPM) classics of male singers like Basil Valdez, Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano, Ogie Alcasid, Side A, True Faith, and Ariel Rivera. Velasquez transferred her amateur singing contest to GMA-7 and changed the name to ''Search For A Star''.

Velasquez starred in GMA's telenovela ''Forever In My Heart'' opposite Richard Gomez, Dawn Zulueta, and former flame Ariel Rivera. December 2004 was Velasquez return to major solo concert performance. She staged in 24,000 seat Araneta Coliseum another set of back-to-back concert performances regally titled ''Reigning Still''. The show was triumphant amidst a series of typhoons that ravaged Manila and nearby provinces. Reigning Still wasn't a culmination of Velasquez' career, it was a bridge to a new level in her career – maturity – in performance and in work. She moved on with the event and for two consecutive nights, Regine conquered the Araneta Coliseum again on her own. The concert was not full to its maximum capacity on the first night (considering that Manila's streets are still flooded at that time) but the second night was a real full house. Never mind since it has been declared Sold Out two weeks before the concert which means even if people didn't make it, tickets were already bought and sold. That's very important especially that Velasquez donned the hat of producer and director. The concert was a showcase of what Velasquez has learned in her craft through the years. It is a spectacle of her running concepts, ideas and style where you can see a Velasquez touch in every detail of it. The concert though was more pop in nature, high spirited, experimental and upbeat, following the trend of recent concerts by Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, and Christina Aguilera In 2005, Velasquez and singer Pops Fernandez performed a concert, ''Queens On Fire'', later taking it on an eight-city U.S. tour.

Velasquez held the ''Reflections'' Concert series at Aliw Theatre late that year. The stage was decorated with mannequins wearing her gowns from the past decade which were later auctioned for the benefit of GMA's Kapuso Foundation. The concert featured the prodigies "Wyeth Gifted Kids" (saxophonist Jacob Sarreal, violinists Joseph Valdés and Paulina, and classical cellist Pocholo Gutiérrez). The concert featured songs by her favorite singers or the foreign female singers who have influenced her career. The concert consisted of numerous medleys of hits by Barbra Streisand, Anita Baker, Sheena Easton, Spice Girls, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion.

Velasquez hosted Pinoy Pop Superstar (a singing competition on GMA 7 which started last 2005 until 2008) which launched the career of Jonalyn Viray (1st Pinoy Pop Superstar Grand Champion who also competed at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood where she won five golds for Broadway, Original, Pop, R&B; and Variety categories & was declared "Overall Champion Female Solo" in Broadway, Pop and Original).

She recorded the theme song "''Di Na Nag-iisa''" for the ''Darna'' TV series, based on the ''Darna'' comic book character created by Mars Ravelo. The theme song was composed by South Border's Jay Durias and the song was nominated for an Aliw Award for Best Song Made For Television. The song was also used in the movie ''Till I Met You'' and is included in the original sound track.

2006–2008: 20th Anniversary and independent record label launch

2006 marked Velasquez 20th Anniversary in showbiz. She released the album ''Covers Volume 2'', featuring covers of international hit songs including Elvis Presley's "Blue Suede Shoes" and The Beatles' "Come Together". All of the songs were presented with new arrangements in various musical genres. The first single was "Hold Me In Your Arms," covering the Southern Sons song.

Her Valentine concert at the Araneta Coliseum, Forever After, co-starred Ogie Alcasid, Rico Puno, and Ai Ai Delas Alas. She and Pops Fernandez staged the North American leg of the Queens on Fire concert tour in the spring of 2006. The Forever After tour was staged in key US cities and at the Wembley Arena in London.

On August 13, 2006, the ''Sharon Cuneta Show'' devoted an to Velasquez. In the middle of 2006, together with manager Cacai Velasquez, boyfriend Ogie Alcasid, and brother-in-law Raul Mitra, Velasquez launched the IndiMusic record label. As part of her 20th anniversary celebration, she staged Twenty concert, at the Araneta Coliseum in mid-October 2006. Velasquez also recorded "Maghihintay Ako," the theme song for the sci-fi telenovela Atlantika.

In 2007, ''People Asia'' magazine's "People of the Year" honored her with the Exemplary Achievement Award, shared with three others. On March 14, Velasquez together with Kuh Ledesma represented the Philippines in the Mosaic International Music Festival in Singapore held at the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.

Her movie, Paano Kita Iibigin, opened on May 30, 2007. The movie was the first co-production between Viva Films and Star Cinema which is owned by media conglomerate ABS-CBN. A soundtrack, featuring solos and duets by the co-stars, was released by Star Records, the first time Velasquez produced an album outside Viva Entertainment. The theme song was penned by Ogie Alcasid.

In August 2007, Velasquez and Alcasid started hosting ''Celebrity Duets'' (Philippines) on GMA 7. The show pairs up local personalities with local professional singers. Velásquez also endorsed Vicki Belo's "Belo Essentials," which includes singer Zsa Zsa Padilla and model/TV personality Lucy Torres. This year she recorded the theme song of GMA's remake of ''MariMar''. In October 2007, she appeared on the cover of the fashion magazine "Preview".

Velasquez attended the 2007 Aliw Awards held at Palacio de Maynila and won "Best Major Concert Act (Female)" for her 20th year anniversary concert at the Araneta Coliseum. Velasquez was also awarded "The Most Successful Artist of the Year" award by Walk Of Fame Philippines on December 4, 2007 in Eastwood, Quezon City.

Velasquez had a featured performance on Korean television KBS1 entitled ''Window of Asia'' showcasing her life.

She also starred a weekly musical variety show on GMA7 titled ''Songbird'' which premiered May 15, 2008. The "Up Close and Personal" solo U.S concert tour started in May 2008.

A series of concerts with Lani Misalucha started with a tour of the US and Canada in September 2008 before moving to Manila in 2009. Also in 2008, Velasquez released her 15th studio album, ''Low Key,'' which earned a certified gold status three days after its release. In December 2008, she performed with Pops Fernandez, Kuh Ledesma, and Zsa Zsa Padilla in the biggest concert of the year at the Araneta Coliseum dubbed as Divas 4 Divas.

2009–present

Velasquez's ''Low Key'' under Universal Records became the first platinum album of 2009.

Velasquez also played Anna in the series ''Totoy Bato'', a soap in GMA-7. In March and May 2009, she went on tour in the US to stage The Divas 4 Divas US Tour; also, in 2009, Velásquez hosted the GMA singing competition, ''Are You The Next Big Star?''.

Velasquez did a docu-biography show which aired May 24, 2009 on GMA Network as part of her month-long birthday celebration entitled "Roots To Riches." The show featured untold stories, "going back to Regine's roots from her amateur singing days in Malolos, Bulacan up to where she is now." She also gave citation to her young rival in singing competitions, Minerva "Eva" Castillo. They joined in one stage singing, "Ako Ang Nagwagi".

After being scheduled to perform at a concert with Charice Pempengco, Velasquez was forced to pull out after contracting the swine flu. She has since recovered.

At the final requiem mass for President Corazon Aquino, August 5, 2009, Velásquez sang a duet with Martin Nievera, "The Prayer."

Velásquez held a two-night concert entitled "Regine... Most Requested" at the SkyDome, SM North EDSA, which marked her return to the Viva fold. Eva Castillo appeared as her special guest. Early December, she started her most requested concert in provincial places and early next year she is scheduled to finish her provincial tours

In August 28, 2010, Velasquez launched her signature perfumes collection via Bench with two scents available called ''Reigne'' and ''Songbird''.

In 2010, Velasquez started the year by accepting a comic-villain role in GMA-7's ''Darna''. She starred as Elektra The Planet Woman. At the same time, went on to conclude the provincial tour of her SRO 2009 concert series, "Regine Most Requested". Also in March 2010, she starred in the primetime-musical series offering of GMA Network for their 60th Anniversary entitled ''Diva''.

Velasquez attended the inauguration of the 15th president of the Republic of the Philippines Noynoy Aquino at the Quirino Grandstand on June 30, 2010, performing Aquino's first campaign jingle "Hindi Ka Nagiisa" and "Bagong Pilipinas" together with other Filipino artists. For the fourth time (2000-9, 2001-4, 2002-7), Velasquez was ranked 8th in the top 10 of FHM Philippines 100 Sexiest Woman In The World. In November 2010, Velasquez started shooting a GMA-7 teleserye, "I Heart U Pare", set to premiere on early 2011.

Velasquez released an album under Universal Records entitled ''Fantasy'', a 2-CD album containing 22 tracks.''Fantasy'' also has two sets of packaging. Each box-set contains 10 sets of post-cards that are in color and in black and white. Fantasy was awarded a Gold Record Award two weeks after its release, and after one month it was awarded as Platinum Record Award making it one of the fastest selling albums of 2010 in Philippine albums history.

In 2011, Velasquez received a ''MYX Magna Award 2011'' in the 6th ''MYX Music Awards 2011''. In June 2011 Velasquez was nominated as Coolest Female Singer in 2011 Yahoo Philippines OMG Awards, She got 43% of the over all votes, but she lost it to Charice Pempengco with 54% of over all votes .

Acting career

Velasquez's her first movie role was in the film ''The Untouchable Family''. She soon ventured into comedy films. She was cast in the 1988 film ''Pik Pak Boom''. She then co-starred in the flick ''Elvis and James''.

Velasquez' returned to the cinema in 1996 for her first lead role in the film ''Wanted Perfect Mother''. Also in that same year, she was one of three lead actresses in the musical comedy ''Do Re Mi'' alongside Donna Cruz and Mikee Cojuangco. Despite being part of the movie, Velasquez' vocals were not part in recording of the movie's soundtrack, as it was an then-upcoming VIVA Records singer named Krystine, who sang vocals on her part. In the movie version, Velasquez was able to record her vocals just in time before the movie was released.

In 1998's ''Honey Nasa Langit Na Ba Ako'', she played a ghost who died in a car accident days before her wedding day. Also, Velasquez co-starred with Aga Muhlach in the romantic film ''Dahil May Isang Ikaw''. Later, in 2000, she starred in ''Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw''. In 2001 she starred in ''Pangako Ikaw Lang'' which earned her a ''Box-Office Queen'' award from the ''Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation''.

Velasquez acted in two more romantic films in 2002 and 2003; ''Ikaw Lamang, Hanggang Ngayon'' and ''Pangarap Ko Ang Ibigin Ka''. In December 2003, she appeared in ''Captain Barbell''.

Velasquez returned to the romance genre in 2006 and 2007 with ''Till I Met You'' and ''Paano Kita Iibigin.'' In June 2008, she was the voice of Urduja in the animated film ''Urduja''.

In 2009, Velasquez, conceptualized the story for ''OMG (Oh, My Girl!)'' and she will appear in a cameo role as a production assistant.

Velasquez is currently filming Mrs. Recto, an indie film under the direction of Director Dante Nico Garcia. Her 3rd reunion movie with Aga Muhlach, ''Of all the Things''.

Personal life

Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid announced their engagement at Party Pilipinas on August 8, 2010 after 7 years. By December 22, 2010 Velasquez had married Ogie Alcasid in Terrazas de Punta Fuego in Nasugbu Batangas.

In April 2011, She and her husband confirmed the news of her pregnancy through the same afternoon-variety show, Party Pilipinas.

Philanthropy and other activities

In 1994 Velasquez become the and ambassador of Duty Free Philippines anti-drug campaign has an aim to fight drugs in the Philippines.

In 1995 Velasquez performed to the Singapore's National Kidney Foundation, the HongKong AIDS Foundation, the Hong KongPhilharmonic Orchestra. The proceeds goes to the cited charitable event.

In 1999 Velasquez and the Municipality of Pasig did a fund raising event called ''Muling Aawit ang Pasig'' it was the concert were Velasquez performed, the proceeds goes to the rehabilitation of Pasig River. Later on it was followed with another event called ''Piso Para sa Pasig'' also starred by Velasquez all the proceeds goes to the cited recipient.

In 2002 Unicef picked Velasquez as the one of their Ambassadors in Asia. As one of her first project, Velasquez did a documentary MTV Asia special entitled ''Speak Your Mind'' which was nominated for the UNICEF Child Rights Awards. The production was highly commended for its agendum on child welfare, documenting the plight of homeless children swarming the streets of Metro Manila, in an effort to protect and safeguard their rights.

In May 2002, Velasquez staged the Bantay Bata Benefit concert, ''One Night with Regine'', set at the stairs of the Philippine National Museum which won Best Musical Special at the ''2003 Asian Television Awards''.

In 2005 Velasquez sold 40 of her gowns in an auction sale launched on October 23, 2005 on the Mel & Joey talk show with the proceeds going to GMA 7's ''Give a Gift: Alay sa Batang Pinoy project'' which desires to give some needs for those in need. The auction resulted in more than P 800,000 (Philippine Peso).

In response to Thypoon Ondoy in 2009, Velasquez joined other celebreties who donated more than P 300,000 for the victims and she did a relief works in the affected areas. In December 2009, Velasquez did a Musical Special called ''After The Rain'' starring the stories of the families that has been affected by the Thypoon.

In 2010 Velasquez was named as the one of the ambassadors of Operation Smile a non-government organization, which provides medical treatment to children with Cleft palet.

Discography

''Regine'' (1987)

''Nineteen '90'' (1990)

''Tagala Talaga'' (1991)

''Reason Enough'' (1993)

''Listen Without Prejudice'' (1994)

''My Love Emotion'' (1995)

''Retro'' (1996)

''Love Was Born On Christmas Day'' (1996)

''Drawn'' (1998)

''R2K'' (1999)

''Reigne'' (2001)

''Covers, Vol. 1'' (2004)

''Covers, Vol. 2'' (2006)

''Low Key'' (2008)

''Fantasy'' (2010)

Theatre

February & July 1994 July 14 to August 6, 1995 2006

Title	Venue !! Role
''Kenkoy Loves Rosing''	August to September 1991	Music Museum
''Two Hearts, One Beat''	|	Philippine International Convention Center>PICC Plenary Hall	Female Lead
''Noli Me Tángere''	|	Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater	María Clara
''Forever After''	|	World Tour	Regine (fairy)

Filmography

Films {| class = "wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Film ! Role ! class = "unsortable" | Notes and Awards |- | 1987 | ''The Untouchable Family'' | Sheila | |- | 1988 | ''Pik Pak Boom'' | Irma | |- | 1989 | ''Elvis and James 2'' | Whitney | |- | 1992 | ''Big Ambulance: Call for Emergency'' | Gina | |- | 1996 | ''Wanted: Perfect Mother'' | Sam | |- | 1997 | ''Do Re Mi'' | Reggie | |- | 1998 | ''Honey Nasa Langit na Ba Ako?'' | Marian | |- | 1999 | ''Dahil May Isang Ikaw'' | Anya Katindig | |- | 2000 | ''Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw'' | Francine Natra | |- | 2001 | ''Pangako Ikaw Lang'' | Cristina | GMMSF Award for Box-Office Queen |- | 2002 | ''Ikaw Lamang Hanggang Ngayon'' | Katherine | Nominated—Young Critics Circle Award for Best Performance by Male or Female, Adult or Child, Individual or Ensemble in Leading or Supporting Role |- | 2003 | ''Pangarap Ko Ang Ibigin Ka'' | Alex | |- | 2003 | ''Captain Barbell'' | Cielo | |- | 2004 | ''Masikip Sa Dibdib'' | singer | cameo appearance |- | 2006 | ''Till I Met You'' | Luisa | |- | 2007 | ''Paano Kita Iibigin'' | Martee | Nominated—FAMAS Award for Best ActressNominated—FAP Award for Best Actress |- | 2008 | ''Urduja'' | Urduja | voice role |- | rowspan=2|2009 | ''Kimmy Dora'' | english teacher | cameo appearance |- | ''OMG (Oh, My Girl!)'' | production assistant | cameo appearance |- | 2011 | ''Mrs. Recto'' | Carla Recto | ''post-production'' |- | 2011 | ''Of All The Things'' | | ''filming'' |- |}

Television {| class = "wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Channel ! Role ! class = "unsortable" | Notes and Awards |- | 1997 | ''SOP'' | (GMA-7) | herself | Host (1997—2010) |- | 2000 | ''Habang May Buhay'' | (IBC-13) | | Episode "Sa Puso Ko'y Ikaw"together with Piolo Pascual |- | rowspan=2|2002 | ''Star For A Night'' | (IBC-13) | herself | Host (2002—2003) |- | ''Maalaala Mo Kaya'' | (ABS-CBN 2) | Abby | Episode "Lobo"2002 PMPC Star Award for Television for Best Actress |- | 2003 | ''Search For A Star'' | (GMA-7) | herself | Host (2003—2004) |- | rowspan=2|2004 | ''Forever in My Heart'' | (GMA-7) | Angeline | main role |- | ''Pinoy Pop Superstar'' | (GMA-7) | herself | Host (2004—2007)2005 PMPC Star Award for Television for Best Female Host2006 PMPC Star Award for Television for Best Talent Search Program Host |- | 2007 | ''Celebrity Duets'' | (GMA-7) | herself | Host (2007—2009)together with Ogie Alcasid |- | rowspan=3|2008 | ''Maalaala Mo Kaya'' | (ABS-CBN 2) | Cathy | Episode "Dalandan"directed by Jeffrey Jeturian together with Albert Martinez, Mickey Ferriols & Christian Vasquez |- | ''Songbird'' | (GMA-7) | herself | Host |- | ''Ako si Kim Samsoon'' | (GMA-7) | Kim Samsoon Buot | main role |- | rowspan=4|2009 | ''Totoy Bato'' | (GMA-7) | Anna Molina | main role |- | ''Are You the Next Big Star?'' | (GMA-7) | herself | Host |- | ''SRO Cinemaserye'' | (GMA-7) | herself | Episode "The Eva Castillo Story" |- | ''Darna'' | (GMA-7) | Elektra, leader of the Planet Women | recurring role (season 2, 2009—2010) |- | rowspan=2|2010 | ''Diva'' | (GMA-7) | Sampaguita/ Melody | main role |- | ''Party Pilipinas'' | (GMA-7) | herself | Host (2010—present) |- | 2011 | ''I Heart You, Pare!'' | (GMA-7) | Antonia "Tonya" Estrella/ Tonette Star/ Tony Boy | main rolelater replace by Iza Calzado due to her pregnancy |- |}

Notable guest appearances

1993: ''Mr Kupido'' — "Reason Enough", with Apa Ongpin and Jenine Desiderio

1994 : ''Ober Da Bakod''

1994: ''Spotlight'' — with Ariel Rivera

December 22, 1996: ''Ikaw, Ako At Ang Awit'' with Gary Valenciano

1996: ''Muling Aawit Ang Pasig: GMA Foundation featuring Regine Velásquez''

February 26, 1997: ''Mikee'' - "The Black Triangle", with Donna Cruz and Mikee Cojuangco

May 26, 1999: ''Mikee Forever''

September 7, 1999: ''Kool Ka Lang''

September 13, 2000: ''Pwedeng Pwede''

July 4, 2001: ''Larawan'' with Dingdong Dantes

August 22, 2001: ''Beh Bote Nga''

April 27, 2003: ''Huling Yakap Sa Tag-araw'' with Dingdong Dantes

May 2003: ''OK Fine Whatever''

December 2003: ''Idol Ko si Kap''

May 2004: ''Tanging Ina, TV Series''

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Regine Velasquez

References

External links

Regine Velásquez at the Internet Movie Database

Category:1970 births Category:Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation Category:Filipino actors Category:Filipino dance musicians Category:Filipino singers Category:Filipino female singers Category:Filipino pop singers Category:Filipino record producers Category:Filipino Roman Catholics Category:Filipino television personalities Category:Filipino television actors Category:Filipino theatre directors Category:Filipino film actors Category:Living people Category:People from Bulacan Category:People from Manila

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