Ciara

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Ciara
Background information
Birth name Ciara Princess Harris
Born October 25, 1985 (age 21)
Origin United States Austin, Texas, United States
Genre(s) R&B, pop, hip-hop, dance
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, actress
Years active 2004–present (singer)
2006–present (actress)
2006–present (record producer)
Label(s) LaFace/Zomba Music Group
Website Ciaraworld.com

Ciara Princess Harris (born October 25, 1985) is a Grammy Award-winning American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and occasional actress.

Ciara made her debut in the summer of 2004 with the Billboard number-one single "Goodies". The album Goodies was released on September 28, 2004. It produced three top three singles, sold 2.6 million in the U.S.[1], five million worldwide, and earned various awards and nominations. Ciara's second album, Ciara: The Evolution, was released on December 5, 2006. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling more than 338,000 copies, which is 213,000 more than Ciara's debut album Goodies that debuted at number three. It has also spawned two top twenty singles.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Ciara was born in Austin, Texas. She grew up on army bases in Germany, New York, California, Arizona, and Nevada, since her father was in the United States Army. During her teens, Ciara and her family settled in Atlanta.[2] Ciara said that watching Destiny's Child perform on a television program while staying home from school inspired her to pursue a career in music. She formed the goal to become a professional singer, so she quit the Riverdale High School cheerleading squad. Then, Ciara joined a girl group called Hearsay and worked on her songwriting. Eventually, she left the group, got a publishing deal, and found a "musical soulmate" when she met producer Jazze Pha.[3]


[edit] Recording Career

[edit] Goodies

Goodies (2004)
Enlarge
Goodies (2004)

"Goodies" became a hit, reaching the top of the United States pop charts, and also charting in the United Kingdom (in January 2005, also reaching number one), Australia, Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand. With help from Pha, Garrett, and Lil Jon, Ciara released her debut album, Goodies in September 2004. It entered the Billboard 200 chart at number three, and selling three million copies in the United States alone. The second single, "1, 2 Step", featuring Missy Elliott, reached the top ten in the U.S., peaking at number two in early 2005. "1, 2 Step" was released in the UK on April 11th the same year, and reached number two, benefiting from the fact that it was the first week that downloads were incorporated into the singles chart. 1, 2 Step then climbed up to number two making the single it's highest peak in the UK charts.

In May 2005, Ciara's third single, "Oh" featuring Ludacris, reached number two on the Hot 100. In August 2005, Ciara's fourth single, "And I" was released and peaked at #96 which was poor compared to the first three singles.

In July of 2005 Ciara released her DVD of all three of her music videos, the makings and commentaries of two of them, behind the scenes footage of her rehearsals for the Soul Train Awards, and multi-angle shots of Goodies, entitled Goodies: The Videos & More.

[edit] Beyond Goodies

In the summer of 2005, during the success of Goodies, Ciara was featured on several singles by other hip-hop artists, such as Missy Elliott's "Lose Control" from her album The Cookbook which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Only months later, Ciara was featured singing alongside former love interest, Bow Wow, on the second single from his 2005 album Wanted, entitled "Like You". The duet also reached a peak of #3. In December of 2005 Ciara went on tour with Gwen Stefani's "Harajuku Lovers Tour". Ciara ended 2005 by going on tour with other teen pop sensations like Bow Wow and Chris Brown for the "Holladay Jam" which stopped at big cities such as New York, Washington D.C., and Atlanta. Ciara, in late December, also performed a medley of all of her hits at the Orange Bowl. The performance was one of the biggest of her career because of the high television audience and the large stadium audience.

Ciara was included in an ad campaign for Candies clothing and shoe line at Kohls, along with fellow pop stars Hilary Duff, actress Michelle Trachtenberg, and Samaire Armstrong in 2006. On February 8, 2006 Ciara, along with Missy Elliott, won the Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video.[4] It was Ciara's first Grammy award. She also performed a duet with Maroon 5 during the Grammy show in tribute to the legendary R&B musician Sly Stone, entitled "Everyday People".

[edit] The Evolution

Ciara's single "Get Up" was leaked onto the internet in June 2006. The single was officially released in July. It was also included on the soundtrack to the motion picture Step Up, released in August 2006. It eventually reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Ciara's second studio album, Ciara: The Evolution was released on December 5, 2006. Her lead single is "Promise", produced by Atlanta producer Polow Da Don, although "Get Up" is featured on the album. The album features production from Jazze Pha, Rodney Jerkins, Pharrell, will.i.am, and Sean Garrett. Ciara has currently completed a 16 city club tour, which started 26 October in Washington, D.C. until 10 December in New York City on which she previewed new music from the album. The album opened at #1, beating Eminem and Gwen Stefani.

[edit] Acting career

In May 2006, Ciara made her acting debut in the MTV Films coming-of-age film All You've Got, as Becca Watley, the queen bee of a high school volleyball team; the Little Madonnas.[5], The film was released on DVD May 23, 2006.

[edit] Philanthropy

On July 28, 2006, Ciara performed at the 4th Annual VH1 Save The Music Hamptons Benefit presented by Crest Whitestrips at the home of Jaci and Morris L. Reid in East Hampton. R&B singer Lyfe Jennings also performed at the event. The VH1 Save The Music Foundation raised over $500,000, which was $200,000 more than expected, to restore music education programs that have been cut from public school systems and the risk of eliminating musical instruments.[6]

[edit] Discography

Further Information: Ciara discography

  1. Goodies (2004)
  2. Ciara: The Evolution (2006)

[edit] Filmography

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ " Ciara Previewing 'Evolution' On Tour". Retrieved November 28, 2006.
  2. ^ " Billboard.com Biography - Ciara". Retrieved December 14, 2006.
  3. ^ " Billboard.com Biography - Ciara". Retrieved December 14, 2006.
  4. ^ Rock On The Net: 48th Annual Grammy Awards.
  5. ^ " Ciara The Queen of Madonnas". Retrieved August 28, 2006.
  6. ^ " VH1 Save The Music Press". Retrieved September 15, 2006.

[edit] External links

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