Hip Hop Honeys

Early Life

Ciara Princess Harris was born October 15th, 1985 in Austin, Texas, United States. She is the only child of Carlton and Jackie Harris. Her father was in the United States Army and as a result she grew up on numerous army bases in Germany, New York, Utah, California, Arizona, and Nevada before the family finally settled in Atlanta while she was in her teenage years. Ciara joined a all girl group called Hearsay after being inspired by watching Destinys Child on T.V. after skipping school. But despite recording a number of demos the group were never signed. Eventually, she left the group, however her song writing talents were spotted by producer Jazze Pha, who had previously worked with acts such as Nelly, Ludacris, Trick Daddy and T.I. Ciara graduated from Riverdale High School in Riverdale, Georgia in 2003 and was signed by LaFace Records executive L.A. Reid after a recommendation from Pha and began work on her debut album, Goodies.

Released in North America on September 28, 2004, Goodies debuted at # 1 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, selling over 125,000 copies in its first week. The album remained the Billboard albums chart for over a year. It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on October 25, 2006. The albums lead single and title track released in June 2004 also debuted at # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed at number one for seven consecutive weeks. "Goodies" also reached # 1 in Canada and the United Kingdom. "1, 2 Step" featuring Missy Elliott, co-written by Ciara, Elliott and Pha, was released as the second single. The song peaked at # 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Her third single, "Oh", featuring Ludacris, also peaked at # 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. A fourth single, "And I", was released in North America only but charted poorly peaking at # 96 on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 2006 Grammy Awards Ciara received a nomination for "Best New Artist", while "1, 2 Step" received a nomination for "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration", but she lost out to John Legend and Jay-Z and Linkin Park’s "Numb/Encore" respectively. The album to date has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

Ciara's second studio album, Ciara: The Evolution was released in December, 2006. The album debuted at # 1 on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with first week sales of more than 338,000 and was certified platinum by the RIAA within only five weeks of its release. The official lead single, "Promise" debuted at # 45 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at # 11, and spent two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Ciara’s next single, "Like a Boy", was a moderate success peaking # 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, # 6 on the Hot Hip-Hop/R&B Singles chart, and # 16 in the UK. The official third single, "Can't Leave 'em Alone", was a moderate success in the U.S. peaking at # 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Can't Leave 'em Alone" did however become Ciara's tenth top ten single on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album's prequel single "Get Up" was also released as the lead single from the film soundtrack Step Up. As of December 2008, The album has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.

In February 2008, Ciara announced via her official MySpace page that she was currently recording her third studio album, Fantasy Ride. The album will be released in the United Kingdom on May 3rd and worldwide on May 5th, 2009. "Never Ever", the first official U.S. single, was released in January. The song peaked # 72 on the Billboard Hot 100, and has currently peaked at # 14 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Its UK release was cancelled due to poor U.S. sales. "Love Sex Magic", featuring Justin Timberlake, who also co-wrote and co-produced the track, was released as the second U.S. single (first elsewhere) in March. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also reached the Top 10 in Australia, Canada, Ireland and #5 in the UK. It was confirmed in March 2009 that Ciara will be the official support act for Britney Spears on the European leg of her The Circus Starring: Britney Spears tour in support of Fantasy Ride.

2004 Goodies

2006 Ciara: The Evolution

2009 Fantasy Ride

2004 "Goodies" (featuring Petey Pablo)

2004 "1, 2 Step" (featuring Missy Elliott)

2005 "Oh" (featuring Ludacris)

2005 "And I"

2006 "Promise"

2006 "Get Up" (featuring Chamillionaire)

2007 "Like a Boy"

2007 "Can't Leave 'Em Alone" (featuring 50 Cent)

2009 "Never Ever" (featuring Young Jeezy)

2009 "Love Sex Magic" (featuring Justin Timberlake)

• Ciara is of Creole, German and Irish heritage.
• Ranked #72 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.
• She appeared on Missy Elliott's "Lose Control" from her album The Cookbook and Bow Wow’s "Like You" from his album Wanted.
• The music video for "And I", is loosely based on the 1992 Whitney Houston film The Bodyguard.
• In May 2005, Ciara made her acting debut in the MTV Films film All You've Got and is starring with Patti LaBelle in the upcoming film Mama, I Want to Sing!.
• Ciara cites Janet Jackson as her inspiration.

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