Ciara

Ciara Introduction

Take the best songwriters and the best singers, add the most exciting performers and the best all around personalities, throw in the hottest looks and the sexiest smiles --- mix them all together and the finished product would probably look and sound a lot like Ciara. The 23-year-old beauty from Atlanta is the latest multi-talented scene-stealer to nudge her way to center stage with attention-grabbing vocals, irresistible songwriting and killer dance moves.

Ciara Biography of the Beautiful Songtress and Dancer

Ciara was born in Austin, Texas on October 25, 1985, to Carlton and Jackie Harris, of which she is an only child. Since her father was in the United States Army, throughout her childhood Ciara grew up on army bases in Germany, New York, Utah, California, Arizona, and Nevada. In speaking of this, Ciara states that while she hated to lose good friends, this helps her in her career in when she has travel all over the world. During her teens, Ciara and her family settled in Atlanta. 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, and cites Michael Jackson as her biggest inspiration.

Ciara Career

Ciara 2002-2003: Hearsay, Jazze Pha, and record deal

In her mid-teens Ciara formed an all girl group by the name Hearsay, with two of her friends. The group recorded demos, but as time went on, they began to have differences and eventually parted ways. Despite this setback, Ciara was still determined to reach her goal and signed a publishing deal in which she bcame a song-writer. She achieved her first success at this when she wrote the song, "Got Me Waiting", for R&B singer Fantasia Barrino's debut album, Free Yourself. It was when she was writing songs that she met music producer, Jazze Pha, whom she called her "music soulmate". In 2002, the two recorded four demos, "1, 2 Step", "Thug Style", "Pick Up the Phone", and "Lookin' at You", which all appeared on her debut album which was released two years later. The former was the second single released from it and became a hit. In 2003, Ciara graduated from Riverdale High School in Riverdale, Georgia. Following that, she was signed by LaFace Records executive, L.A. Reid, with the help of Jazze Pha. She began production on her debut album later that year. In early 2004, Ciara wrote a demo with record producer, Sean Garrett. The demo was later brought to the attention of Lil Jon and became her debut single "Goodies". Lil Jon stated later that he knew it would be big seeing how it sounded similar to Usher's international hit, "Yeah!"

Ciara 2004-2005:Goodies

She made her debut in the summer of 2004 with the Billboard number-one single "Goodies". The album Goodies was released the fourth quarter of 2004 and first quarter of 2005. It made enough quarters to add up to over 2.6 million copies sold in the US five million worldwide. Ciara started 2006 by winning her first Grammy Award for Missy Elliott's "Lose Control". The following May, she made acting debut in the MTV Films production All You've Got, also starring Efren Ramirez (aka, the Vote for Pedro guy).

In the summer 2005, Ciara released her DVD of music videos, documentaries, and commentaries entitled Goodies: The Videos & More and contributed to hip-hop artists' singles during Goodies success. She appeared on Missy Elliott's "Lose Control" from her album The Cookbook and Bow Wow’s "Like You" from his album Wanted, which both peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.

In December 2005, Ciara went on tour with Gwen Stefani on her Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005 and Bow Wow and Chris Brown for the "Holladay Jam" tour, which stopped at big cities such as New York, Washington D.C., and Atlanta. She also received Grammy nominations for "Best New Artist", "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" for "1, 2 Step", "Best Rap Song" and "Best Short Form Music Video" for “Lose Control”.

Ciara 2006-2007:The Evolution

In the summer of 2006, Ciara completed her second album Evolution, In April 2006, Ciara was featured on Field Mob’s Billboard top ten single "So What". The following month, she made acting debut in the MTV Films production All You've Got, also starring Adrienne Bailon and Efren Ramirez. The summer of 2006, Ciara completed her second album, after the release of the Step Up soundtrack single "Get Up" featuring Chamillionaire. It became the second European single in the summer 2007, apart from the UK, where the song was released twice as a download-only single, once in 2006 and again in 2007.

Ciara's second studio album, Ciara: The Evolution was released on December 5, 2006. Production included hit makers such as, Jazze Pha, Rodney Jerkins, Pharrell, Bryan Michael Cox, Will.i.am and many others. The album is about Ciara's personal growth after two years in the public eye. She co-wrote and co-produced most of the songs. The official first single "Promise", produced by Atlanta producer Polow da Don, which reached eleven on the Billboard Hot 100. In October 2006, Ciara went on a seventeen city club tour until December, which she previewed new music from the album. Ciara: The Evolution debuted at number one selling over 338,000 copies, which is 213,000 more than Ciara’s debut album Goodies. The album received generally positive reviews and was certified platinum by the RIAA within only five weeks of its release. The second single from Ciara: The Evolution, the first single in Europe, "Like a Boy", was released on February 13, 2007 in the U.S. The single was the second to be released in the UK with an April 9, 2007 release date. The single was a moderate success peaking at nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100, six on the Hot Hip-Hop/R&B Singles chart, and sixteen in the UK.

In early May, Ciara teamed with Glamour Magazine to direct her first music video for emerging female artists Tiffany Evans, Paula Campbell, or Samantha Jade in the Nissan Reel Music Contest. She signed on to her second film role Mama, I Want to Sing! which filmed the summer 2007 and is due in theaters October 2008 and she became the face of Jay-Z's Rocawear clothing line and spokesperson for the women campaign entitled "I Will Not Lose", which debuted in the summer.The official third single "Can't Leave 'Em Alone",which features 50 Cent was released on June 12, 2007 and peaked at forty on the Billboard Hot 100. Ciara headlined with Lloyd, T-Pain, T.I. and Yung Joc on the Screamfest '07. The tour was scheduled to begin July 24, 2007. But it was changed to August 3, 2007.During this period, Ciara was featured on teen singer Tiffany Evans's debut single, "Promise Ring." Ciara supported fellow pop singer Rihanna on the UK leg of the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour. Ciara performed Can't Leave 'Em Alone at the World Music Awards with 50 Cent. She also won the award for "World's Best Selling Female R&B Artist" at the 2007 World Music Awards.

Ciara 2008-2009:Fantasy Ride

Although originally intended for a September 2008 release, Ciara's third studio album, Fantasy Ride was released, after a number of delays in May 2009. In the United States, it opened with first week sales of 81,000, which caused it to debut at number 3. tate the album has sold over 200,000 copies in the United States and 300,000 worldwide, becoming her lowest selling album.

In September 2008, Ciara released "Go Girl", which featured T-Pain and served as a promotional release for the album. The first single in the United States, "Never Ever", which featured Young Jeezy, reached number sixty-six there. "Love Sex Magic", which features Justin Timberlake, was released as the album's second single in the United States and as the first internationally. It became a worldwide hit, reaching number ten in the United States, and number one in India, Turkey, and Taiwan. "Like a Surgeon" was sent to United States' radio stations as a promotional single, and peaked at number fifty-nine on the US R&B/Hip-Hop chart. The second international single, "Work", which featured Missy Elliott, charted in the UK, Australia, and Ireland.

In July 2009, Ciara headlined the Jay-Z & Ciara Live tour, with Jay-Z. She was also a supporting act for Britney Spears's The Circus Starring Britney Spears tour, including eight nights at London's prestigious O2 Arena during June 2009. Ciara appeared on Nelly's single "Stepped On My J'z" from his album Brass Knuckles, and Enrique Iglesias'international hit single, "Takin' Back My Love", from his Greatest Hits album. In October 2008, in promotion for the album, Ciara interviewed with Vibe Magazine, which led to the Vibe Magazine controversy. On the October issue, Ciara was appearing to be naked but she has stated that Vibe airbrushed her clothes off to make it appear she was completely nude. She later confirmed to MTV News that she was in fact clothed.

Ciara was honored as Billboard's 2008 "Woman of the Year", because of her success in the music industry. She also received a nomination at the 52nd Grammy Awards for "Love Sex Magic", in which she was nominated in the "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" category.

Ciara 2010:Basic Instinct

In September 2009, it was revealed the Ciara was well into production of her fourth studio album titled Basic Instinct, which was originally set for a release on August 17, 2010, but now is set for a November 26, 2010 release. Tricky Stewart and The-Dream is executive producing the whole album along with Ciara.

The lead hit single "Ride" which features Ludacris, was released in the United States in late April 2010. The single went on to become Ciara's twelfth top ten hit on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number three. The albums second single will be "Speechless", and it was released in the United States in September 2010, a music video is expected to be directed by Colin Tilley. The albums third single will be "Gimmie Dat", and the music video was shoot in September 2010, and was directed by Melina.

Prior to the release of the lead single, Ciara released a viral video for the albums title song "Basic Instinct (U Got Me)". Other songs that may be on the album include "Speechless" which features The-Dream and "I Run It". In promotion for the album, Ciara launched a new official website for the album.

It was since been revealed that the album will be called Basic Instinct by Ciara during an interview with Maxim TV. Meanwhile, speaking to Blues & Soul in June 2010 she explained the thinking behind the title: "'Basic Instinct' is really about me trusting my instinct and going back to the R&B/urban basics in my music – like where I first started, in the days of 'Goodies' and '1, 2 Step'. Plus it also represents how lately I've been trusting my first instinct on EVERYTHING – whether it be my music, love, whatever."

Rap Up reported that Harris would feature on Ludacris' seventh album Battle of the Sexes (March 2010) although upon release the album failed to materialize the song. She is however feature on the official remix to the album's lead single "How Low" with Miami rapper Pitbull. Additionally in March 2010, Harris makes an appearance in the video for the second single, "Lil' Freak" which is an exclusive US-only single and is taken from Usher's sixth studio album, Raymond v. Raymond.

Endorsement Deals

In November 2009, it was announced that Ciara would be the new face of a major multimedia ad campaign for Verizon's smartphone the LG Chocolate Touch. Ciara has filmed a commercial for the campaign, which features her dancing to her single "Work".

Charity Work

In September, Ciara, along with other female R&B artists Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Melissa Etheridge, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Keyshia Cole, Leona Lewis, Leann Rimes, and Carrie Underwood, teamed up for the song "Just Stand Up!". The charity tune for cancer was conceived by Antonio "L.A." Reid, who produced it with longtime creative colleague Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds. All 15 singers shared the stage to perform the song live on September 5, during the "Stand Up to Cancer" television special, which aired simultaneously on ABC, NBC and CBS. The proceeds from the single were given to the fundraiser. The television special helped raise $100 million dollars for cancer research. The single is now available via digital download.

Also in November, Ciara teamed up with a foundation called "Make A Wish". In the foundation Ciara taught a mentally ill girl how to dance the 1, 2 Step, which granted her wish. The little girl is a huge fan of Ciara and was so happy that she finally got to meet her idol.

On February 5, 2010, Ciara performed in "S.O.S. Save Our Selves", which was hosted by Diddy and Queen Latifah. She performed along side various other artists, and the special aired on BET, CBS, and NBC. All funds went to support Haiti, after a huge earthquake left many dead, injured, and homeless.