Early Life

Ciara was born in Austin, Texas [1], and grew up in army bases in Germany, New York, California, Arizona and Nevada, since her father was in the United States Army. When her mother figured out that she wanted to pursue a career in music is when she picked her up from daycare, and sung every song that was played on the radio. Ciara moved to Atlanta, Georgia when she was 8 years old. One day, when she was 14, she came home from school and told her mom that she really wanted to be a singer, and her mom said, “Ciara, I don’t know if this is what you really want.”

She has said that it was seeing a televised performance by Destiny’s Child that inspired her to pursue a career in music. In her early teens she formed the goal to become a professional singer. She once was a cheerleader for her high school team, until she quit. She then joined a girl group called “Hearsay”, worked on her songwriting, eventually left the group, got a publishing deal, and found a “musical soulmate” when she met producer Jazze Pha.

Career

Ciara’s debut single, Goodies, became a hit, reaching the top of the United States pop and R&B/hip-hop charts, and also charting in the United Kingdom (in January 2005, also reaching number one), Australia, Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand. With help from Jazze Pha, Sean Garrett, and Lil Jon, Ciara released her debut album, Goodies on September 28, 2004. It entered the Billboard 200 chart at #3, and sold over two million copies in the USA alone.

The second single, “1, 2 Step”, featuring Missy Elliott, reached the top five in the U.S., peaking at #2 in early 2005. The single was released in the U.K. on April 11 the same year, and reached #3, benefiting from the fact that it was the first week that downloads were incorporated into the singles chart. Ciara charted one place higher than she would have done if downloads had not been included in the chart formula; she would have instead swapped places with Elvis Presley’s re-issue of “The Wonder of You”.

In May 2005, Ciara’s third single, “Oh” featuring Ludacris, reached #2 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the U.K. charts. In July of 2005 she released her DVD of all three of her music videos, the makings of two of them, 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.

Furthermore Ciara was featured on Missy Elliott’s #3 hit “Lose Control”, taken from the rapper’s sixth album, The Cookbook. Because of this collaboration she can be considered a two-way artist, meaning she can both rap and sing equally well. In the fall of 2005, she was featured singing alongside past love interest, Bow Wow, on the second single from his third album Wanted entitled “Like You”. The duet also reached a peak of #3. In the meantime her fourth single, “And I”, was released and peaked at #96 which was relatively poor compared to the first three singles.

In the December of 2005 Ciara joined Gwen Stefani on her “Harajuku Lovers Tour”, before going on tour with Bow Wow and Chris Brown for the “Holladay Jam” which stopped at cities like New York and Atlanta. On February 8, 2006 Ciara won her first Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video along with Missy Elliott. She also performed a duet with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine during the show in tribute to the legendary R&B musician Sly Stone, a cover of Sly & the Family Stone’s 1968 classic “Everyday People”. Afterwards Ciara finished a MTV coming-of-age film, entitled All You’ve Got.

Discography

Albums
Goodies (September 28, 2004)
Ciara (November 2006)

2004 “Goodies” (featuring Petey Pablo) Goodies
2004 “1, 2 Step” (featuring Missy Elliott) Goodies
2005 “Oh” (featuring Ludacris) Goodies
2005 “And I” Goodies
2005 “Lose Control” (Missy Elliot featuring Ciara) The Cookbook
2005 “Like You” (Bow Wow featuring Ciara) Wanted
2006 “So What” (Field Mob featuring Ciara) Light Poles and Pine Trees
2006 “Get Up” (featuring Chamillionaire) Step Up Soundtrack

Album appearances
2003: “I Wish” (with ATL from The ATL Project)
2003: “It’s Us” (with ATL from The ATL Project)
2005: “Roll Wit’ You” (from the Coach Carter Soundtrack)
2005: “Lose Control” (with Missy Elliot and Fat Man Scoop from The Cookbook)
2005: “Like You” (with Bow Wow from Wanted)
2006: “So What” (with Field Mob from Light Poles and Pine Trees)
2006: “King & Queen” (with T.I. from King: Special Edition)
2006: “Get Up” (featuring Chamillionaire from the Step Up Soundtrack)

DVDs and videos
2005: Goodies: The Videos & More
2006: All You’ve Got

Videography
2003: “Calling All Girls” (with ATL & R. Kelly)
2003: “Vibrate” (with Petey Pablo & Rasheeda)
2004: “Make It Up With Love” (with ATL)
2004: “Stay Fresh” (with Jody Breeze)
2004: “Hey Young Girl” (with Lloyd)
2004: “Goodies” (with Petey Pablo)
2004: “1, 2 Step” (with Missy Elliot)
2004: “Over and Over” (with Nelly & Tim McGraw)
2005: “Oh” (with Ludacris)
2005: “Lose Control” (with Missy Elliot & Fat Man Scoop)
2005: “Like You” (with Bow Wow)
2005: “And I”
2005: “Happy Hour” (with Jazze Pha & Cee-Lo Green)
2006: “So What” (with Field Mob)
2006: “Get Up” (with Chamillionaire)
2006: “Down, Down” (with Dame Majes of Violator)

Awards
2005: Soul Train Awards - Won - Sammy Davis Junior Female Entertainer of the Year
2005: Soul Train Awards - Won - Best R&B Soul/Rap New Artist
2005: BET Awards - Won - 2005 Best Collaboration for “1, 2 Step” (feat. Missy Elliott)
2005: Teen Choice Awards - Won - Choice Music Make-Out Song for “Oh” (feat. Ludacris)
2005: Teen Choice Awards - Won - Choice Music R&B/Hip Hop Track for “1, 2 Step” (feat. Missy Elliott)
2005: MTV Video Music Awards - Won - Best Hip Hop Video for “Lose Control” (Missy Elliott feat. Ciara & Fatman Scoop)
2005: MTV Video Music Awards - Won - Best Dance Video for “Lose Control” (Missy Elliott feat. Ciara & Fatman Scoop)
2005: Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards - Won - Best New Artist
2005: Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards - Won - Best Dance Cut for “1, 2 Step” (feat. Missy Elliott)
2005: Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards - Won - Best Video for “Lose Control” (Missy Elliott feat. Ciara & Fatman Scoop)
2005: CosmoGIRL! Magazine Annual - Won - Born to Lead Award
2005: Vibe Awards - Won Best Collaboration for “Oh” (feat. Ludacris)
2006: Grammy Awards - Won - Best Short-Form Music Video: “Lose Control” (Missy Elliott feat. Ciara & Fatman Scoop)
2006: Soul Train Awards - Won - Best Dance Cut for “Lose Control” (Missy Elliott feat. Ciara & Fatman Scoop)
2006: ASCAP Pop Music Awards - Won - Most Performed Songs in the ASCAP Repertory for the 2005 Survey Year for “Goodies”, “1, 2 Step”, and “Oh”

Filmography
2006: All You’ve Got