Ciara

American musician and actress Ciara's unique blend of R&B and Southern hip-hop, especially on her debut single "Goodies," set a new standard for pop music in the early 21st century. Born Ciara Princess Harris on October 25, 1985 in Austin, TX, the only child of Jackie and Carlton Harris. As is common with military families, Ciara spent her childhood all across the globe, living in Germany, New York, Utah, California, Arizona, and Nevada, before settling in Atlanta, GA for her high school years. While in school, Ciara and two friends formed a Destiny's Child-inspired trio named Hearsay. Though the group would eventually split up over creative differences while working on demos, it solidified Ciara's goal to become a professional musician. She decided her way in to the business was through songwriting. Her first success as a songwriter came from "Got Me Waiting," a single from "American Idol" (Fox, 2002-2016/ABC, 2018-) champ Fantasia's debut album, "Free Yourself" (2004). During this time, Ciara was signed by LaFace Records, and met producer Jazze Pha, who would become, in her own words, her "musical soulmate." The following year, Ciara dropped her debut album, "Goodies" (2004), featuring the debut single of the same name, which was conceived as a female response to Usher and Lil' John's smash hit "Yeah!" Both the album and the single were smash hits, selling three million copies, and earning Ciara the title "First Lady of Crunk&B." She spent most of the next year on tour, opening for Gwen Stefani and co-headlining the Holiday Jam tour with Bow Wow and Chris Brown. Ciara spent the first half of 2006 in the studio, reflecting on her personal growth, which shone through on her aptly named sophomore album, "Ciara: The Evolution" (2006). It became her first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, and eventually went double platinum. Following her first headlining tour in the fall of 2006, as well as her big screen debut in the film "All You've Got" (2006), Ciara spent 2007 touring with the lines of Chris Brown, Akon, and Rihanna. Billboard named her "Woman of the Year" in October of 2008, ahead of the release of her third album, "Fantasy Ride" (2009), which finally saw the light of day in May of 2009, after months of delays. Despite its hard pivot into a new electronic pop and dance sound, the album still debuted in the Billboard 200's top 3, and Ciara spent that summer on tour with Jay-Z in North America and opening for Britney Spears in Europe. For her fourth album, "Basic Instinct" (2010), Ciara signed with a new label, Jive Records, and returned to her classic R&B/Hip-Hop sound. However, her relationship with Jive soon turned sour, and in February of 2011, she posted a statement on her official Facebook page detailing what she felt was the label's inadequate promotion and funding for "Basic Instinct" (which was her first album ever to debut outside of the Billboard 200's top 3), and asked to be removed from the label. Jive acquiesced, and in May of 2011 she was officially released from her contract. Two months later, her old LaFace label boss, L.A. Reid, signed her to Epic Records. Ciara took her time working on her fifth album, releasing a series of singles beforehand - "Sweat," Sorry," and "Got Me Good," all of which failed to chart and therefore didn't make it on the album - before finally dropping "Ciara" (2013) in July of 2013. The album returned her to the Billboard top 3. Two months later, she was already back in the studio with producer Mike WiLL Made It, working on material that was inspired by her new romantic partnership with Atlanta hip-hop sensation Future. In October of 2013, the couple announced their engagement, and their first child, a son named Future Zahir Wilburn, was born on May 19, 2014. Sadly, their love affair was to be short-lived: after Future became embroiled in a very public infidelity scandal, Ciara broke off their engagement in October of 2014. Heartbroken, she scraped all of the material and began anew, while also focusing on single motherhood. In January of 2015, Ciara's fifth album, "Jackie" (2015), named after her own mother, was released. That summer proved to be eventful: she embarked on her first headlining tour in years, and found new love with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. In March of 2016, the couple announced their engagement, and on July 6, 2016, they were married in a private ceremony at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, England. Their first daughter, Sienna Princess Wilson, was born on April 28, 2017. After taking some time off to enjoy her newfound family life, Ciara began work on her sixth album in 2018. She also formed her own record label, Beauty Marks Entertainment, in order to have full control over her musical destiny. Ciara's next album, "Beauty Marks" (2019), was released on May 10, 2019.