Ciara
Oct 2, 2018
R&B/ pop vocalist/songwriter Ciara leaped directly into a chart-topping music career after her first single that was released in 2004. Her success led to connections with big names in the music industry that wanted to work with her songwriting and performance which earned Grammys and multi-platinum record sales. Even though, Ciara’s time at the top of the charts was temporary but it allowed her to branch out into production, modeling, and acting and collaborations with Missy Elliott, Ludacris, Timbaland and many other big names. Although her personal life saw many shifts, music was always first as she moved from the rowdy album “Goodies” to singles such as “Like a Boy,” to more vulnerable songwriting in her 2013 album.
In 1985, Ciara Princess Harris was born in Austin, Texas into a military family. She had lived in New York, California, Germany before landing in Atlanta, Georgia. Although, her early ambition was to be a lawyer, her love of music grew by her teens and became a member of the group Hearsay. During high school, she began writing songs for artists which allowed her to meet producer Jazze Pha, who helped her with her record deal to LaFace Records in 2003. Later that year, she started recording demos with songwriter/producer Sean Garrett, who co-wrote the single “Yeah!” with Usher. Ciara and Sean Garrett teamed up for the song “Goodies and when Lil Jon heard the demo he saw the potential of the song and asked Petey Pablo to be featured. The summer of 2004 the hit single “Goodies” was released and quickly rose to the top of the charts and became the anthem of the summer. “Goodies,” the single paved the way for Ciara’s name to be on the map and later released her album “Goodies.” The album did so well that it debuted at number three on the Billboard Top 200 chart and quickly went to multi-platinum. Ciara also had success with her follow-up singles “1,2 Step” featuring Missy Elliott and “Oh” featuring Ludacris which landed on the Top Five in the U. S. in 2005. But by the end of the year, Ciara went on tour with Gwen Stefani before teaming up with Bow Wow and Chris Brown for another tour in 2006.
Then when her sophomore album, “The Evolution” was released in December of 2006, the album charted and sold platinum numbers. The album had singles like “Get up” featuring Chamillionaire, “Promise,” and “Like a Boy.” In promoting, “The Evolution” it included festival appearances and even a supporting act in the UK for Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad world tour. Even through “Fantasy ride” had a few delays, it was her most star-studded album to date that had Elliot and Ludacris as well as The Dream, Young Jeezy, Chris Brown, and Justin Timberlake. Ciara’s collaboration with The Dream developed into the album “Basic Instinct” released on 2010 and had Christopher “Tricky” Stewart as executive producer. This album was her first album to peak outside the Top Ten of the R&B/ Hip Hop albums chart. By the July 2013 for her fifth album, she reconnected with LaFace co-founder LA. Reid and made the leap to Epic Label. “Body Party” was certified as a gold single which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Her sixth album, “Jackie,” was released in May 2015 that featured a collaboration with Future, who is also the couple’s son father. Although the pair parted ways, by July of 2018 the untitled seventh album emerged with the release of the single “Level Up.”