Nelly Bio

This Nelly biography contains information believed to be accurate as extracted from sources around the internet including Wikipedia. If you believe there are errors or omissions in this Nelly bio, please let us know so that we can correct any inaccuracies.

Nelly Pictures

Cornell Haynes, Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and was signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly has five solo studio albums released and several number-one hits. He also won Grammy Awards in 2003 and 2004. He also starred in the 2005 remake film The Longest Yard alongside Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. In addition, Nelly played in the Main Event at the 2007 World Series of Poker. He is also one of the owners of the Charlotte Bobcats, along with Robert L. Johnson and NBA legend Michael Jordan. Nelly has two clothing lines: Vokal (for men) and Apple Bottoms (for women). He also owns a energy drink called Pimp Juice. He is one of the wealthiest rappers in America. To date Nelly is Still the most successful rapper on the billboard hot 100 chart,with four solo number ones. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, and is the 3rd most successful rapper in the Nielsen Soundscan era, behind Eminem and Jay-Z. His 2002 album Nellyville has been certified gold or platinum in over 35 countries.

Nelly: Early life and St. Lunatics

Nelly was born in inner-city St. Louis and moved with his mother to suburban University City, Missouri as a teenager. He joined fellow rappers Big Lee, Kyjuan, Murphy Lee, and City Spud to form the group St. Lunatics; the group became locally popular with its self-published single "Gimme What You Got".

Nelly: Music career

Nelly - Country Grammar

Nelly was signed by the Mase's manager Chudda Love to Fo'reel Entertainment. He was soon signed to Universal Music Group, which released his major label debut Country Grammar in 2000. The success of its title track as a single(#7 on the Hot 100 and #1 hot rap tracks) led to the album debuting at the third spot in the Billboard 200 in the U.S. Other singles from the album included "E.I.", "Ride Wit Me", and "Batter Up".The album later peaked at number 1.To date this album has sold over 9 million units in the US according to riaa.

Nelly - Free city

Free City, which Nelly recorded with the St. Lunatics, followed in 2001 with the hit single "Midwest Swing". Free City was certified platinum by RIAA. Nelly featured on the All Star tribute track "What's Going On". Nelly also recorded a hit track titled "#1" for the soundtrack to the film Training Day that year. The song featured in Nelly's 2002 album Nellyville... Nelly appeared on the song Where the Party At by Jagged Edge and 'N Sync's 2001 album Celebrity on the song Girlfriend.

Nelly - Nellyville

In 2002, Nelly's second album Nellyville was released and reached number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart); its lead single "Hot in Herre" was a number-one hit. Other singles included "Dilemma" featuring Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child(this song is still Nelly's most successful song ever,topping all the charts), "Work It" featuring Justin Timberlake, "Air Force Ones" featuring Murphy Lee and the St. Lunatics, and "Pimp Juice". Before the Album was released a big feud between KRS One and Nelly started.A song titled Roc the mic(remix)featuring rappers Freeway,Beanie Sigel and Murphy-lee can be heard on the album,where Nelly responds to Krs' disses.According to RIAA this album has sold over 6 million units in the US.

Nelly - Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention

In 2003 Nelly released his highly successful remix album titled Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention.this was highly successful as it was certified platinum.. It featured the hit single "Iz U" which also featured on Walt Disney's The The Haunted Mansion (film).A music video of his titled "Tip Drill", which was distributed only on the Internet and underground rap video outlets, became a source of controversy due to perceptions of misogynistic depictions of women in the video. The controversy forced Nelly to cancel an appearance at a bone marrow drive in Spelman College, a historically black college in Atlanta, Georgia. Similar claims of misogyny also surrounded Nelly's single "Pimp Juice". He appeared on Brian Mcknight's song "All Night long".

Nelly - Sweat / Suit

On September 14, 2004, Nelly released two albums simultaneously, Sweat and Suit. Suit, an R&B-oriented album, debuted at number one on the Billboard albums chart, and Sweat, a rap-oriented album, debuted at number two in the same week.On the same day of its release he performed the songs Flap Your Wings and My Place on the roof of Mtv's Total Request Live.From the Suit album, the slow ballad "Over and Over", an unlikely duet with country music star Tim McGraw, became another crossover hit. On the 2004 NBC television concert special Tim McGraw: Here and Now, McGraw and Nelly performed the song..Nelly could be heard on Mase's comeback album. A minor feud with another St. Louis-based rapper, Chingy, came up near the end of the year.

Tsunami Aid: A Concert for Hope, a 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake benefit concert special produced by NBC featured Nelly in its lineup. Nelly could be heard on rapper T.I's track "Get loose".

Nelly released a UK only Sweat / Suit compilation disc. In the winter of 2005 came Sweatsuit, a compilation album consisting of selected tracks from Sweat and Suit and well as three new tracks including "Grillz" produced by best friend Jermaine Dupri, another number-one hit.

Also in 2005, Nelly was featured on The Notorious B.I.G.'s posthumous song "Nasty Girl" alongside Jagged Edge, P. Diddy and Avery Storm. "Nasty Girl" was on the Notorious B.I.G's posthumously released album Duets: The Final Chapter, and Nelly's own Sweatsuit. Nelly was also featured on the track "To the Floor" on Mariah Carey's 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi and Get It Poppin' by Fat Joe

Then in 2006, he was featured on "Call on Me", Janet Jackson's first single from her 20 Y.O. album. Sweatsuit has been certified gold in the US.

Nelly - Brass Knuckles

In 2007, he also appeared on tracks for the albums Double Up by R. Kelly and T.I. vs. T.I.P. by T.I.. He also appeared on Ashanti's track "Switch" and Kiss Kiss remix by Chris Brown. A street single called "Cut It Out" was released later that year for his upcoming album, Brass Knuckles, which was released on September 16, 2008 after several delays, Initial release dates for the album targeted October 16 and November 13 but was never intended for the album.

Nelly appeared on Rap City in April 2008,and gave one of the best freestyles the show has ever witnessed. Its original lead single was "Wadsyaname", a ballad-oriented track produced by Neff-U and sampling the piano riff from the R&B song "All My Life" by K-Ci & JoJo. Nelly later confirmed that "Wadsyaname" was never going to be on 'Brass Knuckles'. He explained, he "had to turn in a single, but not the whole album". Nelly then recorded a song called "Party People" featuring Fergie and produced by Polow da Don which turned out to be his first official single off the album. "Stepped On My J'z" was the next single, produced by Jermaine Dupri and featuring Dupri and Ciara; following that was "Body On Me", produced by Akon and featuring him and Ashanti. Nelly appeared on Rick Ross's third single "Here I Am". A video has been shot and released for the track "One & Only" off the album.This song has not yet hit the top 100 charts. Nelly gave one of his best live performances at the BET Awards when performed the single Stepped On My J'z with Jermaine Dupri and Ciara and Party People with Fergie

At the Brass Knuckles listening party at the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on the weekend of June 7, 2008, Nelly brought up the possibility of forming a supergroup with Akon and Pharrell. He also mentioned that he might work on a collaboration album with rapper T.I.

So far the album has been certified gold by RIAA.

Nelly: Endorsements and business ventures

Nike and Nelly agreed on a one-year deal in 2003 to release a limited-edition sneaker called the "Air Derrty" which was a retro remake of Charles Barkley's signature sneaker the Nike Air Max2 CB '94 which was released in 2003 at select NIKE town stores in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, as well the Squad 1 shoe store in St. Louis, Nelly's hometown. He later made a deal with Reebok, stating, "I've always been into sneakers and throughout my career I've always wanted to have a signature pair of sneakers that truly reflect my personal style. It made the most sense for me to partner with Reebok because they fully understand and respect the culture of sports, music and entertainment." Nelly has done ads for Got Milk and other major companies like Ford Motor Company. 2003 had proven to be one of Nelly's most successful years, as he formed his own Recording company Derrty Entertainment, which is a joint venture with Universal Motown. And in the same year he founded an energy drink Pimp Juice, which sells over 1 million cans a week in the United States, since then the drink has branched out worldwide. The most successful company that Nelly owns is Applebottoms, a female clothing line that has featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. This brand is a sister company to His other clothing brand Vokal, which caters for men.He is a part owner of the NBA team Charlotte Bobcats.In 2008 he opened an upmarket Sports Bar and Grill in downtown St. Louis; it has over 88 TV screens in the winter and more in the summer. In 2009 Nelly was pitching his new TV Show to major networks.

Nelly: Awards

At the 2003 Grammys, he received two awards; one for Best Male Rap Solo Performance, and another shared with Kelly Rowland for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Additionally, Nelly won the 2003 American Music Award for "Fan's Choice" and received four other nominations. He won his third Grammy in 2004 for his and P. Diddy's guest vocals in Murphy Lee's number-one hit single "Shake Ya Tailfeather" from Lee's album Murphy's Law.

Nelly: Charity work

The Jes Us 4 Jackie campaign began in March 2003 by Nelly and his sister Jackie Donahue, after she was diagnosed with leukemia, in a search for donors.Nelly also has a charity organisation named 4 Sho 4 Kids Foundation and a scholarship called the Pimpjuice Scholarship. Donahue died in March 2005, almost exactly two years after the campaign began.

Nelly: Acting career

Nelly made his film debut in 2001 in the film Snipes. He was also featured in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. This blockbuster was a hit and racked up a good promising future for this hip hop star. The film debuted at number three at the American box office behind Star Wars Episode III and Madagascar (the latter of which also stars Chris Rock) and became MTV Films' most successful release, grossing over US$100 million in the U.S. alone. Nelly also completed a song for the soundtrack, "Fly Away." In a June 2008 interview with Kiwibox.com, Nelly revealed that he is reluctant to continue his acting career, noting that he doesn't want to "take away from the culture of acting." In 2008, Nelly appeared in the episodes of the CBS crime drama CSI: NY "Turbulence" playing a character called Terrence Davis and again on November 19, 2008 in the episode "My Name is Mac Taylor".

Nelly: Personal life

Nelly has confirmed that he has been in a relationship with singer Ashanti for approximately 6 years.