Nelly Bio

Nelly Biography

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Cornell Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), best known by his stage name Nelly, is a rapper from St. Louis, Missouri and part of the rap group St. Lunatics. He performed with the group independently from 1996 to 2000, when he was signed to Universal Records. Under Universal, Nelly has four solo studio albums released in his name 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.

Nelly: Biography

He was born in Austin, Texas and raised in University City, where he formed the group St. Lunatics with his friends in the surrounding area. The group had a local hit in 1996 with the self-produced single "Gimme What You Got". After much frustration and failed attempts to be signed to a record deal, the members of St. Lunatics felt that Nelly would have a better shot at success as a solo act, to gain recognition first as a soloist and then bring in the rest of his group, the St. Lunatics in the time to come.

Nelly - Country Grammar

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 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". Free City, which Nelly recorded with the St. Lunatics, followed in 2001 with the hit single "Midwest Swing"; Nelly also recorded a track titled "#1" for the soundtrack to the film Training Day that year.

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 also a number-one hit. Other singles included "Dilemma" featuring Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child, "Work It" featuring Justin Timberlake, "Air Force Ones" featuring Murphy Lee and the St. Lunatics, and "Pimp Juice". 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".

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 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."

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. He also 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 - Sweat/Suit era

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. 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. 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 also featured Nelly in its lineup. 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", 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. Diddyand 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.

Then in 2006, he was featured on "Call on Me", Janet Jackson's first single from her 20 Y.O. album.

Nelly - Brass Knuckles

In 2007, he 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". A single "Cut it Out" was released later that year for an upcoming album Brass Knuckles, which will be released on June 24, 2008. Initial release dates for the album targeted October 16 and November 13 in 2007.

Its 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. "Cut it Out" featuring Pimp C of UGK and Sean P of Youngbloodz and "Party People" featuring Fergie and Polow da Don followed.

Nelly: Acting career

He was featured in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. This hit was a smaller blockbuster 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 a hundred million U.S. dollars in the U.S. alone. Nelly also completed a song for the soundtrack, appropriately titled "The Longest Yard."

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