Ciara Princess Harris, the “First Lady of Crunk & B”, has risen to major superstar status since her number one musical debut, “
Goodies” in 2004. Born in Austin,
Texas on October 25, 1985, Harris grew up in army bases in New York, Germany, California, Arizona, and
Nevada as her father was in the US Army. Her family eventually settled in Atlanta, Georgia when she was eight years old. After watching a Destiny’s Child video in her mid-teens, she was immediately inspired to pursue a music career. Determined to become a professional singer, Ciara dropped out of her high
Continued...
school cheerleading team and joined the girl group Hearsay. As a member of the group, she had the opportunity to practice and perfect her songwriting skills. She eventually left the group, landed a publishing deal and soon afterwards met Jazze Pha, a producer who she claims is her “music soul mate”. Co-writing her first demo with Sean Garrett, the final product was “Goodies” a song which immediately impressed rapper
Lil Jon who would produce the track.
Released on the LaFace label in July 2004, “Goodies” became an instant hit occupying the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks. The album of the same title, was issued in September 2004 entering the charts at number three. The single “1,2 Step” featuring
Missy Elliott followed in April peaking in the second spot on the charts. Ciara’s collaboration with rapper
Ludacris on “
Oh” placed in the Top Five in the US and in the UK. After opening for
Gwen Stefani on her Harajuku Lovers Tour, she embarked on another with her then boyfriend
Bow Wow and
Chris Brown. In 2005, she made an appearance on Missy Elliott’s track “
Lose Control” off of her album The Cookbook. The video for the hit single won Ciara and Elliott a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 2006.
Ciara is currently working as a writer and producer for her protégé group, The Dynamics as well as on her follow up album The Evolution which is due for release in mid November. Her most recent single, “
Get Up”, is featured on the Step Up soundtrack.
