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| Name = Cee Lo Green
| Name = Cee Lo Green
| Img = Gnarls-Barkley.jpg
| Img = Gnarls-Barkley.jpg
| Img_capt = Cee Lo at a Gnarls Barkley concert in the Netherlands 2008
| Img_capt = Cee Lo at a Gnarls Barkley concert in the Netherlands, July 2008.
| Img_size = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| Img_size = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| Landscape =
| Landscape =
| Background = solo_singer
| Background = solo_singer
| Birth_name = Thomas DeCarlo Callaway| Alias =
| Birth_name = Thomas DeCarlo Callaway
| Alias = Cee Lo
| Born = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1974|5|30}}
| Born = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1974|5|30}}<br/>[[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| Origin = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
| Instrument = Vocals
| Instrument = Vocals
| Genre = [[Hip hop music|Hip hop]], [[funk]], [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]], [[soul]]
| Genre = [[Hip hop music|Hip hop]], [[funk]], [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]], [[soul]]
| Occupation = Singer-songwriter, [[rapping|rapper]], producer
| Occupation = [[rapping|Rapper]], singer-songwriter, record producer
| Years_active = 1992–present
| Years_active = 1992–present <small>(solo)</small><br />2003–present <small>(group)</small>
| Label = [[Elektra Records]]
| Label = [[Elektra Records|Elektra]]
| Associated_acts = [[Goodie Mob]], [[Gnarls Barkley]], [[Pharrell]], [[Common (entertainer)|Common]], [[Jazze Pha]]
| Associated_acts = [[Goodie Mob]], [[Gnarls Barkley]], [[Pharrell]], [[Common (entertainer)|Common]], [[Jazze Pha]]
| URL = {{url|ceelogreen.com}}
| URL = {{url|ceelogreen.com}}
| Notable_instruments =
}}
}}


Revision as of 09:00, 19 December 2010

CeeLo Green

Thomas DeCarlo Callaway (born May 30, 1974),[1] better known by his stage name Cee Lo Green or simply Cee Lo, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He originally came to prominence as a member of the southern hip hop group Goodie Mob, later launching a critically acclaimed solo career[2] and forming Gnarls Barkley with DJ/producer Danger Mouse.

Among Cee Lo's hits are the singles "Closet Freak" (2002); "I'll Be Around" (2003), produced by Timbaland; "Crazy" (2006), by Gnarls Barkley; and "Fuck You!" (2010)

Early and personal life

Cee Lo was born in Atlanta, and attended Benjamin E. Mays High School in southwest Atlanta. Both of Cee Lo's parents were ordained ministers and he started his music career in his church. His father died when he was 2 years old. His mother Sheila J. Tyler-Callaway was involved in a car crash, leaving her paralyzed. She died 2 years after the accident, when Cee Lo was 18 years old and his career with Goodie Mob had just begun taking off. His brother, Elais, moved to Canada a year before her death. Their mother's death led Cee Lo into depression, as is reflected in various songs throughout his career, including "Free" by Goodie Mob, songs on St. Elsewhere, and on The Odd Couple ("She Knows", "A Little Better").[3][4] Cee Lo also expresses his love for his mother in the song "Guess Who" from Goodie Mob's Soul Food album.

Cee Lo has described himself as being a "goon" in his youth. By the age of 10, he made a hobby of torturing stray animals. He also spent his high school years assaulting homeless people and mugging passers-by, admitting "[I was] just plain maniac." [5] Cee Lo was married to Christina Shanta Johnson. Together they have a son Kingston; and Cee Lo is a stepparent to Christina's daughters, Sierra and Kalah. Sierra was on a season 1 episode of MTV's My Super Sweet 16 as well as the follow-up MTV television series, Exiled. Kingston is featured on the intro of Cee-Lo Green... is the Soul Machine. In 2010, at just age 35, Cee Lo became a grandfather when his 20-year-old daughter Sierra had a son [6].

Goodie Mob

Along with Big Gipp, T-Mo, and Khujo, Cee Lo was an original member of the Atlanta hip hop group Goodie Mob. He is the youngest of the four.[1] During the making of the album World Party, Cee Lo left the group to pursue a solo career under Arista and the remaining members continued to perform together under the Goodie Mob name with Koch Records. They did however collaborate in combinations in the Dungeon Family album Even in Darkness. Although the next Goodie Mob album seemed to mock Cee Lo with its title, One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, the group expressed that it was more of a jab at Arista and the music industry as a whole.

In 2005, Cee Lo and Big Gipp were both noted in interviews as saying the entire group is back on good terms and that they have been in the studio working on a new Goodie Mob album. No title or release date have been given for the new project. The song "Hold On" from Big Boi of OutKast's Got Purp? Vol 2 album was the first newly recorded Goodie Mob song with all four members since World Party. (Khujo later revealed to fans at an album signing for his new album "Mercury", that the song "Hold On" was originally recorded in 1995 before Soul Food was released.)

Solo career

Cee Lo's Brown Arista career was short-lived, as he was dropped after only two albums due to low record sales. His first album, Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections, was heavily in the vein of various other Dungeon Family releases, with southern soul/funk/jazz backings produced solely by himself and boasting appearances by fellow Dungeon Fam members Big Gipp and Backbone. The album explored his departure from Goodie Mob and his solo growth in the song "El Dorado Sunrise (Super Chicken)", as well as socio-political issues, and showcased his singing. The album did not sell very well, but Cee Lo achieved some airplay with the single "Closet Freak".

His second Arista album, Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine brought a more branched-out sound and more deeply explored southern rap music. This is evidenced by collaborations with Ludacris, T.I., and Pharrell and production from Timbaland, The Neptunes, and Jazze Pha among others. The only other Dungeon Family member that appeared on his second release was Big Rube. This album saw Cee Lo delve into other styles besides traditional rap (see Technique). Timbaland proved to be Cee Lo's single producer as their song "I'll Be Around" received mild airplay. They performed the single on an episode in the second season of Chappelle's Show. "The One" featuring Jazze Pha and T.I. was also released as a single. On the heels of the success of Gnarls Barkley, Arista released a 17-track greatest hits collection of Cee Lo songs, Closet Freak: The Best of Cee-Lo Green the Soul Machine. It features predominantly Cee Lo solo tracks and several Goodie Mob songs. His new song "What Part of Forever" has been included in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.[7]

On August 19, 2010, Cee Lo released a single, "Fuck You!", to YouTube ahead of his planned solo album release, due to its partial leak on April 13, 2010. "Fuck You!" was an instant viral smash hit, registering over two million plays in less than a week. Two weeks later on September 1, Cee Lo released to YouTube an official music video of the song. [8] "Fuck You!" made a debut at #1 on the UK charts, notably beating out "Shame" from the recently reunited Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow. The album was released by Elektra Records on November 9, 2010. On December 1, 2010, Cee Lo received five Grammy nominations for "Fuck You!".

Gnarls Barkley

Along with DJ Danger Mouse, Cee Lo is currently part of a collaboration called Gnarls Barkley. They first met when Danger Mouse took second in a talent contest and opened for OutKast and Goodie Mob at a University of Georgia concert in 1998. Afterwards, Danger Mouse gave Cee Lo an instrumental demo tape and told him to call him if he was interested. They didn't make contact again until Cee Lo was contacted to be featured in a remix of the Danger Mouse and Jemini song "What U Sittin' On?" from the album Ghetto Pop Life. They worked together again on the 2005 Danger Doom (Danger Mouse and MF Doom collaboration) album The Mouse and The Mask on the song "Benzi Box" where Cee Lo sings the chorus.

Danger Mouse and Cee Lo's first collaborative album, St. Elsewhere, was released on April 24, 2006, in the United Kingdom and May 2, 2006, in the United States. St. Elsewhere entered the charts at #1 in the UK, as did the first single "Crazy". "Crazy" is the first single to go straight to #1 in the UK based on digital download sales alone. The album is Cee Lo's greatest selling venture yet, having shipped over 3 million copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.[1] A second album by Gnarls Barkley, titled The Odd Couple, was released in March 2008. Its first single released in January called "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)".[1]

Future projects

Cee Lo is collaborating with producer Jazze Pha to release an album called Happy Hour on Jazze’s record label. The songs "Happy Hour" (as well as the remix with Bun B, Snoop Dogg & Tone Tone), "Man of the Hour", and "Disco Bitch" (featuring The Pussycat Dolls) from the album have already been released as singles and B-sides. Jazze Pha has produced numerous hit singles with many artists, but this project is his rapping and singing debut. Cee Lo is co-producing the album with him, so both artist and producer share equal roles in vocals and production. Also, Melody Thornton confirmed that she is currently in the studio with Cee Lo working on her solo album. In 2010, he recorded a song for the "Sex And The City 2" soundtrack which reached number 9 in the charts and was written by him and produced by T-Pain which is called "Language Of Love". He along with The Red Hot Chili Peppers and One Republic frontman Ryan Tedder were rumored to be appearing on British DJ Paul Oakenfold's upcoming album.[9]

Acting

Cee Lo, along with the rest of the Goodie Mob, had a cameo in the 1999 film Mystery Men as a member of the Not So Goodie Mob. He also has done voice acting work, voicing Prime Cut Miggity-Mo' Macdaddy Gizzabang Doggy Dog Dog on the Brak Show episode "Brakstreet" in 2002, Frank and Buddy Z Class of 3000's Christmas special in 2007, and Rev. Rollo Goodlove in the Boondocks episodes "The S-Word" and "The Hunger Strike" in 2008. In 2010, he appeared in T-Pain's Freaknik: The Musical as Light Skin.

Discography

Main article: Cee Lo Green discography
See also: Goodie Mob § Discography, and Gnarls Barkley § Discography

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[10] 		US R&B
[10] 		AUS
[11] 		CAN
[12] 		NL
[13] 		UK
[14]
Cee Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections 11 2 — — — —
Cee Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine
  • Release date: March 2, 2004
  • Label: Arista Records
 13 2 — — — —
The Lady Killer 9 2 24 29 43 10
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or not released to that country

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold) 		Album
US US R&B US Pop AUS CAN IRE NL NZ SWE UK
2004 "I'll Be Around" — 52 — — — — — — — — Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine
"The One" — 82 — — — — — — — —
2010 "Fuck You!" 9 62 18 5 11 6 1 5 6 1 The Lady Killer
"It's OK" — — — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that country

Compilations

Mixtapes

  • Cee Lo Mixtape: Stray Bullets (2010)


References

  1. ^ a b c d Birchmeier, Jason (1975-05-30). "allmusic Biography". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  2. ^ New York Times
  3. ^ rollingstone.com. "The Acid Nerd Gangsters" (reprint of an interview originally published in Rolling Stone Magazine), published August 9, 2006
  4. ^ Chang, Jeff (April 6, 2008) "First Comes Crazy, Now Comes Odd" The New York Times.
  5. ^ blender.com "Cee-Lo: Superfreak", published August 29, 2006
  6. ^ http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/celebrities/2010/12/03/16418531-wenn-story.html
  7. ^ "Eclipse Soundtrack Track 13: "What Part Of Forever" by Cee Lo Green". Cullen Boys Anonymous. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  8. ^ "Cee Lo's Viral Hit: Blunt and Sweet".
  9. ^ "Information Not Found". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  10. ^ a b "( Cee Lo > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )". allmusic. 1974-05-30. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  11. ^ "australian-charts.com – Australian charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  12. ^ "Top 100 Albums in Canada". jam.canoe.ca. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
  13. ^ "dutchcharts.nl – Dutch charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
  14. ^ "Chart Stats – Cee Lo Green". chartstats.com. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
  15. ^ "British Phonographic Industry search results". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  16. ^ "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum - November 2010". Canadian Recording Industry Association.
  17. ^ http://www.hitlisterne.dk/default.asp?w=44&y=2010&list=t40


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