Omarion
Omarion (born Omari Ishmael Grandberry on November 12, 1984 in Inglewood, California) is an African-American R&B singer and the former lead singer of the boy band B2K.
Omarion was the last member to join B2K, at age 16. Prior to this, he was a stripper at an Inglewood nightclub and was famous for his rather large ass. He was introduced to Raz-B, J Boog and Lil' Fizz through Chris Stokes, IMX's manager. Omarion and IMX member Marques Houston are half-brothers, and in fact can be seen showing off a house they live in together on an episode of the highly popular MTV show, Cribs. Marques's mother died when he was young. Omarion is also the older brother of R&B singer O'Ryan.
B2K disbanded in January 2004, right after appearing in the Screen Gems film You Got Served. Omarion went on to start a solo career, and has a solo debut LP, entitled O, that was released through Epic Records on February 22 2005.
Appearances on Punk'd
Omarion became the second celebrity ever to be on Punk'd more than twice (Wilmer Valderrama, Jesse Metcalfe, and Jesse McCartney are the others). Omarion's first appearance was when he went over a girl's house because she had a mini party, the girl came out with Omarion, and her father came home and got upset with Omarion.
His second was when Omarion Punk'd his half-brother Marques Houston to help break up with Omarion's girlfriend because the actress who played her was pregnant.
London bombings controversy
Press release
Omarion was in London to attend the Live 8 show when the London bombings occurred on July 7, 2005. About eleven hours after the bombings, at 7:34 pm BDT, a press release was issued through PRWireService stating: [1]
- T.U.G./Sony Recording Artist Omarion was in London during the tragic bombings that struck this morning. He would like his fans to pray that he has a safe trip and a safe return home. He appreciates your support.
The following day, on July 8th at 1:30 pm BDT, Reuters ran a story identifying a public relations firm, AR PR Marketing, as the source of the press release, and further identifying Shana Gilmore as his publicist, quoting her as saying, in response to a question as to why anyone would need to pray for Omarion, "He wasn't hurt or anything, but just the fact that he was there and all that." [2]
The release and subsequent Reuters article engendered a great deal of fierce criticism aimed towards the singer, given that Omarion had been nowhere near any of the bombing sites, and also given that the release made no mention of the fatalities and injuries actually incurred in the incident.
Authenticity
Omarion shortly thereafter issued a statement denying any connection with AR PR Marketing or Shana Gilmore, saying he was "in no way affiliated with the PR marketing firm mentioned in the piece" and that Gilmore was "not a legitimate representative of the artist, is not known to the artist, and is not acting on the artist's behalf."
Gilmore stated that she was not Omarion's publicist, that she had not issued the release, and that she had been misquoted. It is worthwhile to note, however, that according to her firm's website, AR PR Marketing handled a release party for Omarion's 2005 release, O, on May 6, 2005. [3]
PR NewsWire disputed Omarion and Gilmore's statements, stating that the company "conducts exhaustive background checks to verify the source of the release" and that Omarion's label, T.U.G./Sony paid the fee associated with the release's publication on PRNewsWire.
Internet meme
In response to this incident, members of several Internet communities (most notably Fark) now jokingly urge other posters to 'pray for Omarion' even in the face of disasters to which he has no connection, such as Hurricane Katrina and the Baghdad bridge stampede.
Discography
Albums
- 2005 O #1 US (Gold)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | ||
| US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | UK Singles Chart | |||
| 2004 | "Never Gonna Let You Go (She's a Keepa)" (feat. Big Boi) | - | - | - | O |
| 2005 | "O" | #27 | - | #47 | O |
| 2005 | "Touch" | #94 | - | - | O |
| 2005 | "I'm Tryna" | - | #53 | - | O |