Ciara (Ciara Harris, born October 25, 1985 in Austin, Texas) is an American rhythm and blues singer best known for her 2004 US #1 single "Goodies". Her album, Goodies, debuted in the top 5 of the Billboard 200 in October 2004.

Biography

As her father was in the United States Army, she lived in bases in Germany, New York, California, Arizona, and Nevada. Her family eventually settled in Atlanta, Georgia. She said after seeing a Destiny's Child's performance on television it inspired her. In her early teens, she got a piece of paper out and wrote down her life's goal, to become a professional singer. She joined a girl group, worked on her song writing, left the group, landed a publishing deal, and found a "music soul mate" when she met producer Jazze Pha.

Jazze Pha signed her to his Sho' Nuff label after working with her for five days. Dubbed the "First Lady of Crunk & B" by the producer Lil Jon, Ciara burst onto the scene with her single "Goodies," the breathy answer song to Petey Pablo's "Freek-a-Leek". With Sean Garrett, the co-writer of Usher's massive hit "Yeah!," Ciara co-wrote "Goodies". LaFace released the Lil' Jon-produced track in the US in the summer of 2004, and it saw a quick climb to the top of the music charts. Lil' Jon produced the song in the crunk style, his speciality, with Petey Pablo also featured as a vocalist on the track.

"Goodies" became a massive hit, reaching the top of the United States R&B and pop charts and also charting in Australia, Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand. With help from Pha, Garrett, and Lil Jon, Ciara released her self-titled album in September 2004. It debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 1 million copies in the United States alone. The second single, "1, 2 Step", featuring Missy Elliott, reached the top 10 in the US, peaking at #2 in early 2005. "1, 2 Step" was released in the UK on the 11th of April of the same year, and charted at #3, benefiting from the fact that it was the first week that downloads were incorporated into the singles chart: Ciara charted one place higher than she would have done if downloads had not been included in the chart formula; she would have instead swapped places with Elvis Presley's re-issue of "The Wonder Of You" at #4.

Rumors emerged in January 2005 that Ciara was, in fact, born with a male body or intersex, and had sexual reassignment surgery at the age of 11. Many variations of this rumor existed. However, this rumor has been dismissed as false (view the links at the bottom of this page). She was also on BET's 106 & Park dispelling the rumour as she said, "If anyone can prove I'm a man I'll give them $100,000."

In the spring of 2005, Ciara appeared on Punk'd after being tricked by Ashton Kutcher's Crew members on her way to a Hollywood performance, a.k.a. MTV. In May of 2005, Ciara's third single, "Oh" featuring Ludacris, went on to become as big an American hit as her previous released, reaching #2 on the Hot 100, held back from the summit only by two of the year's biggest hits, "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani and "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey.

Discography

Albums

• 2004 - Goodies

Billboard Peak: #3
Sales (USA): 2 Million

Singles

• 2004 "Goodies" (feat. Petey Pablo) #1 (7 weeks) US (2x Platinum); #1 UK; #2 LAUNCH

• 2004 "1, 2 Step" (feat. Missy Elliott) #2 US (2x Platinum); #3 UK; #1 CAN; #1 LAUNCH

• 2005 "Oh" (feat. Ludacris) #2 US (Platinum); #1 CAN (2 weeks) ; #1 LAUNCH

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