Ciara



Ciara Princess Harris was born on October 25, 1985, in Austin, Texas to Carlton and Jackie Harris. She grew up on her father's army bases in Germany, New York, California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. When Ciara was a teenager, she and her family moved to Atlanta. While in Atlanta, she attended Riverdale High School in Riverdale, GA, in 2003. As a teenager she aspired to be a model, but after looking at countless Destiny Child videos and performances, she was inspired to become a singer. Shortly afterwards, Ciara joined a girl group called Hearsay and worked on her songwriting. The group recorded demos, but began to fall apart. Eventually, Ciara left the group, got a publishing deal, and found her music producer, [|Jazze Pha].

After being signed to LaFace Records, she released her debut album //Goodies// in 2004. //Goodies// became a commercial success in the United States, selling 2.63 million copies. The following year, //Goodies// received an international release, however success was limited. The song about female empowerment was also popular for its lyrics like //‘If you're looking for the goodies keep on looking cause they stay in the jar//. The song topped the American pop charts and placed her in the spotlight. The album also included the famous hit single ‘1,2 Step’ that featured [|Missy Elliot]. The other famous song in the album was ‘Oh’ that featured Ludacris. Her international popularity was evident when her songs topped the pop charts in countries like the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and New Zealand.

Ciara started 2006 off by winning her first Grammy Award for Missy Elliott's "Lose Control". It won "Best Short Form Music Video", on February 8, 2006. On December 5, 2006, Ciara released her second album, //Ciara: The Evolution//. The album is about Ciara's personal growth after two years in the public eye. She co-wrote and co-produced most of the songs. In early May 0f 2007, Ciara teamed with //Glamour Magazine// to direct her first music video for emerging female artists [|Tiffany Evans], Paula Campbell, or Samantha Jade in the Nissan Reel Music Contest. She became the face of [|Jay-Z]'s Rocawear clothing line and spokesperson for the women campaign entitled "I Will Not Lose", which debuted in the summer. In February, Ciara announced through her official MySpace page that she was currently recording her third studio album and searching for unsigned dancers through national dance auditions. Ciara also stated that the album would be released before the end of the year. Unfortunately, her album will not be released until April 2009. The album is currently titled //Fantasy Ride//. Ciara has stated many times that guest appearances on the album so far include Missy Elliot, [|Young Jeezy], Ludacris, [|Chris Brown], and The-Dream among many others. Fans will also find out more about Ciara's comicbook character, "Super C", on the new album.

__**Works Cited**__

Biography of Ciara Princess Harris. 2005. 22 Feb. 2009 .

Ripley, Ian. __Ciara biography__. 22 Feb. 2009 .