Cornell Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974)[1] is an American rapper and singer from St. Louis, Missouri who experienced massive popularity in the early 2000s. Best known by his stage name, Nelly, he is one of the best-selling rappers of all-time, with over 30 million albums sold worldwide. He has also achieved three number-ones in the UK (four including his vocal contribution to Nasty Girl by Notorious B.I.G), four U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, and four Grammy Awards. Contents [hide] 1 Personal background 2 Music career 3 Acting career 4 Net Worth 5 Business Endeavors 6 Trivia 7 Discography 7.1 Albums 7.2 Singles 8 Grammy Award History 9 Notes 10 External links [edit] Personal background Born in Austin, Texas, but raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Nelly's accent exhibits a great deal of influence from this Midwestern upbringing, as his midwest twang mixed with a southern drawl is a result of growing up in the hybrid southern-midwest city of St. Louis. Nelly also spent part of his first years in Spain while his father was in the US Military. Raised in suburban University City, Nelly formed the St. Lunatics with his friends in the surrounding area. After much frustration and failed attempts, they decided Nelly would have a better shot at success as a solo act. He was soon picked up by Universal Music Group. His unique Midwest/Southern style still shines through and he continues to proudly acknowledge his St. Louis roots. In 2001, Nelly's sister Jacqueline "Jackie" Donahue was diagnosed with leukemia. In 2003, Nelly and Jackie started the Jes Us 4 Jackie campaign, a search for a bone marrow donor. Although the search was unsuccessful for Jackie, (she died March 24, 2005 of complications from leukemia when she was 31 ) the foundation was able to find matches for others, including two children from Jackie's hometown of St. Louis. Nelly has continued charity work related to this illness in her memory. Nelly has two children: 12 year old Chanel and 7 year old Cornell Haynes III ( known as Tre ). Nelly has been linked to Grammy Award-winning singer/actress Kelly Rowland. He has recently been linked romantically to Ashanti. [edit] Music career Nelly first came to mainstream audiences with the song, "Country Grammar" (2000) and released Free City with the St. Lunatics in 2001. Country Grammar established him as one of the most successful rappers of the early 2000s with the help of an image one part handsome boy-next-door and one part tough gangster. From the beginnings of his hip/hop career, the lyrics of "Country Grammar" explored this dichotomy, posing the question: "Who says pretty boys can't be wild niggaz?" and containing references to gun violence and drug use while also sending shout outs to billionaires Bill Gates and Donald Trump, as well as fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter. The album Country Grammar, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 40. Nelly and Country Grammar were nominated for two 2001 Grammy Awards--Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance. On July 18, 2001, it was certified 7x platinum. "Ride Wit Me", off the Country Grammar album, was nominated for three 2001 MTV Video Music Awards--Best Male Video, Best Rap Video, and Viewer's Choice; the album won the Best Rap Video award. Nelly was also named "Best New Artist" at the 1st Annual BET Awards in 2001. Other recognitions in 2001 include winning the Favorite New Male Artist award at the 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and being named one of People's "Breakthrough Stars of 2001". Nelly on his double album Sweat/Suit (2005)In 2002, his sophomore album, Nellyville, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 714,000+ units. It stayed at #1 for 3 weeks. After only a month, it was certified triple platinum. Hot in Herre was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 7 weeks, followed immediately by "Dilemma", featuring Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child, which was #1 for 10 weeks. "Dilemma" was the first ever rap song to stay at #1 for 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2002 he also won the American Music Award for "Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist", as well as winning 6 Billboard Music Awards (Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Male Hot 100 Artist of the Year, Male R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year, Rap Artist of the Year, and Rap Track of the Year for "Hot in Herre") and receiving nominations in 8 other categories. In early 2003, Nelly released the controversial single, "Air Force Ones". MTV, MTV2, MuchMusic, and VH1 refused to air the video due to product placement for Nike's popular sneakers of the same name. BET, however, played it. (Nike and Nelly agreed on a 1-year deal in 2003 to release a limited-edition sneaker called the "Air Derrty" which was a retro remake of Charles Barkley's signature sneaker the Nike Air Max2 CB '94 which was released on June 13, 2003 at select NIKE town stores. Limited to 1,000 pairs.) He later made a deal with Reebok, stating, “I’ve always been into sneakers and throughout my career I’ve always wanted to have a signature pair of sneakers that truly reflect my personal style…It made the most sense for me to partner with Reebok because they fully understand and respect the culture of sports, music and entertainment.” [citation needed] In 2003, Nelly received two Grammys for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and shared a Grammy with Kelly Rowland for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and he also won the 2003 American Music Award for "Fan's Choice" and received 4 other nominations. In the following year, 2004, Nelly won his third Grammy for Murphy Lee's number-one hit single "Shake Ya Tailfeather" from the Murphy's Law CD. Shake Ya Tailfeather featured Nelly & P. Diddy. On September 14, 2004, Nelly released two albums simultaneously, Sweat and Suit. Suit, an R&B-oriented album, debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart, and Sweat, a rap-oriented album, debuted at #2 on the same week. From the Suit album, the slow ballad "Over and Over", an unlikely duet with country music star Tim McGraw, became another crossover hit. Nelly performed the song with McGraw on the latter's CBS Television concert special in 2004. In 2005, he scored another #1 hit with "Grillz". Nelly's entire song catalogue - including hits he has co-written with Tim McGraw and 'N Sync - is published by BMG Music Publishing. Nelly feuded with legendary rapper KRS-One. During the feud, Nelly used the angle that KRS-One was past his prime. KRS-One called Nelly out for being a bubble gum pop artist, which Nelly fired back by calling KRS a hypocrite. This feud was even referenced by rapper Chino XL in his song "B-Boy." In it, Chino XL states "Nelly battling KRS-One, we gotta stop him! What's next? Beyonce battling Rakim?" In 2006, Nelly scored his fourth number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with his duet with Janet Jackson on "Call on Me". [edit] Acting career Nelly featured in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. The film debuted at #1 at the box office and became the MTV studios most successful release grossing over 100+ Million USD in the states alone. [edit] Net Worth It was recently confirmed that Nelly was in the top 10 of the wealthiest hiphop entertainers. He and Jermaine Dupri tied at 10th place both grossing $60 Million[citation needed]. [edit] Business Endeavors Nelly started his own clothing line called Vo'Kal Clothing before his music career took off with his cousin Yomi Martin. He and his crew have often had its logo featured prominently on their clothing in music videos and public appearances. He also has a clothing line for women called Apple Bottoms. Nelly is also a co-sponsor of the non-carbonated sports energy drink, Pimp Juice. Nelly is also part owner of the NBA expansion team Charlotte Bobcats with BET founder Robert Johnson and NBA legend Michael Jordan. [edit] Trivia Performed "Walk This Way" with Aerosmith and Britney Spears at the 2001 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Usually wears clothing bearing the logos of St. Louis sports teams. His trademark hand gesture is an L formed with one or both hands (the L stands for "Lunatics"). Has three tattoos: "Lunatic" (above his navel), a human heart appearing to emerge from his chest (upper left chest), and five playing cards which spell out Nelly and dice (right arm). Nelly's "Ride Wit Me" music video is based on the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit. Has started two new trends amongst his fans: wearing sports jerseys backward (such that one's favorite player's name is on one's chest rather than back) and wearing a Band-Aid on either cheek. Wore Band-Aid on cheek in order to express solidarity with his incarcerated brother, City Spud (Lavell Webb). Nelly is tied with Sir Elton John for the most consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by a male solo artist. Ranked #39 on Entertainment Weekly's 2002 "101 Most Powerful" List Attended the same high school--University City Senior High School--as athlete Bernard Gilkey, actors Edgar L. Davis and Leonard Roberts; Disney animator Marlon West; and jazz musicians Peter Martin, Todd Williams, Jeremy Davenport, and Neil Caine. Nelly was also an accomplished high school baseball player and was drafted to play baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates at one point in his life. Nelly's daughter Chanel can be heard on the intro to his song "Die For You" on the album "Suit". [edit] Discography [edit] Albums Year Album U.S. UK Sales Certification 2000 Country Grammar 1 14 10x Platinu 2002 Nellyville 1 2 6x platinum 2003 Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention 2 - Platinum 2004 Suit 1 8 3x Platinum 2004 Sweat 2 11 2x Platinum 2005 Sweat / Suit (two albums repackaged into one - international version) - 41 Gold 2006 Sweatsuit (two albums repackaged into one - U.S. only, with new tracks) 26 - Gold 2007 N.E.L.L.Y. - - - [edit] Singles Year Song U.S. Hot 100 U.S. R&B U.S. Rap UK singles Album 2000 "(Hot Shit) Country Grammar" #7 #5 #1 #7 Country Grammar 2000 "E.I." #15 #10 - #11 Country Grammar 2001 "Ride wit Me" (featuring City Spud) #3 #34 - #3 Country Grammar 2001 "Batter Up" (featuring Murphy Lee and Ali) - #76 - #28 Country Grammar 2001 "#1" #22 #20 - - Nellyville / Training Day Sountrack 2001 "Where the Party At?" (Jagged Edge featuring Nelly) #3 #1 - #25 Jagged Little Thrill 2002 "Hot in Herre" #1 #1 #1 #4 Nellyville 2002 "Dilemma" (featuring Kelly Rowland) #1 #1 #1 #1 Nellyville 2002 "Girlfriend" ('N Sync featuring Nelly) #5 - - #2 Celebrity 2002 "Air Force Ones" (featuring Kyjuan, Murphy Lee and Ali) #3 #4 #1 - Nellyville 2003 "Work It (Nelly song)" (featuring Justin Timberlake) - - - #7 Nellyville 2003 "Pimp Juice" #58 - - - Nellyville 2003 "Shake Ya Tailfeather" (with P. Diddy and Murphy Lee) #1 #3 #1 #10 Bad Boys II Soundtrack 2003 "Iz U" - #51 #23 #36 Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention 2003 "Work It (Reinvention)" (featuring Justin Timberlake) #58 - - - Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention 2004 "Flap Your Wings" #52 #18 #14 #1 Sweat 2004 "My Place" (featuring Jaheim) #4 #4 #2 #1 Suit 2004 "Tilt Ya Head Back" (featuring Christina Aguilera) #58 - - #5 Sweat 2004 "Over and Over" (featuring Tim McGraw) #3 #51 #7 #1 Suit 2005 "I Wish I Didn't Know" (featuring Alsou) - - - #68 - 2005 "N Dey Say" #64 - - #6 Suit 2005 "Errtime" (featuring Jung Tru and King Jacob) #24 - - - The Longest Yard Soundtrack 2005 "Fly Away" - - - - The Longest Yard Soundtrack 2005 "Grillz" (featuring Paul Wall, Ali, and Gipp) #1 #2 #1 #24 Sweatsuit 2005 "Nasty Girl" ( Notorious B.I.G. featuring P. Diddy, Nelly, Jagged Edge and Avery Storm) #46 #38 - #1 Sweatsuit / Duets: The Final Chapter 2006 "Call on Me" (Janet Jackson & Nelly) 1 #25 #1 - #18 20 Y.O. Notes: Currently active on worldwide music charts [edit] Grammy Award History Career Stats Career Wins: 4 Career Nominations: 11 Year Category Genre Title Result 2001 Best Rap Album Rap "Country Grammar" Won 2001 Best Rap Solo Performance Rap "Country Grammar" Nominated 2002 Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Rap "Where's The Party At" Nominated 2002 Best Rap Solo Performance Rap "Ride With Me" Nominated 2003 Best Rap Album Rap Nellyville Nominated 2003 Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Rap "Dilemma" Won 2003 Best Male Rap Solo Performance Rap "Hot In Herre" Won 2003 Record of the Year General Dilemma Nominated 2003 Album of the Year General Nellyville Nominated 2004 Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group Rap "Shake Ya Tailfeather" Won [edit] Notes ^ State of Texas. Texas Birth Index (1903 - 1997). Texas Department of State Health Services. [edit] External links Official site Nelly Fansite Nelly Web Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelly"