Ciara

Ciara Princess Wilson (/siˈɛərə/ see-AIR-ə; née Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, Goodies (2004). Its namesake lead single (featuring Petey Pablo) peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, while the follow-ups, "1, 2 Step" (featuring Missy Elliott) and "Oh" (featuring Ludacris), both peaked at number 2 on the chart. The album received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and received two nominations at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. Ciara also guest appeared on the 2005 singles "Lose Control" by Missy Elliott and "Like You" by Bow Wow, both of which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Her second studio album, Ciara: The Evolution (2006), topped the Billboard 200 and spawned three platinum-certified songs: the top 10 single "Get Up" (featuring Chamillionaire) and the top 20 singles "Promise" and "Like a Boy." Ciara's third studio album, Fantasy Ride (2009), spawned top 10 single "Love Sex Magic" (featuring Justin Timberlake), which was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. Her fourth studio album, Basic Instinct (2010), spawned the top 50 single "Ride" (featuring Ludacris), but saw a steep commercial decline. She then signed with Epic Records to release her self-titled fifth album (2013), which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the double platinum single "Body Party". Her sixth album, Jackie (2015) spawned the platinum single "I Bet".

The following year, Ciara signed a modeling contract with IMG, became a Global Brand Ambassador for the cosmetics company Revlon, and married quarterback Russell Wilson. Her seventh album and first independent release, Beauty Marks (2019), entered the Billboard 200 and spawned the platinum single "Level Up". She signed with Uptown Records for the release of her first extended play, CiCi (2023). Her eighth studio album, also titled CiCi, was released August 22, 2025; it was preceded by the single "Ecstasy".

In her acting career, she has appeared in the films All You've Got (2006), Mama, I Want to Sing! (2012), That's My Boy (2012), and the television series The Game (2013). Ciara starred in the 2023 remake of The Color Purple as Nettie. Ciara has received multiple accolades, including a Grammy Award, two BET Awards, the Woman of the Year award from Billboard Women in Music, two MTV Video Music Awards, eight Soul Train Awards, and fifteen Ascap Music Awards. As of 2019, Ciara has sold over 45 million records worldwide.

Ciara Princess Harris was born in Austin, Texas, on October 25, 1985, the only child of Jackie and Carlton Clay Harris. An army brat, she grew up in Georgia, New York, Utah, California, Arizona, and Nevada. She was named after the Revlon fragrance Ciara which was introduced in 1973. During her teens, Ciara and her family settled in College Park, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, where she attended North Clayton High School before graduating from Riverdale.

In her mid-teens, Ciara formed the all-girl group Hearsay with two of her friends.^[who?] The group recorded demos, but as time went on, they began to have differences and eventually parted ways. Despite this setback, Ciara signed a publishing deal as a songwriter.

Her first writing credit was on Blu Cantrell's debut album, So Blu, for the song "10,000 Times". She also wrote the song "Got Me Waiting" for R&B singer Fantasia Barrino's debut album, Free Yourself. It was when she was writing songs that she met music producer Jazze Pha, whom she called her "music soulmate". In 2002, the two recorded four demos: "1, 2 Step", "Thug Style", "Pick Up the Phone", and "Lookin' at You", which all appeared on her debut album that was released two years later. "1, 2 Step" was the second single released from the album and it was a hit.

After graduating from Riverdale High School in Riverdale, Georgia, in 2003, she was signed by LaFace Records executive, L.A. Reid, whom she was introduced to by Jazze Pha. She began production on her debut album later that year. In early 2004, she wrote a demo with record producer, Sean Garrett, which came to the attention of Lil Jon and became her debut single "Goodies". Lil Jon stated later that he knew it would be big seeing how it sounded similar to Usher's international hit, "Yeah!".