Bryson Bernard (born October 10, 1982), better known by his stage name Cupid, is an American singer and songwriter from

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. He is best known for the 2007

line dance A line dance is a choreographed dance in which a group of people dance along to a repeating sequence of steps while arranged in one or more lines or rows. These lines usually face all in the same direction, or less commonly face each other.Knight, ...

single "

Cupid Shuffle "Cupid Shuffle" is a song by Cupid (singer), Cupid from his 2007 studio album ''Time for a Change (album), Time for a Change''. It has spawned a popular line dance and has drawn comparisons to DJ Casper's "Cha Cha Slide". In the United States, th ...

", which peaked at number 68 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

History

Bernard started singing in his church's choir, encouraged by his pastor father. He initially enrolled at the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

with a full athletic scholarship in track and field. He left the track team to form a singing group known as Fasho, which later changed its name to Fifth Element. After Fifth Element was dissolved, Bernard pursued a solo career. He sang at venues such as talent shows, weddings and funerals. With a five-octave vocal range, Bernard earned the nickname "Cupid" for an impressive performance of the late-'90s

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

hit single "

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...

Music career

The singer first received radio airplay in 2001 with his self-released first single, "Do Ya Thang". His second self-released album, 2005's ''The King of Down South R&B'', gained airplay throughout the region, from Florida to Texas. In January 2007, shortly before the release of his third album, ''Time For a Change'', he was signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. His first single from that album, "Cupid Shuffle", peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Since then the song has gone double platinum and gets roughly 6,500 new downloads each week. His other singles include "Say Yes", "Happy Dance", "The Love Slide" and "Do My Ladies Run This Party". In 2008, Cupid broke the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the largest line dance assembled with over 17,000 people in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

at Ebony's Black Family Reunion Tour. In addition, Cupid's music can be heard in the films '' Step Up 2: The Streets'', '' P.S. I Love You'', ''

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a Fictional character, fictional character appearing in several Mystery fiction, mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published ...

'', and ''Jumping the Broom''. In 2012, he auditioned for the third season of the American music competition ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' singing for his blind audition his own hit "Cupid Shuffle" in a varied version. None of the four judges Adam Levine,

Cee Lo Green Cee or CEE may refer to: * C, third letter of the Latin alphabet * Cee, Spain, A Coruña, Galicia * Center for Excellence in Education, US * Central and Eastern Europe * Centre for Environment Education * Centre for the Economics of Education, Lon ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

pressed their "I Want You" button, thus eliminating him from further competition. But Cee Lo Green recognized Cupid after he finished the song and asked him to perform another tune to prove that "he can sing". After recognizing his true musical talent, the judges said that he should have tried a different song to help present his voice better.

Discography

Albums

*''Cupid'' (2002) *''The King of Down South R&B'' (2005) *'' Time for a Change'' (2007) *''Feel Good Music'' (2012)

Singles

*"Do Ya Thing" (2001) *"Do Yo Dance" (2007) *"Say Yes" (2007) *"

" (2007) *"Happy Dance" (2008) *"Love Slide" (2008) *"Do My Ladies Run This Party" (2010)

Album appearances

*"All I Need" – ''

'' soundtrack *"369" (featuring

B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...

) – ''Step Up 2: The Streets'' (soundtrack)

Filmography

*''

'' (2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cupid 1982 births Living people Atlantic Records artists The Voice (franchise) contestants Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans American contemporary R&B singers African-American male singer-songwriters Musicians from Lafayette, Louisiana American male pop singers Singer-songwriters from Louisiana Dance-pop musicians 21st-century African-American male singers