CeeLo Green

Thomas DeCarlo Callaway - Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. He is known for his work in hip hop and R&B, including the Gnarls Barkley single "Crazy" and his solo single " Fuck You".

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Green came to initial prominence as a member of the Southern hip hop group Goodie Mob. He subsequently began a solo career, releasing two albums on Arista Records: '' Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections'' (2002) and '' Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine'' (2004).

Green's next project was Gnarls Barkley, a collaboration with DJ Danger Mouse. In 2006, the duo scored a worldwide hit with "Crazy", which reached the top five in twenty countries, including the U.S. and U.K. With Gnarls Barkley, Green released two albums: 2006's platinum-selling '' St. Elsewhere'' and 2008's ''The Odd Couple''. In 2010, Green continued his solo career with the album '' The Lady Killer'', which spawned his biggest solo hit, " Fuck You". The song peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and reached the top 10 in thirteen countries. Green has released three further solo albums, ''Cee Lo's Magic Moment'' (2012), ''Heart Blanche'' (2015), and ''CeeLo Green Is Thomas Callaway'' (2020), as well as two reunion albums with Goodie Mob, ''Age Against the Machine'' (2014) and ''Survival Kit'' (2020).

From 2011 to 2013, Green was a judge and coach on the American reality television singing competition ''The Voice'', appearing on four of its seasons. He voiced Murray the Mummy in the 2012 animated feature film ''Hotel Transylvania'', and also appeared in a few television programs and films including his own show, '' CeeLo Green's The Good Life'', on TBS. Green has appeared in various commercials, including for 7 Up, Duracell, M&M's, and sake brand TYKU. His work has earned numerous awards and accolades, including five Grammy Awards, a BET Award, a ''Billboard'' Music Award, and a Brit Award.

Early life

Callaway was born on May 30, 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia. Both of his parents were firefighters, and he started his music career in church. His father died when Green was two years old. His mother was paralyzed in a car crash when Green was 16 and died in 1993 when Green was 18.

At the time of his mother's death, Green's career with Goodie Mob had just begun taking off. He subsequently struggled with suicidal thoughts, which he later wrote about in various songs throughout his career, including Goodie Mob's "Free" and Gnarls Barkley's "Just a Thought". He would specifically address his parents' deaths in "She Knows" and "A Little Better", from Gnarls Barkley's ''The Odd Couple'' (2008), and "Guess Who", from Goodie Mob's ''Soul Food'' (1995). In an excerpt of ''CeeLo Distilled'', a documentary produced by Absolut and ''the Fader'', Green explained that his mother's death was a defining moment that led him toward "crossing that threshold over into a career".

Music career

1991–1998: Early career with Goodie Mob

Along with Big Gipp, T-Mo, and Khujo, Green was an original member of the Atlanta hip hop group Goodie Mob. He was the youngest of the four. The Goodie Mob was a part of the Atlanta rap collective the Dungeon Family, which also included Outkast. Goodie Mob appeared on two tracks on OutKast's 1994 debut album '' Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik'', with Green providing vocals for "Call of da Wild" and "Git Up, Git Out".

Goodie Mob released their debut album, ''Soul Food'', in 1995. The album received much critical praise as a pioneering record for the emerging Southern rap scene. It featured a distinctive soulful southern sound by production team Organized Noize.

During this time, Green also contributed backing vocals to TLC's hit 1995 song "Waterfalls".

The group's second album, '' Still Standing'', came out in 1998 and also received much critical praise. Its commercial performance was slightly lower than the group's previous effort, however. Green took more creative control on the group's next album, ''World Party'', which was released in 1999.

1999–2003: Move to Arista

Around 1999, during the making of the album ''World Party'', Green left Goodie Mob to pursue a solo career with Arista Records and the remaining members continued to perform together under the Goodie Mob name with Koch Records. They did, however, collaborate in combinations on the Dungeon Family album ''Even in Darkness'' (2001).

The song "Hold On" from Big Boi's '' Got Purp? Vol. 2'' album was the first newly recorded Goodie Mob song with all four members since ''World Party''.

Green was one of ten guest musicians who contributed to the 1999 Santana album ''Supernatural''. Lauryn Hill wrote "Do You Like the Way", and she and Green both provided lead vocals. Green also contributed to the track "We're All Gonna Die" on the 2000 album '' Eat at Whitey's'' by Everlast, and the song "Reverse" on the 2000 album ''Forever'' by Puff Daddy.

Green's Arista career was short-lived, as he was dropped after two albums due to low record sales. His first album, '' Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections'' (2002), was much in the vein of other Dungeon Family releases, with southern soul/funk/jazz backings produced by Green and featuring appearances by fellow Dungeon Family members Big Gipp and Backbone. The album did not sell very well, but Green achieved some airplay with the single "Closet Freak".

2004–2008: Second solo album and formation of Gnarls Barkley

His second Arista album, '' Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine'' (2004), brought a more branched-out sound and more deeply explored southern rap music. This is evidenced by collaborations with "the biggest hip-hop musicians of all time", including Ludacris, T.I., and Pharrell Williams. The album debuted and peaked at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B/Hip Hop Album chart. It received critical acclaim and was described as "one of the most ambitious albums to come out of any genre in recent times."

Along with DJ Danger Mouse, Green formed a duo called Gnarls Barkley. Green first met Danger Mouse at a University of Georgia event. They later collaborated on the remix of the Danger Mouse and Jemini song "What U Sittin' On?" from the 2004 album ''Ghetto Pop Life'', before working together again on the song "Benzie Box" from the 2005 Danger Doom album ''The Mouse and The Mask'', where Green sings the chorus.

Gnarls Barkley's first album, '' St. Elsewhere'', was released on April 24, 2006 in the UK and May 2, 2006 in the United States. ''St. Elsewhere'' entered the charts at No.1 in the UK, as did the first single, "Crazy". "Crazy" is the first single to reach number one in the UK based on digital download sales alone and is ranked by ''Rolling Stone'' as the greatest song of the decade, thus making it Green's most successful project to date. A second album by Gnarls Barkley, titled ''The Odd Couple'', was released in March 2008. Its first single came out in January, titled "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)".

Seeing the success achieved by Gnarls Barkley, Arista and Legacy released a 17-track greatest hits collection of songs by Green in 2006, titled '' Closet Freak: The Best of Cee-Lo Green the Soul Machine''. It features predominantly solo tracks by Green and several Goodie Mob songs. Green's song "What Part of Forever" was included on '' The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' soundtrack. In 2008, Green performed a rendition of the 1974 single "Kung Fu Fighting" by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas for the animated film ''Kung Fu Panda''.

2009–2011: ''The Lady Killer'' and tours

On August 14, 2010, Green released the single " Fuck You!" to YouTube ahead of his planned solo album release, due to its partial leak on April 13. "Fuck You!" was an instant viral smash hit, registering over two million plays in less than a week. Two weeks later on September 1, CeeLo released an official music video for the song on YouTube. "Fuck You!" made a debut at No.1 on the UK charts, notably beating out "Shame" from the recently reunited Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow.

In October 2010, Green released his first mixtape, ''Stray Bullets''. In an interview with ''Exclaim!'', he said his forthcoming 2010 album '' The Lady Killer'' was "a more clear, concise, consistent, conceptual, entire album han his previous It's a complete thought, because it's written to be like a score. The album's meant to be a motion picture, you know? I've never taken that approach to doing an album before." Released on November 8, 2010, the album would go on to reach Double Platinum status in the UK, certified on November 4, 2011. On December 1, 2010, CeeLo received five Grammy nominations for "Fuck You!", which had been certified Gold in the United States and Denmark. The single achieved Platinum status in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK; and multi-platinum status in Australia. A radio-friendly version of the song was recorded, with the title and words "Fuck You!" changed to "Forget You!"

Green toured during 2010 and 2011 with an all-female backing band named "Scarlet Fever" (made up of Sharon Aguilar, Brittany Brooks, Theresa Flaminio, and Regina Zernay Roberts), performing for ''Taratata'', the BBC
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