Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his 2004 song "

I Don't Wanna Know "I Don't Wanna Know" is a song by American R&B artist Mario Winans featuring rapper P. Diddy and re-recorded background vocals by Enya. The song is based on a sample of the Fugees' song " Ready or Not", which in turn samples the synthesizer riff ...

", which reached number 2 in the United States and number 1 in the United Kingdom. Winans also won a

Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance The Grammy Award for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards descr ...

for co-writing

CeCe Winans Priscilla Marie Winans Love, known professionally as CeCe Winans, (born October 8, 1964) is an American gospel singer. She rose to prominence as a member of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans; before launching an acclaimed solo career. Winans has been ...

's song "Pray".

Career

''Hurt No More'' (2001–2005)

Mario Winans recorded his second album ''Hurt No More'' in 2001, 2002, and 2003 in between working with other artists. The album is based on stories of love and betrayal. The first single "

" was based on a sample of the

Fugees Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with i ...

' 1996 hit single "Ready or Not", which itself was based on a slowed-down sample of the instrumental track " Boadicea" by

Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...

from her 1987 self-titled album. Enya and her representatives said yes to Winans and P. Diddy for her approval of the sample. She even re-recorded Boadicea for the song, although Winans had no idea that the Fugees sample he had used was a sample itself. They even gave Enya herself credit for the single as "Mario Winans featuring P. Diddy and Enya". The song features a rap by

P. Diddy Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

. The song was released as the single in early 2004 and became a worldwide hit, reaching number 1 in Germany and the United Kingdom and on the

rhythmic top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

radio chart in the United States; to number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the US R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart; and to number 3 on both the Australian and Norwegian singles charts. It also reached the top ten on a composite European singles chart. ''Hurt No More'' was released on April 20, 2004, in the US and by early June 2004 had reached number 1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, number 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and number 3 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. The album's second single, "Never Really Was", used a sample of the

orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

beginning of

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's 1986 hit "

Papa Don't Preach "Papa Don't Preach" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Madonna for her third studio album ''True Blue (Madonna album), True Blue'' (1986). The song was written by Brian Elliot with additional lyrics by Madonna, who produced it alo ...

" as its background music. However, the song failed to chart in America. A remix version was released as a single featuring rapper

Lil Flip Wesley Eric Weston Jr. (born March 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Lil' Flip, is an American rapper. He embarked on his musical career as a freestyle and battle rapper before earning a record deal with Suckafree Records in 1999. Lil' F ...

. The song "This Is the Thanks I Get" was stated to be the album's third and final single but no official release was set. The song went on to peak on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under R&B chart at number 12.

Discography

Albums

Singles

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

** 2005, Best Contemporary R&B Album: Hurt No More (Nominated) *

**2016, Best Rap Song: "All Day" (Nominated; as writer/co-producer) * Image Awards ** 2005, Outstanding New Artist (Nominated) *

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Af ...

** 2004, Best Song: "I Don't Wanna Know" (Nominated) ** 2004, Best Ringtone: "I Don't Wanna Know" (Winner) *

Vibe Awards ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production in ...

** 2004, R&B Song of the Year: "I Don't Wanna Know" (Nominated)

Filmography

* Mike Jones - ''American Dream'' (2007)

References

External links

Official website
*

Mario Winans Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his 2004 song " I Don't Wanna Know", which reached number 2 in the United States and number 1 in the United Kingdom. Wina ...

Billboard.com ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

AllMusic Mario Winans article

VH1 Mario Winans page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winans, Mario 1974 births Living people 20th-century African-American male singers American gospel singers Urban contemporary gospel musicians Singers from Detroit American contemporary R&B singers Bad Boy Records artists African-American male singer-songwriters African-American record producers Record producers from South Carolina American hip hop singers Winans family 21st-century African-American male singers Singer-songwriters from Michigan Singer-songwriters from South Carolina