Jacob Taio Cruz (; born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere, 23 April 1980), better known professionally as Taio Cruz (stylized TΛIO CRUZ), is an English singer, songwriter and record producer from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, currently based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In 2008, he released his debut album '' Departure'', which he wrote, arranged and produced. The album achieved certified gold status in the United Kingdom and earned him a

Music of Black Origin 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 ...

(MOBO) nomination. On 12 October 2009, Cruz released his follow-up album ''

Rokstarr ''Rokstarr'' is the second studio album by English singer and songwriter Taio Cruz. It was released on 12 October 2009 in the United Kingdom. On 11 June 2010 a revised version of the album was released in Europe and the United States, appearing ...

'', which includes the number one singles "

Break Your Heart "Break Your Heart" is a song by British singer and songwriter Taio Cruz. The song serves as the lead single from his second studio album, ''Rokstarr'' (2009). It was written by Cruz and Fraser T Smith and produced by Smith. It was first release ...

" and "

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

". Cruz collaborated with

Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...

on the single "

Dirty Picture "Dirty Picture" is a song by British R&B singer Taio Cruz, which features vocals from American singer Kesha and was released from his second studio album, '' Rokstarr'' (2009). The song was written and produced by Cruz alongside Fraser T Smit ...

", and with

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

and

Travie McCoy Travis Lazarus "Travie" McCoy (born August 5, 1981) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is the co-founder and former lead vocalist of the rap rock band Gym Class Heroes, in addition to having a solo career. McCoy became involved w ...

on his single " Higher". Cruz wrote and recorded the song " Telling the World" as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2011 animated film ''

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

''. Cruz's third studio album, ''

TY.O ''TY.O'' is the third studio album by British record producer and recording artist Taio Cruz which features special guest appearances from Flo Rida, Pitbull, David Guetta and Ludacris. Taking a more electronic music sound than his previous rele ...

'', was first released in Germany on 12 December 2011. In 2012, Cruz co-wrote

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

and Usher's song " Without You" and the same year released the music video to There She Goes featuring Uzbek

supermodel A supermodel, also spelled super-model or super model, is a highly paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in ''haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term ''supermodel'' became prominent in the po ...

Nadya Nepomnyashaya. In April 2015, Cruz released the first single, " Do What You Like" from his forthcoming ''Roses Collection''. In late 2015, he added vocals to

Tujamo Matthias Richter (; born 18 January 1988 in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia), better known by his stage name Tujamo, is a German electro house music producer and DJ. Tujamo, along with Plastik Funk and Sneakbo, released the single " Dr. Who!", whi ...

's Melbourne track, " Booty Bounce" which was released by

Spinnin' Records Spinnin' Records is a Dutch electronic music record label founded in 1999 by Eelko van Kooten and Roger de Graaf. In September 2017, Warner Music Group acquired Spinnin' Records for over $100 million. Background Van Kooten is the son of former ...

Biography

Early life and career

Cruz was born on 23 April 1980 in London to a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

father and a Brazilian mother. He attended

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

, a private boarding school in Horsham,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, before relocating to London where he went to Stanmore College. Cruz's songwriting career began as part of

Tricky Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. In a career spanning over 30 years, Stewart has won 5 Grammys and is responsible for over 50 million rec ...

's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment and achieved notability in 2005 when he was awarded a

Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

for co-writing

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Idol ...

's 2004 single, "

Your Game "Your Game" is the second single from Will Young's second studio album, '' Friday's Child'' (2003), and also appears on the international version of Young's third album, ''Keep On'' (2005). The song was co-written by Young, Tayo Onile-Ere and B ...

".Taio Cruz Biography
''

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

''. Retrieved 2010-15-10. Cruz is the founder and chief executive of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single " I Just Wanna Know". The single charted at #29 in the UK singles charts. It won him some admirers including

's Darcus Beese and

Monte Lipman Monte Lipman is an American music industry executive and film producer. He is the founder and current CEO of Republic Records. Over the course of his career, he has worked with a wide range of artists, including James Blake, Drake, Florence ...

, who, according to manager Binns, "both believed 'I Just Wanna Know' fitted the format on both sides of the Atlantic". In 2006, Cruz signed a split single deal with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

companies,

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

and the UK branch of

2007–08: ''Departure''

In September 2007, Cruz released his second single " Moving On", which made the top 30 in the UK. In March 2008 his next single, " Come On Girl", featuring Luciana, peaked at No. 5 on the UK charts. The related album ''Departure'' appeared on 17 March and peaked at No. 17. This was followed by the single " I Can Be", which reached No. 18 in May. On 18 August, "

She's Like a Star "She's like a Star" is a song written, produced and performed by British singer and songwriter Taio Cruz. It was released on 18 August 2008 as the fifth single from his debut studio album '' Departure'' (2008). An R&B ballad, the lyrics of "She ...

" was released, which was a remix of the previous single and featured American rapper

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

and girl-group

Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...

. The remix later appeared on the Sugababes studio album '' Catfights & Spotlights'', which peaked at No. 20. It was later revealed that Cruz narrowly missed out on the chance to record the song "

Umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally use ...

" which was recorded by

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

and ended up topping charts around the world.

2009–2011: ''Rokstarr'', international breakthrough and ''The Rokstarr Collection''

Cruz was featured on

Tinchy Stryder Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), known by the stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a Ghanaian-British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo studio albums, '' Star in the Hood'' (2 ...

's breakout single " Take Me Back" which peaked at No. 3 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. According to Cruz's official Myspace blog, as of 1 January 2009, Rokstarr Music London changed its name to Rokstarr Entertainment Division, abbreviated to R.E.D Inc. During 2009, he worked on his follow-up album entitled ''Rokstarr''. It was released on 12 October through R.E.D Inc./Island Records and is written and produced by Cruz, with co-writes and co-productions predominantly with UK producer

Fraser T Smith Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith (born 8 February 1971), known professionally as Fraser T. Smith, is an English record producer, songwriter and musician. Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison's " ...

. The album's lead single "

" was released on 14 September and reached number one in the UK, where it stayed for three weeks. In the US it went directly from number 53 to number one, breaking the record for the largest leap of a début single. At the 2010

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

, "Break Your Heart" was nominated for Best British Single."The BRITs 2010: British Single"
Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2012 The success of the song attracted the attention of David Massey and Daniel Werner from Mercury/Island Def Jam who were excited and aggressive about releasing "Break Your Heart" in the United States on their label. According to Cruz's manager Jamie Binns, the relationship with Monte Lipman at Universal Republic had "gone a bit quiet" by this point and as Taio wanted to be with the label that was most enthusiastic about his music, a move from Universal Republic to Mercury/Island Def Jam was engineered. The single reached the top spot in the United States for one week on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', it was stated that "Cruz was clever to have hooked up with a US rapper

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...

on his breakthrough hit". In order to introduce Cruz into the U.S. market, David Massey had suggested that the single feature an American rapper with chart credibility. The album spawned two other UK singles, " No Other One", and the top-ten hit "

" featuring American electropop singer

. The album's fourth single (second in the United States) titled "

" debuted at 26 and peaked at number two on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. At the 2011

, "Dynamite" was nominated for Best British Single, and at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards the song won three Billboard Awards, including Top Hot 100 Song."The BRITs 2011: British Single"
Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2012
Yahoo. Retrieved 11 July 2012 ''Rokstarr'' was followed by the compilation album ''

The Rokstarr Collection ''The Rokstarr Collection'' is the first compilation album by English R&B recording artist Taio Cruz. It was released on 20 September 2010. According to Cruz's official site the album combines "the biggest hits of Taio’s debut album 'Departu ...

'' which includes songs both from ''Departure'' and the international version of ''Rokstarr''. Cruz later released four versions of his single " Higher"—one featuring

, one featuring

, one featuring both, and one with just himself. Cruz has also been featured on the soundtrack of American

reality TV series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May Po ...

''.

2011–12: ''TY.O''

In March 2011, Cruz premiered an all-new song called " Telling the World", which was written by Cruz and Alan Kasirye for the ''

'' soundtrack. The track was not featured on any of Cruz's prior studio albums. On 23 May 2011, Cruz received his first Billboard Award in the United States. He announced onstage that his third album, entitled ''Black and Leather'', would be released in the fourth quarter of 2011. In June 2011, Cruz released a collaborative single, "

Little Bad Girl "Little Bad Girl" is a single by French DJ David Guetta, featuring vocals from English recording artist Taio Cruz and American rapper Ludacris. It was released for digital download from 27 June 2011 by Virgin Records, serving as the second singl ...

", with French DJ

and American rapper

. The song was a worldwide smash, topping singles charts across the world."David Guetta teams with Taio Cruz, Ludacris for 'Little Bad Girl' video"
''Digital Spy''. Retrieved 19 July 2011. During July and August 2011, a series of unreleased songs, recorded during the album sessions, were leaked to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. in an interview, Cruz promised a "fun" and "energetic" album, and claimed that due to the leak, none of the tracks posted on YouTube would be included on the album. Cruz claimed, "It's a shame really, because one person has spoilt it for all the fans. They could have had an album packed with 17, 18 tracks, and now, they're only getting eleven because of one stupid act of tomfoolery." During the interview, Cruz also claimed that the title of the album had been changed to ''Troublemaker'', after one of the tracks included on the album. On 4 October 2011, the single "

Hangover A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than 24 hours. Typical sympto ...

" was officially released in Germany and the US, and it was rumoured that a solo version of the song, that features on the physical release, would be included as a bonus track on the album. However, these rumours were later quashed. Around October 2011, the album was made available for pre-order, and as such, the album's final title, ''TY.O'', was revealed. Cruz, via his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account, made the decision to name the album ''TY.O'' after he expressed his annoyance at people constantly pronouncing his name wrong. The album was first released in Germany on 2 December 2011. It will be released in the UK on 31 December 2012. It was going to release in the United States on 17 May 2012, but it was released on 31 December 2012, coinciding with the UK release, but with new tracks, including the U.S. single "

Fast Car "Fast Car" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. It was released on April 6, 1988, as the lead single from her 1988 self-titled debut studio album. Chapman's appearance on the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute helped the s ...

". Cruz was scheduled to co-headline Pitbull's

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n leg of Planet Pit World Tour in August 2012. On 12 August, Cruz performed at the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. The performance at London's

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

saw Cruz sing his own song "Dynamite", and also perform "Written in the Stars" alongside

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind''. She studied ...

and

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...

2013–present: ''#Black'', ''Roses Collection'', and business ventures

In early 2013, Cruz recorded vocals over the song "Brazil" by electronic artist

Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as Deadmau5 (stylized as deadmau5; pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. He mainly produces progressive house music, though he also produces ...

and titled the remake "Touch the Sky". In August 2013, Taio Cruz announced on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and

account that he would be releasing a new app. It is called Kewe and is a social media app for Android and iOS, where people can interact and keep up with what Taio Cruz is doing. It was launched on 18 August 2013. On 24 November 2013, Cruz announced his fourth studio album, ''#Black'' via his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, Facebook, and Twitter pages. On 21 June 2014, Cruz released a new track titled " Don't You Dare" produced by Dr. Luke for his upcoming ''#Black'' album. On 27 April 2015, Cruz released his first single in two years. " Do What You Like", produced by Taio and the

Grammy Award 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 ...

-winning production team,

The Monsters & The Strangerz The Monsters & Strangerz are an American production and songwriting team from Miami, Florida. The team features The Monsters: Alexander " Eskeerdo" Izquierdo, Stefan Johnson, Jordan K. Johnson and Oliver "German" Peterhof and The Strangerz: Marcu ...

, was fully released on 24 July 2015 through a joint venture between the multinational Cruz owned venture capital company, Tourean and

Kobalt Music Group Kobalt Music Group is an independent Performing rights, rights management and music publishing company. Founded in 2000 by CEO Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt acts primarily as an administrative publishing company, not owning any copyrights. Also offer ...

. The "Do What You Like" full release features remixes by Bel Air, Billy Da Kid,

KREAM Kream (stylised as KREAM) is a Norwegian DJ and record producer duo consisting of brothers Daniel and Markus Slettebakken, from Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of No ...

and Zoo Station. "Do What You Like" is the first single from Cruz's ''Roses Collection''. According to his biography, Cruz will henceforth release collections of

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

; rejecting the outdated album format. Cruz called this particular collection Roses, "because every rose is unique". Roses will consist of around ten tracks, each with its own lifecycle. On 4 December 2015,

re-released his song " Booty Bounce", featuring vocals from Cruz. On 10 November 2017, Cruz released his first song in two years, titled "Row the Body", via

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. The single features rapper

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

. On September 6, 2019, Cruz released "Time For You", which features Wonder Stereo.

Writing and production

Cruz has written songs on albums by

Cheryl Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from ...

JLS JLS (an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing) are an English boyband, which consists of members Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill, originally formed by Williams. They initially signed to Tracklacers production company ...

The Saturdays The Saturdays were a British-Irish girl group based in London, England. The group formed during the summer of 2007 and have been on hiatus since 2014. The lineup consists of Frankie Bridge, Una Healy, Rochelle Humes, Mollie King, and Vanessa Wh ...

The Wanted The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band consisting of group members Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes and, until his death in 2022, Tom Parker. The group was formed in 2009 and signed a worldwide contract to ...

and

. Cruz wrote and featured on

's hit single " Take Me Back". Pop rock band

McFly McFly are an English pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the '' Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Danny Jones (lead vocals, har ...

recorded " Shine a Light" which not only features, but was also penned and produced by Cruz for their fifth studio album. Cruz also penned

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

's 2011 single "

I'm Into You "I'm Into You" is a song recorded by American singer Jennifer Lopez for her seventh studio album '' Love?'' (2011). It features American rapper Lil Wayne, who also co-wrote it alongside British singer-songwriter Taio Cruz and Norwegian musician ...

", featuring

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

. He also contributed significantly to

's fifth album ''

Nothing but the Beat ''Nothing but the Beat'' is the fifth studio album by French DJ and record producer David Guetta, released on 26 August 2011. Released as a double album, the first disc features collaborations with artists from the R&B, hip hop and pop worlds s ...

'', penning two of his hit singles " Without You", featuring Usher and "

", featuring Cruz and

. He also wrote "Mechanics of the Heart" for Cheryl's album ''

A Million Lights ''A Million Lights'' is the third studio album by English singer Cheryl, released on 15 June 2012 through Fascination Records. Following her divorce from Ashley Cole, this is Cheryl's first album to be released under the mononym Cheryl, droppin ...

''.

Other ventures

RXTR/Rokstarr brand

On 1 September 2009, Cruz launched the short lived, unsuccessful and now dormant brand Rokstarr, a fashion and accessories brand which had a focus on sunglasses. Speaking in October to R&B writer Pete Lewis, Cruz promoted his brand: "There's a load of US celebrities that are all rocking the sunglasses already— Kid Cudi,

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

.... Then in the UK we have

Daniel Merriweather Daniel Paul Merriweather (born 17 February 1982) is an Australian R&B recording artist. Merriweather's debut solo album, '' Love & War'', was released in June 2009. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number two. It was preceded by two sing ...

—who've all been twittering and writing on their blogs how much they love them. So yeah, it's definitely my new album 'Rokstarr' and the fashion brand that are my two main focuses at the moment." Meanwhile, speaking again to Lewis in April 2010, Cruz gave his brand more free publicity: "We're currently looking to expand the brand and possibly go into things like watches. I've also got a new

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of Rokstarr called 'Rok By Rokstarr'. And we've just started doing things like jeans and T-shirts, and stuff that more of the fans of Taio Cruz can buy. Because with Rokstarr in itself being so expensive, a lot of the kids out there who want to buy Rokstarr things can't. So we're bringing in stuff that's a little bit more High Street and more affordable." In 2012 the brand, in a vain attempt to revive its fortunes was renamed to RXTR, a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

for Riots and Twelve Rebels. The new name came along with new products, watches, which were immediately stocked at

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

in London. As of 2015, the RXTR website redirects to Cruz's personal website, and the brand's Facebook account has not been updated for over a year.

Philanthropy

Cruz filmed a public service announcement with Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.

Discography

* '' Departure'' (2008) * ''

'' (2009) * ''

'' (2011)

Writer discography

* Nitin Sawhney, "Rainfall" * Tinchy Stryder, "

Never Leave You "Never Leave You" is a song by Tinchy Stryder, released as the fourth single from his second studio album, '' Catch 22'' as a digital download on 2 August 2009 and then as a CD single on 3 August 2009. The song was written by Stryder with lyric ...

" * Tinchy Stryder, " Take Me Back" (with Stryder) * Tinchy Stryder, " Second Chance" (with Stryder) * McFly, " Shine a Light" * Nightcrawlers, " Cryin' Over You" (with Nightcrawlers) * David Guetta, "

" (with Guetta &

) * David Guetta, " Without You" * Jennifer Lopez, "

" (featuring

) * Will Young, "

" (Credited as Tayo Onile-Ere) * The Wanted, "

Made Made or MADE may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Made'' (1972 film), United Kingdom * ''Made'' (2001 film), United States Music * ''Made'' (Big Bang album), 2016 * ''Made'' (Hawk Nelson album), 2013 * ''Made'' (Scarface album), 2007 *'' M.A.D.E. ...

" * Cheryl Cole, " Stand Up" * Cheryl Cole, " Mechanics of the Heart" * Cody Simpson, " Wish U Were Here" * Keshia Chanté, " Set U Free" * Nick Jonas, " I Want You" * Olly Murs, " Kiss Me"

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

*
Taio Cruz
on justRHYMES.com * Lewis, Pete
Taio Cruz interview
at BluesandSoul.com, February 2008 *

Taio Cruz Jacob Taio Cruz (; born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere, 23 April 1980), better known professionally as Taio Cruz (stylized TΛIO CRUZ), is an English singer, songwriter and record producer from London, England, currently based in Los Angeles. In 200 ...

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 ...

Kewe app

Taio Cruz
on

MusicBrainz MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for so ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Taio 1980 births Living people 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century English singers Black British male rappers Brit Award winners British contemporary R&B singers Dance-pop musicians English male rappers English male singers English people of Brazilian descent English people of Nigerian descent English people of Yoruba descent English pop singers English record producers Island Records artists Mercury Records artists People educated at Bilton Grange People educated at Christ's Hospital People from Horsham People from the London Borough of Brent Rappers from London Singers from London Third British Invasion artists Yoruba musicians