Nelly was born Cornell Haynes, Jr. to Cornell Haynes, Sr. and Rhonda Mack in Austin, Texas on November 2, 1974. Nelly has a sister named Jackie, who is 2 years his senoir; they have father. Shortly after he was born, Nelly moved to Spain until he was three, because his father was in the U.S. Air Force. He moved back to the states, and got his education in St. Louis, Missouri. Nelly found himself moving in with relative to relative since his parents split because of financial problems. He also started getting in trouble, he moved to University City, Missouri, right outside of St. Louis. The future rapper showed great promise as a professional baseball player, but as a child he listened to artists such as Rahiem, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, OutKast, and Goodie Mob and he to wished he could become a rap star.
In high school he formed a group with 5 of his friends, Murphy Lee, Kyjaun, Ali, City Spud, and Slo Down, called the St. Lunatics. They sold 7, 000 units of "Gimmie what you got" out of the trunks of cars. They couldn't get attention of the recording studios, so they sent Nelly alone, thinking he would have a better chance and indeed they were right. See, there plan was to let Nelly go solo then each other folow him in a solo career of their own. Nelly was signed to Universal Records. His good news was met with bad when he found out City Spud had been arrested. That's when Nelly wore the band-aid to let City Spud know he hadn't forgotten him. He released "Country Grammar" on June 25, 2000. "Country Grammar" debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 40. Nelly was nominated for 2 2001 Grammy Awards--Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance. On July 18, 2001, "Country Grammar" hit 7x platinum. "Ride Wit Me" was nominated for three 2001 MTV Music Awards--Best Male Video, Best Rap Video, and Viewer's Choice. At the 1st Annual BET Awards, Nelly was named "Best New Artist." At the 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, [he]won "Favorite New Male Artist". Nelly was named "People's Magazine's 'Breakthrough Stars' of 2001." Nelly was nominated for "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" for "Where the Party At" by Jagged Edge. He won the 2002 American Music Award for "Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Artist."
"Nellyville" debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and sold 714,000 + units the first week. "Nellyville" stayed #1 for 3 weeks. After a month, it was certified triple platinum. "Hot in Herre" was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 7 weeks and "Dilemma" was #1 for 10 weeks on the Bilboard Hot 100. "Dilemma" was the first ever rap song to stay #1 for 10 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Nelly was ranked #39 on Entertainment Weekly's 2002 "101 Most Powerful" List. Nelly also featured in Teen People's "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" {issues from 2001 and 2002.} Nelly won six Billboard Music Awards in 2002, "Artist of the Year", "Male Artist of the Year", "Male R&B/Hip Hop Artist of the Year", "Rap Artist of the Year", and "Rap track of the Year" for 'Hot in Herre'"; he also received 8 other nominations in 8 different categories. Nelly was also nominated for five 2003 Grammies, "Album of the Year" and "Best Rap" for 'Nellyville', "Record of the Year" and "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" for 'Dilemma', and "Best Male Rap Solo Performance" for 'Hot in Herre'. Nelly released his third album "Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention on November 25, 2003, so far the only hit is "Iz U", which is featured on the "Haunted Mansion" soundtrack.
Nelly started the "Jes Us 4 Jackie" (his sister, Jackie Donahue), who was suffering from cancer and needed a bone marrow transplant. The "Jes Us 4 Jackie" was a campaign for more bone marrow and blood stem cell donors; they needed more African-Americans or Minorities. Nelly started two new trends: wearing jerseys backwards (the players names wore across the chest instead of the back), and wearing a Band-Aid on either cheek. Nelly has a clothing line Vokal. Also he appeared in the "Bad Boys 2" soundtrack with P. Diddiy and Murphy Lee with "Shake Ya Tailfeather", and the "Haunted Mansions" soundtrack with "Iz U". Nelly has three tattoos "Lunatic" (above his navel), a human heart appearing to emerge from his chest (upper left chest), and five playing cards and a dice (right arm). Nelly has one daughter, Chanel, born in 1996, and one son, Cornell III "Tre", born in 1998. Nelly is also a vegetarian.
Bio written by: lilmzqtpi |
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