Cee-Lo Green life and biography

Thomas DeCarlo Callaway (born May 30, 1974), better known by his stage name Cee-Lo Green, is an American hip hop, funk, soul, and R&B musician.
He is a singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer, best known as a member of Goodie Mob and more recently Gnarls Barkley, and has also recorded two critically acclaimed solo LPs. He's also known for his strong Southern accent and smooth harmonizing vocals. Among Cee-Lo's solo hits are the singles "Closet Freak" (2002) and "I'll Be Around" (2003), produced by and featuring Timbaland. He also performed background vocals on multi-platinum selling R&B trio TLC's 1995 # 1 single "Waterfalls".


Multi-talented and flamboyant, Cee-Lo initially made a name for himself and his trademark crooning as part of pioneering Dirty South rappers Goodie Mob before he broke away in the early 2000s for a colorful solo route. Along with fellow Atlanta rappers OutKast, Goodie Mob laid out the blueprint for the Dirty South style during the mid-'90s, making serious waves with their debut album, Soul Food (1995). Cee-Lo was an important member of the group, often singing the hooks to many of Goodie Mob's best songs (e.g., "Cell Therapy," "Soul Food," "Black Ice"). But the group didn't last too long, and after a few releases over a five-year span, Cee-Lo split with Goodie Mob for a promising solo deal with Arista.

The deal came in the wake of Arista's success with OutKast's Stankonia (especially the single "Ms. Jackson"), not to mention the burgeoning neo-soul movement characterized by the likes of Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, and Macy Gray. Arista label head L.A. Reid no doubt sensed a lot of potential in Cee-Lo and gave him the green light to record a solo album. That album, Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections (2002), sounded unlike anything else out there -- unlike Cee-Lo's past work with Goodie Mob, unlike his neo-soul contemporaries, and unlike pretty much anything else except the weirder corners of OutKast's Stankonia album.

The album unsurprisingly never took off commercially, despite some colorful promotion on Cee-Lo's part (a wild video for "Closet Freak" and a belly-baring live tour), and the tattooed big man went back the drawing board, returning in early 2004 with Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine. This follow-up was just as free-spirited as Cee-Lo's debut but was a more focused effort, anchored by some radio-friendly singles produced by big-money hitmakers Timbaland ("I'll Be Around"), Jazze Pha ("The One"), and the Neptunes. It also featured some nice production by Cee-Lo himself. Interestingly, Arista released the album shortly after parting ways with Reid and also after experiencing enormous, Grammy-winning success with OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, an album (André 3000's half, at least) that sounded quite a bit like Cee-Lo's work.

In 2006, Cee-Lo enjoyed his greatest success to date as half of Gnarls Barkley, a duo also featuring producer Danger Mouse. "Crazy," the lead single from St. Elsewhere, the duo's debut album, was an instant hit in the U.K. and steadily rose to the top of the charts in the U.S. by the end of the summer. The critical acclaim and commercial success of Gnarls Barkley awarded Cee-Lo the most attention he'd ever enjoyed in his career to date. Cee-Lo and DM followed it up with a second Gnarls Barkley album, The Odd Couple, in early 2008. A frequent collaborator, Cee-Lo also worked with producer Jazze Pha for Happy Hour, Jazze Pha's singing and rapping debut, with Cee-Lo co-producing and sharing vocals. In addition, Cee-Lo teamed up with PlantLife's Jack Splash for the Heart Attack project.

Future projects

Cee-lo is collaborating with producer Jazze Pha to release an album called Happy Hour on Jazze’s record label. The songs "Happy Hour" (as well as the remix with Bun B, Snoop Dogg & Tone Tone), "Man of the Hour", and "Disco Bitch" (featuring The Pussycat Dolls) from the album have already been released as singles and B-sides. Jazze Pha has produced numerous hit singles with many artists, but this project is his rapping and singing debut. Cee-Lo is co-producing the album with him, so both artist and producer share equal roles in vocals and production. Also, Melody Thornton confirmed that she is currently in the studio with Cee-Lo working on her solo album. In 2010 he along with The Red Hot Chili Peppers and One Republic frontman Ryan Tedder were rumored to be on appearing on British DJ Paul Oakenfold's upcoming album.

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