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Mario (singer)

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Mario

Mario Dewar Barrett (born August 27 1986) is an American R&B and pop singer. He is best known for his hit singles "Just a Friend 2002" (2002) and "Let Me Love You" (2004), which won him two Billboard awards, as well as for appearing in the films Step Up and Freedom Writers. His latest album, Go! was released on December 11 2007 in the United States, but was released in South Africa on October 9 2007 under Gallo Records. On February 18, 2008, it was announced Mario will be appearing on Season 6 of Dancing with the Stars. Ironically, his partner is Karina Smirnoff, who paired with Mario Lopez in Season 3.

Biography

Early life

Mario was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Pikesville, Randallstown, Gwynn Oak and other working-class neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland.[1] He grew up with his grandmother in different areas of Baltimore, Maryland, she also raised him while his single mother struggled with a drug problem.[1] Mario said at the age of four that he wanted to become a singer. His mother supported his dream and bought him a karaoke machine. By the time Mario was in high school, he was dealing drugs and had joined a gang. It was after he was shot in the buttocks that he finally decided to do good. It was then that Mario's mother Shawn entered him into another talent contest in an effort to apply his talents and keep him from the streets. Mario joined a musical group in high school with the oldest son of comedienne Mo'nique. He was always dedicated to having a musical career. He learned to play the piano and used that skill as the basis for his melodies and songs. He was discovered at age eleven and signed by producer Troy Patterson , after singing "I'll Make Love to You" at a Coppin State College talent show.[1] Mario attended Milford Mill Academy up until the tenth grade where he was inspired by his music teacher, during his early teen years, and was offered a record deal at the age of fourteen, signing with Clive Davis' J Records.[1] His musical influences include Stevie Wonder, Fernando & Q-Bah, Shay and Claire from FunX Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, Brian McKnight, Boyz II Men, and Joe. His first introduction to the music industry was the Dr. Dolittle 2 movie soundtrack in 2001. He sang a captivating performance of the Stevie Wonder classic "You and I" at Clive's Grammy party in 2002, and began recording an album.

Mario (2002)

Mario began recording his debut album Mario at age fifteen, a year before releasing it in July 2002. The lead single "Just a Friend" , which was a cover of Biz Markie's hit, was an instant success, peaking at #4 on the charts. Follow up singles were "Braid My Hair" & "C'mon" . He was the opening act on the Scream Tour 3, which featured Bow Wow, Nick Cannon, B2K & Marques Houston. As of 2006, his debut album has sold over 700,000 copies.[1] During this period, he became a draw in the teen market.[1]

Turning Point (2004)

Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end After his debut album was released, Mario wanted to record an album that was more mature. He enlisted a number of well-known producers to help him, such as Scott Storch & Lil' Jon. He released his second album, Turning Point, in December 7, 2004. The album was more successful than his first, mainly because of the hit single "Let Me Love You". The single, described by reviewers as "melodic and sweetly lilting, reminiscent of Michael Jackson's vintage romantic ballads",[1] was successul, peaking at the number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for nine consecutive weeks.[1] Other follow up singles include "How Could You" written by J. Valentine, with a cameo appearance in the video by rapper Cassidy, "Here I Go Again", which video starred upcoming model and singer Cassie, and "Boom" featuring Juvenile. To date, Turning Point has gone double-platinum.

In February 2006, Mario filed a lawsuit against his former manager, Troy Patterson, alleging that Patterson had paid him $50,000 for the sale of more than 3 million records. Mario new manager is J. Erving he was chose by Mario. Mario has homes in Baltimore, Atlanta and Los Angeles.[1]

Go (2007)

Mario's new album is dedicated to his mom Shawntia Hardaway releasing in 29 April 2009 Mario's third album Go! which was released in South Africa under Gallo Records on October 9, 2007, in the U.S. on December 11, 2007 and includes collaborations with Jermaine Dupri, Ne-Yo, Janice Robinson, Eric West, Scott Storch, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Timbaland, Bryan Michael Cox, Nelly, Alicia Keys, The Neptunes, Jim Jonsin, Akon, Dre & Vidal, Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell, Sean Garrett, Trey Songz and Mr. Collipark. Mario, who has described the album as "sex... more personal... more passionate", had more creative control on Go! than on his previous two albums.[1] The first single to be lifted from the album was "How Do I Breathe." The second single that is now in rotation is "Crying Out For Me." [2] On December 13, 2007, Mario was on "106 & Park" where he stated that his third single off the album will be " Music For Love". The entire album was made available for the public to listen to on his Myspace page before its release. He also has a new song that came out on December 11, "Do Right".

Just Me (2008)

In an interview with Billboard and DJ Booth, Mario stated that he is going to tour and work with singers to their projects and start record a new album "by the time school starts back up, like after next summer." "You can imagine how many different concepts and things I had," the 21-year-old explains. "But there's really even more than that, because I'm gonna start recording, like, [at] the end of January." For his next set, Mario says he's "probably gonna work with no more than four producers, maybe two or three, but no more than four." He also confirmed he is working on records with Cassidy, Gorilla Zoe, Ciara and Chris Brown.


http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003685564

http://www.djbooth.net/index/interviews/entry/mario-interview-1116071/

Knightwritaz

Knightwritaz is a production team of which Mario is a part. The production team includes Mario, Sterling Simms, Warren "Oak" Felder and Marsha of Floetry. Aside from producing songs for Mario's album Go!, the team has written and produced songs for Jennifer Lopez, Chris Brown and Raven-Symoné. Mario claims to be more of the songwriter in the team. [3]

Mario Already Conceptualizing Next Album Gary Graff, Detroit His third album, "Go," just came out this week, but R&B singer Mario is already planning to release his fourth less than a year from now, "by the time school starts back up, like after next summer."

Mario tells Billboard.com that he's in the midst of a creative spurt that yielded 70 songs he considered for "Go" before settling on the dozen tracks that made the album -- including the first single, "How Do I Breathe," and its follow-up, "Music For Love."

Mario says one difference between "Go" -- which follows 2004's double-platinum "Turning Point" -- and the next album will be fewer collaborators. "Go" features a different producing and writing team on every track, including Akon, Timbaland, the Neptunes and Stargate.

Needless to say, he's looking ahead to a busy 2008. With "Music For Love" due out in late January, Mario plans to start a tour in February or March. "I want to do a big production tour now," he says. "But it's gonna take creating videos and visuals that make people want to come out and see a show." To that end, the video for "Music For Love," he says, "is gonna like you're watching a performance. That's the sense I get from that record, so that's gonna draw people out to the shows."

"Of course I want to pursue it and read some more (scripts) and try to find something where I can break in between albums," he says. "It's kind of hard to juggle, but I'm very much excited about that part of my career, too."

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003685564

MTV Special

MTV aired a special on October 21, "I Won't Love You to Death: The Story of Mario and His Mom," which dealt with his mother's heroin addiction. The documentary is about how the singer strives for help to stop his mother's addiction. While doing this, he seeks help from family and friends. Mario wrote a letter to his mother stating how appreciative he is and begs her to stop her addiction. At the end of the letter he says, "I love you, but I won't love you to death."

Mario has also written a song titled Do Right that is dedicated to his mother. This song explains his mother's addiction and how it affected his childhood, and highlights how much he looks up to her.

Discography

Further information: [[:Mario discography]]

Albums

Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
U.S. U.S. R&B UK AUS NZ GER ITA IRE
2002 "Just a Friend" 4 3 18 — 15 — — — Mario
"Braid My Hair" 74 18 — — — — — —
2003 "C'mon" — 61 28 — — — — —
2004 "Let Me Love You" 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 5 Turning Point
2005 "How Could You" 52 14 — 37 — — — —
"Here I Go Again" — — 11 15 36 50 50 16
"Boom (featuring Juvenile) — — — — — — — —
2007 "How Do I Breathe" 46 18 21 33 17 49 — 45 Go
"Crying Out for Me" 37 5
2008 "Music for Love" TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

Acting career

Mario starred along side Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan in Step Up, a dance-themed film released on August 11 2006. For his next film, Freedom Writers he acted opposite Academy Award-Winner Hilary Swank and Patrick Dempsey of Grey's Anatomy. The film was a drama about inner-city school kids. It was released on January 5, 2007. Mario did not take acting classes before undertaking the role.[1] Mario has stated that he would like to own his own film production company entitled "inside Paris Productions" and become a director. [4]He was turned down for the upcoming film Dragon Ball.


In Spring of 2008 Mario will star in the latest installment of the widely popular ABC television series "DANCING WITH THE STARS" he will be one of 12 celebrities 6 men and 6 women. Dancing weekly to different genres of music hoping to claim the best dancing award. The show's premiere will be March 17th 2008.

Mario is also rumored to be playing Ralph Tresvant from ages 18-28 in the 2009 biopic about the music group New Edition

Filmography

Film

TV

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" .... Himself (1 episode, 2008) ... aka Oprah (USA: short title) 

   - Episode dated 21 February 2008 (2008) TV episode .... Himself

"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" .... Himself / ... (2 episodes, 2005-2007) 

   - Episode dated 25 April 2007 (2007) TV episode .... Himself
   - Episode #1.6 (2005) TV episode .... Himself - Musical Guest

"Mad TV" .... Himself (1 episode, 2005) 

   - Episode #11.8 (2005) TV episode .... Himself

An All-Star Salute to Patti LaBelle: Live from Atlantis (2005) (TV) .... Himself "The View" .... Himself (2 episodes, 2005) 

   - Episode dated 13 April 2005 (2005) TV episode .... Himself
   - Episode dated 24 January 2005 (2005) TV episode .... Himself

"All of Us" .... Himself (1 episode, 2005) 

   - Movin' on Up (2005) TV episode .... Himself

"Punk'd" .... Himself (1 episode, 2005) 

   - Episode #4.1 (2005) TV episode .... Himself

"Soul Train" .... Himself (1 episode, 2005) 

   - Episode #34.12 (2005) TV episode .... Himself

"Big Time" .... Himself (1 episode, 2004) ... aka Steve Harvey's Big Time (USA: complete title) ... aka Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge (USA: new title) 

   - Episode #2.9 (2004) TV episode .... Himself

[1]

|Mario filmography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ollison, Rashod D. (2006-12-27). "A maturing Mario". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2006-12-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ {{cite web | title="Mario Gets Back To Making Music With Akon, Timbaland, Neptunes
  3. ^ Mario Teams With Akon, Timbaland on New Set
  4. ^ Adler, Shawn (2006-12-19). "Mario Sheds A Tear For 'Freedom,' Says He Wants To Direct". MTV.com. Retrieved 2006-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

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