Amerie is a famous American singer, songwriter and actress who appeared in the media space in 2002. The singer's popularity skyrocketed after she began collaborating with producer Rich Harrison. Many listeners know Amery thanks to the single 1 Thing. In 2005, it reached number 5 on the Billboard chart. The song and album later received Grammy nominations. In 2003, at the Billboard Music Awards, the singer received an award in the nomination "Best New R&B / Soul or Rap Artist".
How was Ameri's childhood and youth?
The full name of the artist is Amery Mi Marnie Rogers. She was born on January 12, 1980 in the US city of Fitchburg (Massachusetts). Her father is African American and her mother is Korean. Her father was a military man by profession, so the singer spent her early years on the move. She lived on army bases throughout the United States and Europe. Amery says that such a frequent change of scenery as a child helped her later adjust to life in the music business. “When you are constantly moving, you learn to communicate with new people and adapt to a new environment,” the performer shared in an interview.
Ameri has a younger sister, Angela, who is now her lawyer. Parents brought up girls very strictly and conservatively. The sisters were rarely allowed to go out, and on weekdays they were forbidden to use mobile phones. Mother and father believed that studies and the development of creative abilities should be the main ones.
Amerie owes her interest in music from an early age to her mother, who is a singer and professional pianist. The girl also drew inspiration from her father's record collection. Mostly there were Motown soul hits from the 1960s that created the sound of their own music. “The most influential artists in my life have been: Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige,” says Amery. In addition to singing, the performer was engaged in dancing and participated in talent competitions.
Amery's family moved to Washington, DC after she graduated from high school. Even then, she began to seriously think about a career in entertainment. The performer began to develop vocal abilities and try to write songs. In parallel, she entered Georgetown University and received a "degree" in English and fine arts.
How did Amerie's musical career start?
Amery's big "breakthrough" in the music industry came when she met Rich Harrison. At that time, Harrison was already a successful Grammy-winning songwriter and producer. He also previously worked with hip-hop diva Mary J. Blige. The performer met the producer through a familiar club promoter, whom she met while studying at the university.
Ameri wanted to meet Rich in a public place, as she had never seen him before. “We met at McDonald's, having previously determined it as a meeting place,” says the singer. - I knew that he was a producer, but I did not know him as a person, so I did not want to go to his house. In the same way, I didn’t want him to know where I live if he turned out to be an eccentric.
After the meeting, they agreed that Harrison would produce a demo for an aspiring artist. When Columbia Records executives heard the demo, they signed Amery. With this, the singer's path to the big stage began.
Amerie's early musical successes
Arriving at the Columbia Records label, the performer began working on her debut album. In the same period of time, she recorded a verse for the rapper's single Rule Nas. The song peaked at number 67 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles and Tracks chart in the United States. In 2002, the singer released her first single Why Don't We Fall in Love. It peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the top 10 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs.
At the end of July 2002, Columbia Records released their first studio album, All I Have. It consisted of 12 songs and was produced by Harrison. The album debuted and peaked at number 9 on the weekly Billboard 200. Moreover, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
In February 2003, All I Have earned Amery three Soul Train Music Award nominations. She received one award in the Best New Artist category. While she could have returned to the studio straight away to try and replicate the success of her first album, she instead took a break to explore other areas of the entertainment business.
In 2003, Amerie developed and hosted the television program The Center on BET. After three months of filming, she immediately took up the film project. And she starred alongside Katie Holmes in the film First Daughter (directed by Forest Whitaker). He came out in 2004.
At this time, Rich Harrison was already considering different ideas for the singer's second album. The first collection was written predominantly by Harrison. In the second album, the singer became a co-author of all the songs, except for one. She also worked on visual images for the album, music videos, single covers.
The release of the second album and the most popular single of Ameri
The second studio album Touch (13 tracks) was released at the end of April 2005. The songs have impulses, funky percussion, go-go rhythms with an organic core built around horns and electric pianos. After the release of the Touch album, the artist received positive reviews from music critics. They praised Ameri's vocals and Harrison's production. The album received numerous awards, including two Grammy nominations.
The album took the 5th position on the Billboard 200. Thanks to the collection, the artist received a "gold" certification from the RIAA. The disc included the single 1 Thing, which to this day remains the most famous composition of the singer. The song was produced by Harrison and inspired by the theme song Oh, Calcutta! written by Stanley Walden. After reworking the melody a little and writing lyrics for it, Harrison and Amery recorded the single in 2–3 hours.
Lenny Nicholson (Ameri's manager) felt that the song was "the only single" worthy of release at the time. The singer and producer sent 1 Thing to the label, but were denied release. The management felt that the beat needed to be redone and bigger choruses needed to be made. After numerous improvements to the composition, the label still refused to release the single.
As a result, Amery and Harrison sent, without telling Columbia Records, the song to a US radio station in an attempt to officially release it. The reaction of DJs and listeners was positive. As a result, the composition was broadcast on the radio throughout the country. In the United States, the song climbed the chart gradually. Over a 10-week period, it peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. And it wasn't on the chart until 20 weeks later.
Amerie's further musical career
The third studio album Because I Love It was released in May 2007. Although it was her strongest and brightest work. And it hit the top 20 in the UK, plans for a timely release in the US have changed. Because of this, the album was not commercially successful in the States and failed to chart.
The following year, the singer ended her collaboration with Columbia Records. And signed an agreement with the label Def Jam. She recorded her fourth album, In Love & War, which she released in November 2009. It debuted at number 3 on the US R&B chart. But he quickly took the last positions, as there were minor auditions on radio stations.
In 2010, the singer changed the spelling of her stage name to Ameriie. Under a new pseudonym, she released the singles What I Want (2014), Mustang (2015). As well as EP Drive on his Feenix Rising label. After leaving Def Jam in 2010, she decided to put her music career on hold. For some time, the performer has been writing fantasy novels and editing the 2017 New York Times bestseller of short stories for adults.
In 2018, a double album was released again (4AM Mullholand full-length and EP After 4AM). The double project immersed listeners in more subdued, cavernous R&B and trance compositions compared to the singer's previous pop hits.
What does Ameri do besides music?
Despite the fact that the performer is still fond of music, so far the recording of songs is in the background. In 2018, Amerie had a son named River Rove. Therefore, the singer is now devoting a significant amount of time to his upbringing. She is also married to Lenny Nicholson (Music Director of Sony Music).
The singer has a YouTube channel where she posts videos about books, makeup and blogs about her life. Now more than 200 thousand people have subscribed to it. Ameri also sells merch on the River Row website. The catalog contains hundreds of items - from sweatshirts and T-shirts to tea mugs, the design of which the performer developed independently.
