CeeLo Green


Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, better known by his stage name CeeLo Green, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, actor, and businessman. Green is known for his work in soul music, including the hit singles "Crazy" and "Fuck You". Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Green came to initial prominence as a member of the Southern hip hop group Goodie Mob. He subsequently began a solo career, releasing two albums on Arista Records: Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections and Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine.
Green's next project was Gnarls Barkley, a collaboration with DJ Danger Mouse. In 2006, the duo scored a worldwide hit with "Crazy", which reached the top five in twenty countries, including the U.S. and U.K. With Gnarls Barkley, Green released two albums: 2006's platinum-selling St. Elsewhere and 2008's The Odd Couple. In 2010, Green continued his solo career with the album The Lady Killer, which spawned his biggest solo hit, "Fuck You". The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top 10 in thirteen countries. Green has released three further solo albums, Cee Lo's Magic Moment, Heart Blanche, and CeeLo Green Is Thomas Callaway, as well as a reunion album with Goodie Mob, Age Against the Machine.
From 2011 to 2014, Green was a judge and coach on the American reality television singing competition The Voice, appearing on four of its seasons. He voiced Murray the Mummy in the 2012 animated feature film Hotel Transylvania, and also appeared in a few television programs and films including his own show, CeeLo Green's The Good Life, on TBS. Green has appeared in commercials, including 7 Up, Duracell, M&M’s, and sake brand TYKU. His work has earned numerous awards and accolades, including five Grammy Awards, a BET Award, a Billboard Award, and a Brit Award.

Early life

Green was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from high school at Riverside Military Academy, a boarding school for boys in Gainesville, Georgia. Both of his parents were ordained ministers, and he started his music career in church. His father died when Green was two years old. His mother, Sheila J. Tyler-Callaway, a firefighter, was paralyzed in a car crash and died two years after the accident when Green was 18. Green has also acknowledged being a fan of disgraced British glam rock singer Gary Glitter, and has acknowledged to Q Magazine that he is aware of Glitter's crimes.
At the time of his mother's death, Green's career with Goodie Mob had just begun taking off. He sank into a deep depression, which he later wrote about in various songs throughout his career, including "Free" by Goodie Mob, "Just a Thought" on St. Elsewhere, and "She Knows" and "A Little Better" on The Odd Couple. Green also wrote about his mother in the song "Guess Who" from Goodie Mob's album Soul Food. In an excerpt of CeeLo Distilled, a documentary produced by Absolut and The Fader, Green explained that his mother's death was a defining moment that led him toward "crossing that threshold over into a career".

Music career

1991–1998: Early career with Goodie Mob

Along with Big Gipp, T-Mo, and Khujo, Green was an original member of the Atlanta hip hop group Goodie Mob. He is the youngest of the four. The Goodie Mob was a part of the Atlanta rap collective the Dungeon Family, which also included Outkast. Goodie Mob appeared on two tracks on OutKast's 1994 debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, with Green providing vocals for "Call of da Wild" and "Git Up, Git Out".
Goodie Mob released their debut album, Soul Food, in 1995. The album received much critical praise as a pioneering record for the emerging Southern rap scene. It featured a distinctive soulful southern sound by production team Organized Noize.
During this time, Green also contributed backing vocals to TLC's hit 1995 song "Waterfalls".
The group's second album, Still Standing, came out in 1998 and also received much critical praise. Its commercial performance was slightly lower than the group's previous effort, however. Green took more creative control on the group's next album, World Party, which was released in 1999.

1999–2003: Move to Arista

Around 1999, during the making of the album World Party, Green left Goodie Mob to pursue a solo career under Arista and the remaining members continued to perform together under the Goodie Mob name with Koch Records. They did, however, collaborate in combinations in the Dungeon Family album Even in Darkness.
The song "Hold On" from Big Boi of Outkast's Got Purp? Vol. 2 album was the first newly recorded Goodie Mob song with all four members since World Party.
Green was one of ten guest musicians who contributed to the 1999 Santana album Supernatural. Lauryn Hill wrote "Do You Like the Way", and she and Green both provided lead vocals.
Green's Arista career was short-lived, as he was dropped after two albums due to low record sales. His first album, Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections, was heavily in the vein of various other Dungeon Family releases, with southern soul/funk/jazz backings produced by Green and boasting appearances by fellow Dungeon Fam members Big Gipp and Backbone. The album did not sell very well, but Green achieved some airplay with the single "Closet Freak".

2004–2008: Second solo album and formation of Gnarls Barkley

His second Arista album, Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine brought a more branched-out sound and more deeply explored southern rap music. This is evidenced by collaborations with "the biggest hip-hop musicians of all time", including Ludacris, T.I., and Pharrell Williams. The album debuted and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Album chart. It received critical acclaim and was described as "one of the most ambitious albums to come out of any genre in recent times."
Along with DJ Danger Mouse, Green formed a duo called Gnarls Barkley. Green first met Danger Mouse at a University of Georgia event. They later collaborated on the remix of the Danger Mouse and Jemini song "What U Sittin' On?" from the album Ghetto Pop Life, before working together again on the 2005 Danger Doom album The Mouse and The Mask on the song "Benzie Box", where Green delivers the chorus.
Gnarls Barkley's first album, St. Elsewhere, was released on 24 April 2006 in the UK and 2 May 2006 in the United States. St. Elsewhere entered the charts at No.1 in the UK, as did the first single "Crazy". "Crazy" is the first single to reach number one in the UK based on digital download sales alone and is ranked by Rolling Stone as the greatest song of the decade, thus making it Green's most successful project to date. A second album by Gnarls Barkley, titled The Odd Couple, was released in March 2008. Its first single came out in January, titled "Run ".
Seeing the success achieved by Gnarls Barkley, Arista and Legacy released a 17-track greatest hits collection of songs by Green, titled '. It features predominantly solo tracks by Green and several Goodie Mob songs. Green's song "What Part of Forever" was included on '. In 2008, Green published a rendition of the 1974 single "Kung Fu Fighting" by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas, for the animated film Kung Fu Panda.

2009–2011: ''The Lady Killer'' and tours

On 14 August 2010, Green released the single "Fuck You" to YouTube ahead of his planned solo album release, due to its partial leak on 13 April. "Fuck You!" was an instant viral smash hit, registering over two million plays in less than a week. Two weeks later on 1 September, CeeLo released to YouTube an official music video of the song. "Fuck You" made a debut at No.1 on the UK charts, notably beating out "Shame" from the recently reunited Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow. On 1 December 2010, CeeLo received five Grammy nominations for "Fuck You!", which had been certified Gold in the United States and Denmark. The single achieved platinum status in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK; and multi-platinum status in Australia. A radio-friendly version of the song was recorded, with the title and words Fuck You! changed to Forget You!
In October 2010, Green released his first mixtape, Stray Bullets. In an interview with Exclaim!, he said his 2010 album The Lady Killer "...is a more clear, concise, consistent, conceptual, entire album . It's a complete thought, because it's written to be like a score. The album's meant to be a motion picture, you know? I've never taken that approach to doing an album before." The album was certified Gold in the UK on 6 December 2010.
Green toured during 2010 and 2011 with an all-female backing band named "Scarlet Fever", performing for
Taratata, the BBC, the Late Show with David Letterman, W's Symmetry Live Concert Series, Saturday Night Live, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! special show following the Academy Awards, and many other venues. Green also performed "Forget You", a sanitized version of his hit "Fuck You", with Gwyneth Paltrow and several puppets provided by The Jim Henson Company at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, on 13 February 2011. His performance was in part an homage to Elton John, who wore a very similar costume in a Muppet show performance in 1977. At the 2011 BRIT Awards two days later, Green was joined by British vocalist Joelle Bennett in another duet of "Fuck You". Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Green would join Rihanna and J. Cole on the North American leg of Rihanna's Loud Tour in the summer of 2011. However, he later dropped out of the tour, citing his busy work schedule, which included a commitment to judging The Voice, writing a new book, and recording a new album, as the reason for his withdrawal.
On 14 August 2011, Green appeared at WWE SummerSlam, performing "Forget You" and the event's theme, "Bright Lights Bigger City". He also performed at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards performance.
CeeLo re-released his album The Lady Killer as a Platinum Edition on 28 November 2011. The repackaged album contained the original 16 tracks, including remixed versions of "Bright Lights Bigger City" and "I Want You ", plus one extra track, written by Ross Golan, "Anyway". The new track served as the album's sixth overall single and first Platinum Edition single.
Green recorded and wrote "Language of Love" for the Sex and the City 2 soundtrack. It was rumored in mid-2010 that he was working with Alien Ant Farm on a track slated for appearance on an upcoming album by the band. This was confirmed the following year; however, the track failed to materialize, with Alien Ant Farm singer Dryden Mitchell stating he planned to do a cover of Easy Lover with Green, but Green never recorded his parts.

2012–present: Autobiography and further endeavors

In March 2012, Green performed at a fundraiser for President Barack Obama, who attended. Green began singing "Fuck You" with the original lyrics, but then switched to the clean version. He released the song "I Love Football" in September 2012, set to the tune of "Blitzkrieg Bop" by Ramones. It was chosen by the National Football League as the theme song of Thursday Night Football 2013.
On 5 February 2013, Green released the song "Only You", featuring Lauriana Mae, a contestant on P. Diddy's Starmaker. It was set to be on Green's upcoming fourth album, tentatively titled Girl Power, but in the end did not appear on an album. In the same month, Green kicked off his "CeeLo Green Presents Loberace" concert residency. Supposed to be unveiled at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on 21 February 2013, the event was rescheduled to a later date due to a fatal shooting along the Las Vegas Strip, where the resort is situated. A few months after, on 10 September Green's autobiography Everybody's Brother was released.
From June to August 2014, Green toured alongside Lionel Richie for his North American All the Hits All Night Long tour. Green formed a new band, the Board Memberz, led by musical director Printz Board and consisting of Timothy "Izo" Orindgreff, Lucy Graves, Jazelle Rodriguez, Ashley Dzerigan, Patty A. Miller, and Sojung "Liso" Lee.
In January 2015, Green released a concept mixtape with music derived from a variety of TV show theme songs, titled TV on the Radio. His next studio album, Heart Blanche, was released on 6 November 2015. The lead single, "Robin Williams", named after and dedicated to the actor of the same name, was released on 17 July 2015.
In December 2016, Green released a new song and video, "F**ck Me I'm Famous", under the alias Gnarly Davidson. The artist attended the 59th Grammy Awards in character as Gnarly Davidson, for which he dressed in all gold, complete with a face mask. A few days later, he released another new song and video, titled "Jay-Z's Girl". The song is a reworking of Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl", with lyrics changed to be about his admiration for Jay-Z's wife Beyoncé.
On 14 July 2017, Green performed at the opening ceremony of the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest.
Green has released two singles, "Lead Me" and "Doing It All Together", from his June 2020 album CeeLo Green is Thomas Callaway. The album title references his legal name.

Television appearances

Green, along with the rest of the Goodie Mob, had a cameo in the 1999 film Mystery Men as a member of the Not So Goodie Mob, in which he was credited as "Thomas Burton aka Cee Lo". He has also done voice acting work, voicing Prime Cut Miggity-Mo' Macdaddy Gizzabang Doggy Dog Dog on the Brak Show episode "Brakstreet" in 2002; Frank and Buddy Z in Class of 3000s Christmas special; Godzilla and Tablesmasher in the Robot Chicken episode "Squaw Bury Shortcake" in 2007; and Rev. Rollo Goodlove in the Boondocks episodes "The S-Word" and "The Hunger Strike" in 2008. In 2010, he appeared in T-Pain's ' as Light Skin.
On 15 January 2011, Green both acted and performed on NBC's Saturday Night Live hosted by Gwyneth Paltrow, who, in November 2010, covered his song "Forget You" on an episode of Glee.
Green was one of the coaches for contestants on seasons 1 through 3 on the singing TV show The Voice. He retired as a coach on the fifth season.
On 11 October 2011, Green guest-starred in the NBC series Parenthood in the episode "Tales From the Luncheonette".
On 14 August 2011, Green appeared at WWE SummerSlam and performed both "'Bright Lights Bigger City", the official theme song for the event, and his hit "Forget You". On 25 September 2011, Green appeared as himself in a live-action/voice appearance and as the voice of a hot tub in the American Dad! episode "Hot Water".
The following year, on 5 February, Green appeared in the Super Bowl halftime show with Madonna. On 31 March 2012, he appeared in the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards. On 8 August of that year, he played J.C. Carpenter in the TV Land sitcom The Soul Man, in the episode "J.C. Carpenter's Gospel Show". Ten days later, he guest-starred in the Nickelodeon show How to Rock in the episode "How to Rock Cee Lo". That year, he also lent his voice to the animated feature Hotel Transylvania as Murray the Mummy.
On 28 February 2013, Green appeared as himself in the sitcom Anger Management, in the episode "Charlie & Cee Lo". The same year, he appeared in the film Begin Again.
Green performed at the Singapore Social Star Awards on 23–24 May 2013.
On 23 June 2014, Green premiered his new reality-based docu-comedy television series CeeLo Green's The Good Life on TBS, in which he appears with the other members of Goodie Mob. On 2 September 2014, TBS announced that they were canceling the show in the wake of Green's controversial comments on the nature of rape.
Green competed on an episode of Lip Sync Battle that aired on 26 May 2016 against comedian Russell Peters. He won with performances of The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" and "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss.
In 2017, Green guest-starred in the Cartoon Network series Teen Titans Go!, acting as himself and Cee Lo Bear in the first and fourth parts of "The Day the Night Stopped Beginning to Shine and Became Dark Even Though It Was the Day"; his cover of "The Night Begins to Shine" from the special was commercially released.
In 2020, Green participated as the "Monster" on the British version of The Masked Singer''.

Other ventures

Managed by Primary Wave Entertainment, Green has endorsed various brands, including 7 Up, M&M's, and Duracell. Green owns part of the sake brand TY KU and the company has collaborated with him on a few business ventures, including a commercial promoting the brand, dubbed the "first national sake commercial" in the United States. In 2011, it was estimated by a New York Times reporter that Green earned some US$20 million dollars, predominantly from the endorsement deals, in that year alone.

Personal life

CeeLo Green has described himself as having been a "goon" in his youth, as well as a "kleptomaniac, pyromaniac, just plain maniac".
Green was married to Christina Johnson, and divorced in 2005. He and Johnson have a son, Kingston, born on 30 September 2000, and Green was stepfather to her daughters, Sierra and Kalah. Sierra appeared on the MTV show My Super Sweet 16 for her 15th birthday party.
On 30 October 2012, Green was accused of sexual battery by a woman with whom he had dined at a Los Angeles restaurant, leading to a nearly year-long investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. On 21 October 2013, Green pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of furnishing a controlled substance after the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office declined to file a charge of rape of an intoxicated person, citing insufficient evidence. On 29 August 2014, Green pleaded no contest to one felony count of furnishing ecstasy and was sentenced to three years of probation, 360 hours of community service, and ordered to complete 52 Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

Controversies

At the April 2011 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Green had his set cut off while performing, and then stormed off stage. CeeLo had arrived 25 minutes late, performed five songs, including "Fuck You" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy". His set was scheduled to end at 5:40 p.m. At 5:44 p.m., as he was apologizing for being late due to air travel delays, the audio from his microphone was cut off. He then stormed off stage amid boos.
On 16 June 2011, journalist Andrea Swensson of City Pages negatively reviewed one of Green's performances, writing that it "failed to measure up to the fun factor of his recorded material. Green spent most of the set stationed in front of a microphone at the center of the stage, barely moving an inch while he sang, and flanked by two forgettable back-up singers and a DJ that was all but hidden behind a giant LCD display". In response, the following day Green tweeted "I respect your criticism but be fair! People enjoyed last night! I'm guessing ur gay? And my masculinity offended u? well fuck U!" Green promptly received angered responses from some of his followers on Twitter, to which he replied "Apologies gay community! what was homophobic about that?" In a subsequent interview with magazine Us Weekly, Green stated that his comments were meant in good fun, adding that "I am not harboring any sort of negative feeling toward the gay community" and that "I am one of the most liberal artists that I think you will ever meet, and I pride myself on that."
On 31 December 2011, Green sang John Lennon's "Imagine" just prior to the ball drop for New Year's Eve at New York City's Times Square. In his rendition, Green replaced the line "and no religion, too" with the words "and all religions true". Many saw this as a substantial revision of the meaning behind Lennon's original lyrics. Shortly after the performance, Green responded via Twitter: "Yo I meant no disrespect by changing the lyric guys! I was trying to say a world where u could believe what u wanted that's all". Green deleted a series of tweets pertaining to this event shortly thereafter.
On 31 August 2014, Green was criticized for tweets relating to his sexual battery court case. Two of his specific tweets regarding rape were "People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!" and "If someone is passed out they're not even WITH you consciously! so WITH Implies consent". After sending a number of tweets on the topic of rape, he temporarily deactivated his Twitter account. He re-activated it a number of hours later, tweeting the following apology: "I truly and deeply apologize for the comments attributed to me on Twitter. Those comments were idiotic, untrue and not what I believe."

Discography

Goodie Mob albums
Gnarls Barkley albums
Solo albums