Biographic - Sunday April 17, 2011 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Cee Lo Green was born Thomas Decarlo Calloway in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 30, 1974. Both of his parents were ordained ministers and he began singing in church at an early age. His father died when Cee Lo was only 2 years old, and his mother was paralyzed in a car crash during his teens. She died two years later- a tragedy that deeply affected 18-year-old Cee Lo, who had just began to achieve success as a member of the hip-hop group Goodie Mob. The loss was the catalyst for a number of his songs. After being featured prominently on Outkast's 1994 debut album, Goodie Mob hit the top 40 in 1995 with the track "Cell Therapy" from their debut album. "Soul Food" despite further successes, Goodie Mob continued to operate in the shadow of Outkast, and by 2000 Cee Lo left to pursue solo projects. Following his appearance with Lauryn Hill on Carlos Santana's multiplatinum "Supernatural" album in 1999. Collaborations with the likes of Ludacris and Pharell saw Cee Lo enjoy moderate chart success in the early 2000s. His credits ranged from co-writing and producing the megahit "Don't Cha" for The Pussycat Dolls, to teaming up with the funnyman Jack Black to record "Kung Fu Fighting" for the movie "Kung Fu Panda" But when he teamed up with DJ Danger Movie, his career soared into the stratosphere. Calling themselves Gnarls Barkley, the duo conquered the pop charts in 2006 with the anthemic "Crazy" a worldwide chart-topper designated by Rolling Stone magazine as the #1 song of the decade. In late 2010, he released the quirky single known- in its sanitized version-as "Forget You" the track immediately became a worldwide multiplatinum smash that was named song of the year by Time magazine. It also earned Cee Lo Green his first grammy award.

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