Profile: Marques Houston

Born: Marques Barrett Houston, Aug. 4, 1981 in Los Angeles. Raised in Southern California.

Marques Houston is the son of Carolyn and Michael Houston. (Carolyn Houston died of cancer in 1997.) Marques, under the stage name "Batman," was a founding member of the kiddie singing act Immature with his childhood friends, Jerome "Romeo" Jones and Don "Half-Pint" Santos. (Half-Pint was later replaced in the group by Kelton "LDB" Kessee). As Immature, the group released four albums between 1992 and 1997. In 1998, the group was no longer kids and updated their image by changing their name to IMx. They released two more albums, one in 1999 and one in 2001 before the members decided to focus on their solo careers.

In 2003, Marques recorded his first solo album, MH, produced by Jermaine Dupri. To date, the album has sold over half a million copies in the U.S. and remains his biggest album as a solo artist. His 2005 sophomore album, Naked was known for its focus on sex. The video for the second single "Naked," was controversial; some music networks - including BET and MTV - refused to air it because of the adult content. Eventually it was edited and shown on BET. Marques' third solo album, Veteran, dropped in March 2007 and his third, Mr. Houston, came out in September 2009.

Marques crossed over into television and was a recurring cast member of the show "Sister Sister." Also, he and some of the other members of IMX took on production duties (as Platinum Status) for Houston's solo work as well as B2K and Destiny's Child. He's also has done songwriting and production work for Omarion and other artists. His acting career includes starring roles in the 2007 horror flick Somebody Help Me and the 2010 sci-fi/romance movie Boogie Town. He also appeared in the movies Fat Albert and You Got Served, which were both released in 2004.

2009: Mr. Houston
2007: Veteran
2005: Naked
2003: MH

"There's a lot that I've been through as far as relationships and just experiencing life. I'm only 25 but I'm a veteran because I've been in the industry since I was 8 and I've watched the changes." -- Marques Houston, to Billboard.com, August, 2006 regarding his third solo album, Veteran.