Omarion

Born: Nov. 12, 1984 in Inglewood, California. Raised in the Los Angeles area.
Omarion's real/full name is Omari Ishmael Grandberry.

Omari Grandberry, who would later go on to become known under the stage name of Omarion, was born and raised in the Los Angeles area. Despite having no previous professional singing experience, Omari and three other teens were recruited in 2000-2001 by music producer Chris Stokes to form the R&B-pop song and dance group B2K. The members were Omari (who changed his name to Omarion after joining the group), Dreux "Lil Fizz" Frédéric, De'Mario "Raz-B" Thornton and Jarell "J-Boog" Houston. The popular group released two studio albums, 11 singles, and six music videos during their career together from 2001 to 2004.

In 2004, B2K starred in the Chris Stokes' written and directed film You Got Served. The movie surprised some film critics by debuting at No. 1 at the U.S. box office its opening weekend. But while the movie was still in theatres, and despite being highly successful in the music world, B2K broke up in early 2004. Three members claimed that Chris Stokes (who was the group's manager as well as producer) was cheating B2K out of money. Omarion was the only member to take Stokes' side in the disagreement. All four members went on to start solo careers. J-Boog and Lil' Fizz launched their own record label, Fizz and Boog Inc.

In later December 2004, Omarion appeared in the movie Fat Albert, playing a school bully. Then, in February 2005, his debut solo album, O, was released, with the first single being the title track. The album went on to eventually sell about 737,000 copies in the U.S. His second album, 21, came out in the U.S. in December 2006, about a month after his 21st birthday. The album had two successful singles, "Ice Box" and "Entourage," and like his first album, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart. O, however, sold 180,000 copies in its first week out; 21 sold roughly 120,000 copies its first week.

In 2007, Omarion focused on acting more than singing; he appeared in two movies, the Jennifer Lopez-produced, Puerto Rico-based Feel The Noise, which was released in October, and in November, the straight-to-DVD horror flick Somebody Help Me, which co-stars fellow singer Marques Houston. Then in December 2007, Face Off, an album of collaborations between Omarion and the rapper Bow Wow was released in the U.S. As of July 2008, the album has sold about 544,000 copies domestically. Omarion has continued to balance his singing and acting careers and is expected to appear in the You Got Served sequel Backdown in 2008.

2005: O
2006: 21
2007: Face Off (collaboration album with Bow Wow).

2004: You Got Served. Role played: David
2005: Fat Albert. Role played: Reggie
2007: Feel The Noise. Role played: Rob
2007: Somebody Help Me. Role played: Darryl Jennings
2008: Backdown. Role played: David