About Ray J.

Real name: William Ray Norwood, Jr.
Born: Jan. 17, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi. Raised in Carson, California.

Ray J. is the son of Gospel singer Willie Ray Norwood and his wife, Sonja Bates-Norwood. Ray's older sister is R&B singer-actress Brandy Norwood, known professionally as simply Brandy.

Ray grew up in a musical family, as the son of Gospel singer Willie Norwood. In the early 1980s, when Ray and his sister Brandy were 2 and 4 years old, respectively, the family relocated from Mississippi to Southern California so that Willie could help his kids launch careers in entertainment, and so he could begin post-graduate work at California State University. During this time, Willie also worked with community choirs in the area. Ray and Brandy also participated in the choirs, which is partially where they honed their talents as singers before becoming professionals. In 1989, at the age of 8, Ray started appearing in television commercials and in 1993, had a recurring part on the short-lived sitcom "The Sinbad Show."

Ray continued to act throughout the mid-1990s, sometimes appearing on television shows with his sister Brandy. In 1997, he followed in her footsteps by releasing his debut R&B album, Everything You Want, at the age of 16. (Brandy's self-titled debut was released in 1994.) Despite the backing of a major label, neither his debut or sophomore albums made much of an impact on the music charts. He eventually managed two top 5 hits on the R&B charts, "One Wish," which climbed to No. 3 in 2005, and "Sexy Can I," which reached No. 4 in 2007. But it wasn't until the release of his sex tape with model-socialite Kim Kardashian that Ray's name became commonly known in mainstream popular culture.

In February 2007, a sexual home video that Ray had made with Kim Kardashian four years earlier saw the light of day and was ultimately commercially released. Ray later claimed that Kardashian had cheated on her first husband with him, a charge she denied. Later in 2007, Ray was rumored to be dating singer Whitney Houston, who at the time was newly divorced from singer Bobby Brown. Ray was one of the people Whitney was with at a pre-Grammys party in Los Angeles the night before she was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel room. Although he denied the two had dated, Ray was seated just behind Whitney's family during her funeral and particularly distraught during it.

Ray J. has appeared in multiple reality shows, starting with the first season of "For the Love of Ray J.," a dating program that aired for two seasons on VH1 during 2009-2010. On the show, over a dozen women were competing to become his love interest. He also appeared on two seasons of "Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business," a reality show that featured him, his sister and their parents as they navigated the music business. The show was on the air for two seasons of 11 episodes each, from 2010-2011.

2012: Raydiation 2
2009: For the Love of Ray J. (TV show soundtrack)
2008: All I Feel
2005: Raydiation
2001: This Ain't a Game
1997: Everything You Want