Jay Sean

Kamaljit Singh Jhooti (born 26 March 1981), better known by the stage name Jay Sean, is a British singer and songwriter.

Jay Sean was born as Kamaljit Singh Jhooti (कमलजीत सिंह झूटी; ਕਮਲਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਝੂਤੀ) on 26 March 1981 in Hounslow, West London into an Indian Punjabi Sikh family to parents Sharan Singh Jhooti and Bindi Kaur Jhooti.

He was raised in Southall, West London and displayed musical talent at an early age.

At age 11, he and his cousin Pritpal Rupra formed a hip hop duo named "Compulsive Disorder".

His stage name at the time was MC "Nicky J", with the "J" being derived from the first letter of his last name "Jhooti".

He eventually came to be known by the nickname "Jay" among his friends.

He was a student at Latymer Upper School, the same private school that Hugh Grant, Heston Blumenthal and Lily Cole had attended.

He left the school in 1997.

He finished his GCSEs as a "straight-A student" and then completed his A Levels with an A grade in Biology and B grades in Mathematics and Chemistry.

He debuted in the UK's Asian Underground scene as a member of the Rishi Rich Project with "Dance with You", which reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart in 2003.

Its success was matched with his followed-up hit, "Do You Remember" (featuring Lil Jon and Sean Paul), which has sold more than a million copies in the US, and entered the top ten on the Hot 100, making him the first male act since Chingy in 2003 to "simultaneously appear in the Hot 100 top 10 with his first two charting singles."

They were included in his American-debut album All or Nothing, which debuted at No. 37 on the US Billboard 200 and reached No. 11 on the Japan Oricon Albums Chart.

Sean has also been a featured artist on several hits including "What Happened to Us" by Australian singer Jessica Mauboy, which charted within the top 20 on the ARIA singles chart and certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association.

He later enrolled in Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London, to study Medicine before he dropped out in 2003 to pursue a singing career.

For his music career, he chose the stage name Jay Sean; "Jay" being his nickname, while "Sean" is derived from "Shaan"—a nickname he was called at home by his grandmother—which means "shining star" or "pride" in the Punjabi language.

After Sean's track "One Minute" fell into the hands of producer Rishi Rich, the Rishi Rich Project was formed (consisting of Rich, Sean and Juggy D) in 2003.

Their first taste of UK chart success was the Asian underground song, "Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)", which became a Top 20 hit, peaking at #12.

This led to Sean signing a £1m deal with Virgin Records, under their label Relentless Records.

His second single, "Eyes on You", was his first solo effort and became a Top 10 hit, peaking at #6.

His third single, "Stolen", peaked at #4, with Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu making an appearance in the video.

This led to him being signed to Virgin Records and having two UK top 10 hits as a solo artist in 2004: "Eyes on You" at No. 6 and "Stolen" at No. 4. They were included in his critically acclaimed debut album Me Against Myself which, though only moderately successful in the UK, sold more than two million copies across Asia and remains his most successful album to date.

Alongside the Rishi Rich Project, Sean was a pioneer of Bhangra-R&B fusion, which his debut album helped popularize among the worldwide South Asian diaspora.

His debut album, Me Against Myself, was released in 2004 and received much critical praise and acclaim.

Sean was referred to as an "Asian sensation" and was praised for his experimental, creative fusion of contemporary R&B, British hip hop and Indian music.

The title track in particular was considered innovative, featuring two alter egos of himself, one an R&B singer and the other a rapper, clashing in a rap battle.

Despite initially failing to reach the top 20 on the UK Albums Chart (where it peaked at #29), the album gradually managed to sell 100,000 copies in the UK and went on to become a substantial hit in India, selling over two million copies there.

He made a brief appearance in the 2005 Bollywood film Kyaa Kool Hai Hum, providing the song "Dil Mera (My Heart)" to the soundtrack, based on "One Night" from his own debut album.

Beyond India, the album sold over 300,000 copies across other parts of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Hong Kong.

His performance of tracks from Me Against Myself on MTV Asia (alongside the Rishi Rich Project) had a television audience as large as 165 million viewers.

It helped establish Sean as a major recognised artist across Asia and among the worldwide Desi diaspora, and remains his most successful album to date.

He eventually left Virgin in 2006 and founded his own independent label, Jayded Records.

After a gap of nearly four years, he returned in 2008 with "Ride It", which reached No. 11 in the UK and topped the charts in several Eastern European countries, including Romania where it was one of the best-selling singles of the year.

It was followed by hits such as "Maybe", which reached No. 7 on the Japan Hot 100, and "Tonight".

They were included in his second album, My Own Way, which became his most successful album on the UK Albums Chart, reaching No. 6, and topped the UK R&B Chart.

At around this time, he began increasingly incorporating electropop sounds into his R&B music.

From 2009 up to 2014, he was signed to Cash Money Records.

In 2009, his American debut single "Down" (featuring Lil Wayne) topped the Billboard Hot 100, making him the first solo artist of South Asian origin and first UK urban act to top the Hot 100.

It was the seventh-best selling song of 2009, having sold more than three million copies in the United States that year, eventually reaching six million sales in the United States, making him the most successful British/European male urban artist in US chart history at the time.

Sean was ranked No. 35 in Billboard ' s Hot 100 Artists of 2009.

As of 2011, it is the fifth best selling song by a British artist in the digital era.