Nelly

Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.

Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. was born on November 2, 1974, in Austin, Texas, the only son of Cornell Haynes and Rhonda Mack.

His father served in the Air Force for much of his childhood and when he was seven, his parents divorced.

As a teenager, Haynes moved with his mother from St. Louis, Missouri, to University City, a St. Louis County suburb.

While in high school, Nelly formed the St. Lunatics with his friends Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, Slo Down, and his half brother City Spud.

He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop group St. Lunatics.

The group enjoyed moderate local popularity with their single "Gimme What Ya Got" in 1996.

Despite being popular in Missouri and the surrounding areas, the group struggled to achieve success outside of St. Louis.

The rest of the group agreed to let Nelly go solo after a major record deal failed to appear.

He launched the clothing line Vokal in 1997 and the line of womenswear, Apple Bottoms in 2003.

His record label imprint, Derrty Entertainment was launched as a joint venture with Motown also in the latter year, although it has been largely inactive.

He signed with Universal Records in 1999 as a solo act to release his debut studio album, Country Grammar (2000) in June of the following year.

Its namesake lead single and follow-up, "Ride wit Me" (featuring City Spud) both entered the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, while the album peaked atop the Billboard 200 and received diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Later in 1999, Nelly was signed to Universal Music Group by A&R Kevin Law.

Law told HitQuarters that Nelly was largely disliked by the label when he first signed, with the feedback he received from his colleagues on the rapper's music being "extraordinarily negative".

Nelly was unusual for being a rapper from the Midwest at a time when hip-hop was dominated by the East Coast, West Coast and the South.

The label used this to their advantage by branding him as a star of the Midwest, hoping to inspire pride in the people of St Louis and the surrounding regions.

Despite the negative feedback he received from the label, his debut single, "Country Grammar (Hot Shit)", was a success, peaking at number 7 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and UK singles chart.

Recognizing Nelly's potential, the label began to change their mind and allowed work to begin on his debut album.

The label decided to do a solo record with him first and then reunite him with the St. Lunatics the following year.

The label released his debut album, Country Grammar, in 2000.

The success of its title track as a single (number 7 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 Hot Rap Tracks) led to the album debuting at number three in the Billboard 200 in the U.S. Other singles from the album included "E.I."; "Ride wit Me", featuring City Spud; and "Batter Up", featuring the St. Lunatics.

His second album, Nellyville (2002) spawned two consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma" (featuring Kelly Rowland), along with the top-five single, "Air Force Ones" (featuring Murphy Lee and St. Lunatics).

In 2002, Nelly's second album, Nellyville, was released, debuting at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 Music Albums; its lead single "Hot in Herre" was a number-one hit.

Other singles included "Dilemma", which featured Kelly Rowland and sold over 7.6 million records worldwide, "Work It" featuring Justin Timberlake, "Air Force Ones" featuring Murphy Lee and the St. Lunatics, "Pimp Juice", and "#1".

This album was highly successful and was certified 6x multi-platinum on June 27, 2003.

"Hot in Herre" won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rap Solo Performance in 2003.

In 2003, Nelly released Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention, which featured the hit single "Iz U" from the soundtrack to Walt Disney's The Haunted Mansion.

The music video of a Tip Drill Remix became a source of controversy due to perceptions of misogynistic depictions of women.

The controversy forced him to cancel an appearance at a bone marrow drive at Spelman College, a historically black college in Atlanta.

The same-day dual release of his next albums Sweat and Suit (2004)—bundled into compilation album Sweatsuit (2005)—promptly continued his success; Sweat debuted at number two while Suit debuted at number one, selling an estimated 700,000 combined units in their first week.

The album was certified 9× platinum by the RIAA on April 27, 2004.

Nelly performed as a special guest in the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show.

Outside of recording, he starred in the 2005 sports film, The Longest Yard alongside Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.

His fifth studio album, Brass Knuckles (2008) was supported by the singles "Party People" (featuring Fergie), "Stepped on My J'z" (featuring Jermaine Dupri and Ciara) and "Body on Me" (featuring Akon and Ashanti).

In December 2009, Billboard ranked Nelly at number three on the Top Artists of the Decade list for the 2000s.

His sixth album, 5.0 (2010), delved further into pop; its lead single, "Just a Dream" received triple platinum certification by the RIAA and was followed by "Move That Body" (featuring T-Pain and Akon) and "Gone" (featuring Kelly Rowland).

His seventh and eighth albums, M.O. (2013) and Heartland (2021) were met with moderate to lukewarm commercial response and mixed reviews—the latter was released by Columbia Records and marked a full departure from his previous styles in favor of country rap.

Nelly has won multiple accolades throughout his career, including three Grammy Awards and nine Billboard Music Awards.

He has been referred to by Peter Shapiro as "one of the biggest stars of the new millennium", and in 2014, Nelly was ranked as the fourth-best-selling hip hop artist in American music history according to the RIAA, with 21 million albums sold in the United States.