From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colby O'Donis
O'Donis at the CUN Awards, February 2009
Background information
Birth name	Colby O'Donis
Born	March 14, 1989 (1989-03-14) (age 21)
Origin	Jackson Heights, Queens, New York
Genres	Pop, R&B, hip hop, dance-pop
Occupations	singer-songwriter, actor, guitarist, pianist, dancer
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Kon Live Geffen Records Motown Records
Associated acts	Akon, T-Pain, Lady Gaga, Kardinal Offishall, Romeo, Paul Wall, Brooke Hogan
Website	www.colbyodonis.com

Colby O'Donis (born March 14, 1989) is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and actor. In 2008, he released his debut album Colby O and his single "What You Got" featuring Akon reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Early Life

Colby O'Donis was born in Queens^[1] on March 14, 1989. He is of Guyanese and Puerto Rican descent. He was raised as a Catholic in Altamonte Springs, Fl, a suburb of Orlando, Fl. O'Donis's talent was discovered at age 3 when he won first place at a talent show by singing a Michael Jackson song.

Music Career

By age of 8, Colby's parents had relocated to Altamonte Springs, Florida where he began collaborating with producer/songwriters, Full Force, who were responsible for numerous hits by the Backstreet Boys, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, 'N Sync, and Britney Spears. Colby's rise to fame began at 10 when he became the youngest recording artist ever signed to Motown Records to do a song for a major motion picture soundtrack. The song titled "Mouse in the House" was featured on the 1999 Stuart Little soundtrack. Soon after, he began taking guitar lessons with Johan Oiested, a musician in Carlos Santana’s rhythm section. At age 11, he appeared regularly as an actor on the TV series Grandpa's Garage. By age 14, Colby's passion for music had him opening shows for major recording artists including JoJo, A*Teens, Hoku, S Club 7, Jump5, B-5, Backstreet Boys, Brian McKnight, 98° and 'N Sync. Shortly after his 15th birthday, Colby's parents made the decision to relocate to Los Angeles and pursue a recording deal using Colby’s 100+ song catalogue. Upon relocating, Colby was introduced to Genuine Music Group where he began collaborating on producing an LP album consisting of songs from his catalog and songs co-written by producer's Damon Sharpe (J-Lo, Ginuwine, Kelly Rowland, Anastacia), Gregg Pagani (Babyface, Musiq, 3LW), Brion James, Manuel Seal Jr. (Mariah Carey, Usher, Mary J. Blige) and multi-platinum recording artist Justin Timberlake. Colby also performed in California, opening shows for Keyshia Cole, 112, Montell Jordan, Daddy Yankee, Omarion, Don Omar, Brandy, Akon, Rihanna, Bobby Valentino, Ne-Yo and Lil Wayne. He was also briefly featured on an episode of Nickelodeon's Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide as Nelson Duckworth.

Colby O (2008–present)

Colby's first single, "What You Got" featuring Akon, was released on February 26, 2008 and his second single titled "Don't Turn Back" was released on June 24, 2008. Both singles were released for digital download via iTunes, and are featured on his debut album Colby O. He was also featured on Lady Gaga's debut single, "Just Dance". At the 50th Grammy Awards, he received a nomination for Best Dance Recording for his contribution on Lady Gaga's "Just Dance". In 2009, he made a duet with Brooke Hogan entitled "Hey Yo!".

Discography

• 2008: Colby O

References