jamie

Music Career

Jamie Foxx is a singer and accomplished musician. He started playing piano at a young age, and later took classical piano lessons while attending college. In 1994, Foxx released an album (on the Fox record label) entitled Peep This, which was only mildly successful. In 2001, he hosted the MTV Video Music Awards.

His music career went into a higher gear when, in 2004, he was featured on rapper Twista's song, "Slow Jamz", also featuring Kanye West. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, as well as number three on the UK singles chart. Foxx's second collaboration with Kanye West, "Gold Digger", in which he sang the "I Got a Woman" Ray Charles-influenced hook, went straight to #1 on the Billboard Top 100, and remained there for 10 weeks straight. In 2005, Foxx was featured on the hit single "Georgia" by Atlanta rappers Ludacris and Field Mob. The song sampled Ray Charles' hit "Georgia on My Mind".

Foxx received a nomination for a 2006 Grammy Award for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance ("Creepin").

Unpredictable is Jamie Foxx's second studio release. It sold over 598,000 copies in its first week but reached the U.S. #1 spot in its 2nd week.

After debuting in the first week at No. 2, Unpredictable rose to the top of the Billboard pop album chart, with 2nd-week sales of 200,000 copies in the United States. The album also charted in the UK top 10 album chart, peaking at No. 9. It has since been certified silver.

Foxx became the fourth artist to have won an Academy Award for acting (for his portrayal of Charles in Ray) and achieved a No. 1 album in the US. (The other three to accomplish this feat were Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Barbra Streisand.) Foxx's first single from the album, the title track, "Unpredictable" (featuring Ludacris) samples "WildFlower" by New Birth. The song peaked inside the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and also made the UK top 20 singles chart. The second US single from the album was "DJ Play A Love Song", which reunited Foxx with Twista. In the UK, however, the second single was "Extravaganza", which saw Foxx once again collaborate with Kanye West. He was not, however, featured in the song's music video.

At the BET Awards of 2006, Jamie Foxx won two awards: Best Collaboration w/ Kanye West for "Gold Digger" and Video of the Year for the same video. Kanye's video tied with Mary J. Blige (Be Without You) for Video of the year.

Trivia

• No relation to Redd Foxx whose real name was John Sanford. However, Jamie used the last name Foxx as a tribute to Sanford.
• His selection for the title role in Ray was personally approved by Ray Charles himself. Charles had helped train Foxx in understanding his process at the piano.
• Has a daughter that he took with him to the 2005 Academy Awards
• He had a very minor role as a soldier in Eddie Murphy's 1988 comedy motion picture, Coming to America.
• He claims in a comedic way that he was the person who covered Janet Jackson's breast in a semi-nude photoshoot including his own nude photo with his genitalia covered by "Michael Jackson's" hand. The photos he presented in MTV Icon are obviously digitally edited. The special does not repeat anymore due to the Jackson trial.
• Cousin of Michael Bishop, a quarterback in the Arena Football League and Canadian Football League with the Chicago Rush and the Toronto Argonauts respectively. Bishop was also a former quarterback with the New England Patriots.

Filmography

• Coming To America (1988) (extra, name not listed in credits)
• Toys (1992)
• Straight from the Foxxhole (1993)
• The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996)
• The Great White Hype (1996)
• Booty Call (1997)
• Held Up (1999)
• Any Given Sunday (1999)
• All Jokes Aside (2000) (documentary)
• Bait (2000)
• Ali (2001)
• I Might Need Security (2002)
• Shade (2003)
• Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)
• Breakin' All the Rules (2004)
• Collateral (2004) – ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION FOR BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
• Ray (2004) – ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
• Stealth (2005)
• Jarhead (2005)
• Miami Vice (2006)

Upcoming:

• Dreamgirls (2006)
• The Kingdom (2007)
• Damage Control (2007)

Discography

Albums

• 1995: Peep This #78 US (sold 200,000 copies)
• 2005: Unpredictable #1 (3 weeks) US [Certified: 2xPlatinum], #9 UK [Certified: Silver]

Singles

Solo Singles

Collaborations

Guest vocals

Album appearances

• 2003: MC Lyte, "Where Home Is" (from the album Da Undaground Heat, Vol. 1)
• 2004: Twista, "Slow Jamz" (from the album Kamikaze)
• 2005: 50 Cent, "Build You Up" (from the album The Massacre)
• 2005: Kanye West, "Gold Digger" (from the album Late Registration)
• 2005: Twista, "When I Get You Home" (from the album The Day After)
• 2005: DTP, "Georgia" (from the album Disturbing Tha Peace)
• 2006: T.I., "Live In The Sky" (from the album King)
• 2006: LL Cool J, "Best Dress" (from the album Todd Smith)

Compilation appearances

• 2005: "Creepin'" (from So Amazing)

External links

• Jamie Foxx at the Internet Movie Database
• Jamie Foxx at MusicBrainz
• Jamie Foxx Official Site
• Jamie Foxx Official UK Site
• InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Jamie Foxx (TV Interview)
• Jamie Foxx Videos on AOL Music
• Jamie Foxx lyrics
• Jamie Foxx to play Bob Marley in biopic