Biography

Jason Derulo was born to Haitian parents on September 21, 1989 in Miami. He started making performances since the age of five and wrote his first song, "Crush On You", when he was eight. He recalled on from where he learned music, "I grew up as a huge Michael Jackson fan, studying his videos, copying all his moves. I'd practice singing Usher and Justin Timberlake songs while doing their moves." He then moved to New York and studied American Musical and Dramatic Academy. At the age of twelve, he met his future manager Frank Harris who then helped him improve his basketball skill. Four years later, he began writing songs for big stars such as P. Diddy, Danity Kane, Donnie Klang, Sean Kingston, Cassie and Lil' Mama. "I was most impressed initially with Jason's writing," producer J.R. Rotem praised him. "Although we knew he was interested in being a solo artist, we were feeling him out as a writer. But from the first night in the studio there was a magical chemistry, he was vibing off my beats, I was loving his energy and melodies. We recorded a bunch of songs and it was on!" Proving his talent in songwriting booth, Jason wanted to do more than just penning songs. In 2009, he inked a joint venture deal between Beluga Heights and Warner Bros. Also, he was signed by "American Idol" judge and Warner Bros. Records Senior Vice President of A&R Kara DioGuardi as the flagship artist to launch the new venture. In August 2009, he debuted a solo single "Whatcha Say" which hit No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 after three months of release. The chart-busting single which samples Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" was then followed by another catchy song "In My Head". Like its predecessor, the track also cracked the Top 10 of the U.S. singles chart, peaking at No. 9. Produced by top-notched producer Rotem, his self-titled album "Jason Derulo" was released in the United States March 2, 2010. He cross-promoted the record while serving as a supporting act for Lady GaGa's Monster Ball tour. Of what he wanted to achieve with the effort, Jason humbly said, "I don't feel like I'm competing with other artist. I'm just going to try and be the best I can be. And when I get to that level, well, I'll figure out a way to get better." His sophomore set "Future History" arrived a year later. "There's records on the album that are deeply emotional, very vulnerable, just all sorts of things," he said. Lead single "Don't Wanna Go Home" became the highest-charting song from the album, reaching No. 14 on Billboard Hot 100. He was supposed to go on tour after the album arrived, but was forced to cancel it after he broke one of his vertebrae. Two years in the making, a third album "Tattoos" was finally rolled out in September 2013. It featured Jordin Sparks, the "American Idol" alum whom he recently dated. Although the album couldn't surpass the success of his previous CDs on the U.S. album chart, it produced his highest-charting single ever. "Talk Dirty" which featured 2 Chainz peaked at No. 3 on Hot 100. Six months after "Tattoos" was released anywhere but in the U.S., Derulo announced in March 2014 that he would be releasing a project with 4 newly recorded songs and 7 from "Tattoos" as the U.S album. The album, which had different artwork and was retitled to "Talk Dirty", was released Stateside on April 15, 2014. It peaked at No. 4 on Billboard 200 with Derulo's best sales week so far. In 2015, Derulo repeated the success of "Talk Dirty" with another hit called "Want to Want Me". The latter song was released in March 2015 as the lead single off his fourth studio album, which is aptly titled "Everything Is 4", and recently debuted at No. 4 on Billboard 200. The newest hit has peaked at No. 5 on Billboard Hot 100. It additionally became the most added track in the history of Top 40 radio. Shattering the previous record held by Justin Timberlake at 126, "Want to Want Me" was added to 156 monitored pop stations, making it the biggest Top 40 U.S. radio launch. [h/t: aceshowbiz]