'''Jamie Foxx''' (born '''Eric Marlon Bishop''' on December 13, 1967 in Terrell, Texas), is an American Oscar-winning actor, Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum-selling R&B singer, and comedian. He won the 2004 Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Ray,'' a biopic about the life of the late musician Ray Charles.
Music Career
Jamie Foxx is also 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",
