The singer and actress known simply as Amerie was born Amerie Mi Marie Rogers in 1980 and spent the early years of her childhood in her mother’s native South Korea. Amerie’s childhood was filled with worldwide travel, largely due to her father’s position in the United States military. A strict upbringing led Amerie to excel at both academics and extra-curricular pursuits, of which the arts were important part.
After graduating from Georgetown with a degree in English, Amerie had a fortuitous meeting with a representative from Columbia Records, which led to her first recording deal. Amerie’s debut album, All I Have, followed in 2002, although she’d already contributed vocals for Nas’s single “Rule” and Royce da 5’9’’s “Life.” Her first solo endeavor was a huge hit, spawning the single “Why Don’t We Fall in Love,” which rose nearly into the top twenty on the mainstream charts and into the top ten on the R&B and dance charts. The song also led to a Soul Train Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist and additional nominations from the BET Awards and Image Awards.
All I Have was followed by Touch (2005), Because I Love It (2007), and In Love & War (2009.) The albums spawned the additional singles “Talkin’ to Me,” “Touch,” “Talkin’ About,” “Take Control,” “Gotta Work,” and “Why R U.” In addition, Amerie scored two hits with “Heard ‘em All,” performed alongside Lil Wayne, and “Pretty Brown,” featuring Trey Songz. In addition, the song “1 Thing,” which appears on Touch, earned Amerie her second set of award nominations, including two Grammy Award nominations.
Amerie recently switched labels, signing with Island Def Jam, shortly before the release of In Love & War. So far in her career, which is really just getting started, Amerie has also earned multiple nominations from the MTV Video Music Awards and the Soul train Lady of Soul Awards. Although Amerie’s artistic focus is as a singer, she can also be seen in a number of small acting roles, the largest of which was as Mia Thompson in the 2004 film First Daughter.
