Omarion Biography
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Omarion (born Omari Ishmael Grandberry on November
12, 1984 in Inglewood, California) is an African-American R&B singer and the
former lead singer of boy band, B2K.
Omarion was the last member to join B2K, at age 16.
He was introduced to Raz-B, J Boog, and Lil' Fizz through Chris Stokes, IMX's
manager. Omarion and IMX member Marques Houston are half-brothers and in fact
can be seen showing off a house they live in together on an episode of the
popular MTV show, Cribs. Marques's mother died when he was young. Omarion is
also the older brother of R&B singer, O'Ryan.
B2K disbanded in January, 2004, right after
appearing in the Screen Gems film, You Got Served. Omarion went on to start a
solo career and has a solo debut LP, entitled O, that was released through Epic
Records on February 22, 2005.
****
Appearances on Punk'd
Omarion became the second celebrity ever to be on
Punk'd more than twice. Omarion's first appearance was when he went over a
girl's house because she had a mini party, the girl came out with Omarion, and
her father came home and got upset with Omarion. His second was when Omarion
passes the prank on his half-brother Marques Houston to help break up with
Omarion's girlfriend because the actress who played her was pregnant.
London
bombings controversy
Press
release
Omarion was in London to attend the Live 8 show
when the London bombings occurred on July 7, 2005. About eleven hours after the
bombings, at 7:34 pm BDT, a press release was issued through PRWireService
stating:
T.U.G./Sony Recording Artist Omarion was in London
during the tragic bombings that struck this morning. He would like his fans to
pray that he has a safe trip and a safe return home. He appreciates your
support.
The following day, on July 8 at 1:30 pm BDT,
Reuters ran a story identifying a public relations firm, AR PR Marketing, as the
source of the press release, and further identifying Shana Gilmore as his
publicist. It quoted her as saying, in response to a question as to why anyone
would need to pray for Omarion, "He wasn't hurt or anything, but just the fact
that he was there and all that."
The release and subsequent Reuters article
engendered a great deal of fierce criticism aimed at the singer, given that
Omarion had been nowhere near any of the bombing sites, and also given that the
release made no mention of the fatalities and injuries actually incurred in the
incident.
Authenticity
Omarion shortly thereafter issued a statement
denying any connection with AR PR Marketing or Shana Gilmore, saying he was "in
no way affiliated with the PR marketing firm mentioned in the piece" and that
Gilmore was "not a legitimate representative of the artist, is not known to the
artist, and is not acting on the artist's behalf."
Gilmore stated that she was not Omarion's
publicist, that she had not issued the release, and that she had been misquoted.
It is worthwhile to note, however, that according to her firm's website, AR PR
Marketing handled a release party for Omarion's 2005 release, O, on May 6, 2005.
PR NewsWire disputed Omarion and Gilmore's
statements, stating that the company "conducts exhaustive background checks to
verify the source of the release" and that Omarion's label, T.U.G./Sony paid the
fee associated with the release's publication on PRNewsWire.
Internet meme
In response to this incident, members of several
Internet communities (most notably Fark) now jokingly urge other posters to
'pray for Omarion' even in the face of disasters to which he has no connection,
such as Hurricane Katrina and the Baghdad bridge stampede.
Discography
Albums
2005 O #1 U.S. , #1 Hip-Hop & R.B. Charts (185,000
copies and is now Gold)
****
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URL of Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omarion
Date Article Copied:
December 19, 2005
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