Colby O'Donis

Colby O'Donis
Colby O'Donis in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Colby O'Donis Colón
Born	(1989-03-14) March 14, 1989
Origin	Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, United States
Genres	Pop, R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, guitarist
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Independent
Associated acts	Akon, Kardinal Offishall, Lady Gaga
Website	colbyodonis.com

Colby O'Donis (born Colby O'Donis Colón;^[1] March 14, 1989) is a Grammy-nominated American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and actor. He is best known as a featured artist in the Lady Gaga single "Just Dance", which spent more than eleven months on the Billboard Hot 100. He is also well known for his lead single on his debut album Colby O titled "What You Got" featuring Akon, which peaked at number 14 on the Hot 100, and being featured on Akon's song "Beautiful", which peaked at number 19 on the Hot 100.

Early life

Colby O'Donis Colón, who is of Puerto Rican, African American and Italian descent,^[2] was born in Queens, New York, and grew up there and in Florida.^[3] His mother, Olga, is a singer once crowned Miss Puerto Rico in NY, and his father, Freddy Colón, who is of Puerto Rican and African American decent is a New York disc jockey.^[4][5] He was named after Colby O'Donis, a firefighter who was killed while saving his father's life.^[1] O'Donis has one sister, who is five years older than he is. He has stated that, for seven years, she helped pay for his dance, piano, and guitar lessons out of her own paychecks.^[6][7] His parents first realized his singing talent when he took first place at a talent show by singing a Michael Jackson song when he was only three and a half.^[8]

Career

1997–2007: Beginnings

When he was eight, his parents relocated to Orlando, Florida and a year later he began collaborating with the production group Full Force, the same group that had worked with the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, and Britney Spears.^[9] Colby's rise to fame began at age ten, when he became the youngest recording artist ever signed to Motown Records in order to do a song for a major motion picture soundtrack. The song, titled "Mouse in the House", was featured on the 1999 Stuart Little soundtrack.^[10] Soon after, he began taking guitar lessons with Johan Oiested, a musician in Carlos Santana’s rhythm section. At the age of eleven, he was making regular appearances as an actor on the television series Grandpa's Garage. At age twelve his father bought him his first production studio and, by the time he had reached fourteen, Colby was opening local Florida shows for major recording artists, including the Backstreet Boys, Brian McKnight, 98°, Britney Spears, and Ne-Yo.^[6][11] Shortly after his fifteenth birthday, Colby's parents made the decision to relocate to Los Angeles and pursue a recording deal. After this move, Colby was introduced to Genuine Music Group, where he began collaborating on producing an LP album consisting of songs from his catalog and songs co-written by producers Damon Sharpe, Gregg Pagani, and Brion James.^[8]

In 2006, O'Donis almost signed a record deal with Babyface.^[12] However, before the deal was finalized, O'Donis' management set up a meeting between O'Donis and Akon. They got in the studio where Colby played Akon his first demo of fourteen songs, and Akon loved and "really connected with it". A few weeks later, they set up a session and began working on music where O'Donis said they had really good chemistry from the start. At this time, Akon told O'Donis that he was starting his own label, called Konvict Muzik, and asked if he wanted to be a part of it. O'Donis agreed and, for the next two years, he waited for the label to "get going and achieve the stature they need to launch new artists" before being officially signed.^[3][13]

O'Donis has said that, before he signed with Interscope and Akon, he had already released six independent record albums.^[6][9]

2008–09: "Just Dance"

Colby's first single, "What You Got", featuring Akon, was released on February 26, 2008, and his second single, titled "Don't Turn Back", was released on June 24, 2008. Both singles were released for digital download via iTunes and are featured on his debut album, Colby O. O'Donis was also featured on Lady Gaga's debut single, "Just Dance", earning him a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 50th Grammy Awards. To date, this has been his most successful single.

In 2009, he and Lady Gaga won Best Dance Recording at the Teen Choice Awards for "Just Dance". He also performed a duet with Brooke Hogan entitled "Hey Yo!" later that year, in addition to his single "I Wanna Touch You" being released to radio. The music video for the latter premiered on July 27, 2009.^[14] Also in that year, he was featured in the Akon song "Beautiful".

2010–present: Later career and Start Over

In 2010, he was featured in a song called What You Waiting For by a Malaysian artist called Mizz Nina, which has received extensive airplay in Malaysia and other South East Asian countries. He also released another single, "Texting Flirtation".^[15]

The following year, Colby signed with Z-Entertainment Records and released the digital single "Like Me." The music video premiered on February 9, 2012 on YouTube.^[16]

In 2013, after what he described as "a 4-year hiatus", Colby O'Donis began working on his second studio album, titled Start Over.^[17][18] He released singles "Lean",^[19] "Turn This Night Around", "Come Back",^[20] "State of Mind",^[21] and "Kiss Those Lips"^[22][23] to promote the album. Although planned for a release date in early 2014, the album is still pending.

Influences

O'Donis grew up listening to The Temptations, Luther Vandross, Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Usher, and Mario.^[24]

Discography

• Colby O (2008)

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References