Omarion - Singers, Facts and Childhood

Omari Ishmael Grandberry was born on 12 November 1984 in Inglewood, California to Trent Grandberry and Leslie Burrell. He is the first among the couple’s seven children. Notable among his siblings is his younger brother O’Ryan, who is also a singer and songwriter in his own right. The Grandberrys are American and of black ethnicity.

He had always been interested in stage performances in school and elsewhere ever since he was a child. He also started appearing in several advertisements for various products like ‘McDonald’s’ and ‘Kellogg’s Corn Pops’ at the tender age of five.

All throughout high school he was active in the football team and was famous for his unusual dance moves. His big breakthrough came in 1999 when a producer by the name of Chris Stokes formed a boy band ‘B2K’, comprising boys between the ages of 14 to 16 with Omarion as the lead singer.

From 2001 to 2004, ‘B2K’ released three successful albums and even starred together in a 2004 release, ‘You Got Served’, which was a story about a dance group preparing to win against another dance group in a street dance competition.

The ‘B2K’ band split in 2004 which came as a shocker to everyone; however it left Omarion open to pursue a solo career. His 2005 solo album, ‘O’, went on to reach No. 1 on the U.S. Charts. In 2006 he released another album, ‘21’, which included the hit single ‘Ice Box’.

In the mid-2000s, he made a successful transition to the big screen, acting in many movies like ‘Fat Albert’ (2004), ‘The Proud Family Movie’ (2005), ‘Somebody Help Me’ (2007) and ‘Feel the Noise’ (2007) in which he essayed the role of a troubled young musician.

Coming to his TV career, he appeared in sitcoms such as ‘The Bernie Mac Show’ (2004-05), ‘One on One’ (2004– 06) and ‘Cuts’ (2005-06). There were also some other television series in which he appeared. These include ‘Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami’ (2009), ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’ (2010), ‘Let’s Stay Together’ (2012) and ‘Love & Hip Hop’ (2014 –15).

Although Omarion has released seven albums (four studio and three collaborative), a couple of EPs, a mixed tape, and 30 singles, the major highlight of his career remains his debut solo album ‘O’ that received a ‘Grammy Award Nomination’ for Best Contemporary R&B at the 48th Grammy Awards.

His second album ‘21’ contained the hit single ‘Ice Box’ which became a high charting single, reaching the top 20 on Billboard Hot 100. His song ‘Post to Be’ from his solo album ‘Sex Playlist’ recorded a high position of No. 13 on the Hot 100 Chart in 2015.

Omarion has been nominated for several awards for his contributions to music and acting. He has been nominated for favorite R&B male artist by American Music Awards (2005), Most Inspiring Act by Urban Music Awards (2007), Outstanding New Artist Award by NAACP Image Awards (2006) and Outstanding Duo/Group (Omarion & Bow Wow) by NAACP Image Awards (2008).

He won ‘Best New Artist Award’ (BET Awards – 2005) and ‘Viewer’s Choice Award’ (BET Awards – 2005) and was nominated for ‘O’ – Best Contemporary R&B Album by Grammy Awards (2006).

In 2003, Omarion began dating Jennifer Freeman, an actress from the United States, famous for her roles in TV Series like ‘My Wife and Kids’. Though the couple seemed to be compatible with each other and also appeared in a movie together (You Got Served), this relationship did not last long and the couple went their separate ways in 2005.

Post his break-up, Omarion remained single for a long time before finally falling head-over-heels for Apryl Jones. The couple have two kids together, a boy and a girl, who go by the names Megaa Omari and A’mei Kazuko respectively. In 2016, the couple decided to split and go their separate ways.

In 2014, rumors surfaced about Omarion demanding that his son go through a DNA test as he suspected Apryl of having an affair with a Mexican lover. She had, according to the grapevine, refused to undergo such a test. This rumor was later rubbished.

In 2014 Omarion was jailed for failing to show up in court for a traffic ticket, and in that very same year, in an unrelated incident, his nude pictures surfaced all over the internet via iCloud.

Following the release of Rihanna’s song ‘Russian Roulette’ which was about darkness and evil, and worshipping the devil, Omarion went on record to say that such evil practices do happen in the music industry.

His favourite movie is ‘Braveheart’ and his favourite actor is Robin Williams.

Christopher B. Stokes, the man who gave him his first break, is his uncle by marriage.

His mother Leslie is his stylist and had also been the stylist for the band ‘B2K’. He almost signed a contract with Lil Wayne which was later dropped as he wished to pursue other opportunities at that time.