Jesse McCartney

Early LifeMcCartney was born to Ginger and Scott McCartney in Westchester, New York. He began performing in local community musicals at the age of seven, before joining the national tour of The King and I at age ten along with Phil of the Future star Ricky Ullman. Here he played the character of Louis. In 1998 he sang with the group Sugar Beats and can be heard on their 1998, 1999, and 2000 CD releases.[1]

[edit] Music Career[edit] 1999–2002: Dream StreetIn 1999, McCartney joined the American pop boy band Dream Street, and was a member until 2002. Jesse McCartney has described the experience as a good "stepping stone" for his solo career.[2] The group earned a gold record with their debut CD. At fifteen, he began work on a solo career with a local band, featuring musicians Dillon Kondor (guitar), Peter Chema (bass), Katie Spencer (keyboards), Alex Russeku (drums), Karina LaGravinese (background vocals), Sharisse Francisco (background vocals), and under the management of Ginger McCartney and Sherry Goffin Kondor, who co-produced his first album, Beautiful Soul.

McCartney released his first solo EP in July 2003. The album featured three songs: "Beautiful Soul", "Don't You", "Why Don't You Kiss Her". In 2004, he performed a duet with Anne Hathaway, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", which is featured on the Ella Enchanted soundtrack.

[edit] 2004–2006: Beautiful Soul and Right Where You Want Me

McCartney at a Bryant Park performance, June 24, 2005McCartney's debut solo album, Beautiful Soul, which was two years in the making, was released on September 28, 2004 in the United States and over a year later in Europe.[3] He categorized it as a "pop record" with twists of urban.[4] The album featured four songs that he co-wrote.[5] Beautiful Soul reached number 15 on the Billboard 200.[6] The album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, denoting over one million units of shipment to US retailers; it is his highest-certified album as of early 2009.[7] As of mid-2006, the album had sold more than 1.5 million copies.[5] The album's lead single of the same name reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.[8] McCartney was one of the artist with multiple awards at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, winning Choice Crossover Artist, Choice Male Artist and Choice Breakout, Male.[9] The following year, he won Favorite Male Singer at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.[5]

His first headlining tour, also named Beautiful Soul, began on May 2, 2005 at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento, California.[4] The United States portion of the tour spanned 56 stops, ending on September 10, 2005 at the Madera District County Fair in Madera, California. In the fall of 2005, McCartney toured Australia, and opened for the Backstreet Boys in Europe in the summer of 2005. His July 9 performance at California's Great America in Santa Clara, California was recorded, released as Live: The Beautiful Soul Tour in November 2005.[3]

He has contributed to numerous Disney soundtracks including Disneymania 2, Radio Disney Jingle Jams, A Cinderella Story, That's So Raven, Stuck in the Suburbs, Disneymania 3, Sydney White, Radio Disney Jams, Vol. 7, Radio Disney Jams, Vol. 8, DisneyMania 4, Hannah Montana, Radio Disney: Party Jams, That's So Raven Too! and Radio Disney Jams, Vol. 9.

After the filming of Keith wrapped, McCartney began working on his second album, Right Where You Want Me, co-writing all but one of the songs featured in it.[5][10] Right Where You Want Me is more mature than his debut, reflecting his musical and personal growth since he recorded his debut album at age 15.[3] Released by Hollywood Records on September 19, 2006, the album reached number 14 on the Billboard 200.[6] The lead single of the album, "Right Where You Want Me", began receiving airplay on July 11, 2006. Although he did not launch a full tour, he did various promotional shows in Italy and the United States.

[edit] 2007–2009: Songwriting and DepartureIn the fall of 2007, McCartney co-wrote the hit song "Bleeding Love" with Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, produced by McCartney and Tedder for McCartney's third album, but gave it away to English singer Leona Lewis for her debut album, Spirit. The song was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2009 Grammy Awards.[11] McCartney recorded his own version, which was released on some editions of his Departure album.

McCartney performing in Metairie, Louisiana on February 15, 2009McCartney released his third album, Departure, on May 20, 2008 in the United States and Canada. Musically, it is a departure from his early works, showcasing more mature themes.[12] The album