1984–1998: Early life and career beginnings Omarion was born Omari Ishmael Grandberry on November 12, 1984, in
Inglewood, California to Leslie Burrell and Trent Grandberry. His younger brother,
O'Ryan, is also a singer. He appeared in commercials for both
Kellogg's Corn Pops and
McDonald's. He started his dancing career as a background dancer for the R&B girl group
Before Dark and appeared in their music videos. Omarion soon began pursuing a career in music, and would go on to become the lead singer of the boy band
B2K.
1998–2004: B2K Omari joined the group
B2K in 1998 and took the stage name
Omarion. The group named themselves B2K, an acronym for "Boys of The New Millennium". They began touring with
Lil Bow Wow and eventually released their debut single, "
Uh Huh", in 2001. They soon after released their debut album, the self-titled
B2K, on March 12, 2002. The album peaked at No. 2 on the
Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. They followed the album up in December with their second album,
Pandemonium!, supported by their most successful single, "
Bump, Bump, Bump" featuring
P. Diddy. The single peaked at No. 1 on the
Billboard Hot 100. This would prove to be the group's last album, as they would disband in early 2004.
2004–2008: O, 21, and Face Off In early 2004, Omarion appeared in several films, most notably
You Got Served, in which he starred alongside
Marques Houston, as well as his former
B2K bandmates. The movie centered on a group of friends in a
hip hop dance crew who take part in underground dance competitions. That same year, he played the role of the school bully "Reggie" in the comedy
Fat Albert, based on the animated series
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. On February 22, 2005, Omarion released his debut solo album,
O. The album debuted at No. 1 on the
Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. The first single from the album was "
O". The single peaked at No. 27 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second single, "
Touch", peaked at No. 94 on the
Billboard Hot 100. The album received a third and final release with "I'm Tryna".
O has sold over 758,000 copies in the United States since its release. Omarion received a Grammy nomination for the album at the
48th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary R&B Album. On December 26, 2006, Omarion released his second album,
21. The album debuted at No. 1 on the
Billboard 200 and
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. The first single from the album was "
Entourage". The second single, "
Ice Box", produced by
Timbaland, peaked at No. 12 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and is Omarion's most successful solo single to date, reaching gold certification by the RIAA.
21 has sold over 390,000 copies in the United States since its release. Towards the end of 2007, he displayed his acting skills in the thriller
Somebody Help Me. This movie was released exclusively on DVD and aired on BET in celebration of
Halloween. Omarion has also made several appearances in a number of TV shows, including
One on One. Omarion also played the voice of Fifteen Cent in
The Proud Family Movie. His portrayal of a rapper who gets involved with thugs in the movie
Feel the Noise, which he co-produced, received mixed reviews from critics. In late 2007, Omarion and
Bow Wow recorded a collaboration album titled
Face Off. The album sold over 100,000 copies in its first week and went on to sell over 500,000 copies, reaching gold certification by the RIAA. The first single from the album was "
Girlfriend", followed up by "
Hey Baby" as the second single.
2009–2010: EMI and Ollusion On March 30, 2009,
Lil Wayne confirmed that Omarion was affiliated (though not officially signed) with
Young Money Entertainment. Four months later, he parted ways with the label; both Lil Wayne and Omarion confirmed that his departure had been for business reasons. Omarion then signed with
EMI and created his own label, StarrWorld Entertainment. He later re-released the single "
I Get It In" with Lil Wayne replaced by
Gucci Mane. In January 2010, Omarion released his second single, "
Speedin'". That same month, he released his third studio album,
Ollusion, which sold 19,400 copies in its first week. Omarion also became a judge on the
fifth season of ''
America's Best Dance Crew'', replacing former judge
Shane Sparks. He left after Season 5 to focus on his music career.
2011–2017: Sex Playlist In early 2011, Omarion worked on his first mixtape presented by
DJ Drama, titled
The Awakening. Originally set to be released on April 27, 2011, the mixtape was instead released on May 11, 2011. In November 2011, Omarion was seen on set with Japanese star
Koda Kumi. On December 6, 2011, it was revealed that he collaborated with the star on the song "Slow" for her 2012 album
Japonesque and appeared in the music video. On May 2, 2012, Omarion signed with
Rick Ross label
Maybach Music Group and
Warner Bros. Records. He then appeared on
Self Made Vol. 2, which made the Top 10 on the
Billboard 200. Also in 2012, Omarion signed to
Jay-Z's
Roc Nation Management. On November 29, 2012, he released his debut EP,
Care Package. September 2013 saw the release of
Self Made Vol. 3 featuring Omarion, which also reached the Top 10 on
Billboard 200 at number 4.
Care Package 2, his second EP, was released on November 5, 2013. On February 14, 2014, he released "You Like It", the first single in promotion of his fourth studio album,
Sex Playlist. On August 18, Omarion was cast to be a part of
Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood along with his mother, and girlfriend Apryl Jones while awaiting the arrival of their first child. In November 2014, he released a second single, "
Post to Be", featuring
Chris Brown and
Jhené Aiko.
Sex Playlist was released on December 2, 2014. "Post to Be" gained substantial commercial success, reaching No. 13 on the
Billboard Hot 100. The song peaked in the top ten on the Urban Radio chart, the Rhythmic chart, and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, reaching gold status by the RIAA in May 2015. The song also won him a
Soul Train Music Award for Best Collaboration. In June 2015, Omarion stated in an interview that he wanted to open his own dance studio by the end of the year. He released his third EP,
Care Package 3 on November 12, 2015. November 2017 was met with the release of the fourth EP,
Care Package 4. Omarion released the song "
Distance" in 2017, for which he filmed a music video in
South Africa.
2018–2023: The Millennium Tour and The Kinection In 2018, he was featured on the track "Tell Me" from
Anatii's album
Artiifact. That same year, he also appeared in the "Get It Now" remix music video by
Tiwa Savage as a featured artist. In 2019, B2K briefly reformed to go on
The Millennium Tour; joined by supporting acts Mario, Ying Yang Twins, Chingy, Pretty Ricky, Bobby V and Lloyd. The tour kicked off on March 8 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and wrapped up on April 28 in Louisville, Kentucky. It was later announced that Omarion would be continuing The Millennium Tour without his bandmates and with
Bow Wow and other acts added to the lineup for 2020 dates. The group was nominated for Top R&B Tour at the
2020 Billboard Music Awards. In 2020, Omarion released the single "Can You Hear Me?" featuring a guest verse from
T-Pain. The single was announced as the lead song from Omarion's fifth album,
The Kinection. On October 29,
Omarion presents Thriller Night premiered on
YouTube in celebration of the album release. The event included Prince Jackson live from
Michael Jackson's
Hayvenhurst Estate. Omarion released
The Kinection on October 30, 2020. In 2021, Omarion competed in
season five of
The Masked Singer as the wild card contestant "Yeti". Certain performances have the Yeti's feet swapped out with different footwear. He finished in fourth place. On May 31, 2021, "We Will Never Forget" with Omarion,
Lalah Hathaway, and
Kierra Sheard was released by being featured in the documentary film,
Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street which was executive produced by
LeBron James, with all proceeds going to
Color of Change. Omarion headlined
The Millennium Tour in the fall of 2021 and concurrently released a single with
Soulja Boy and
Bow Wow titled "EX" from his forthcoming album
Sex Playlist 2, which he announced through
Songtrust. He was nominated for Top R&B Tour and Top Rap Tour at the
2022 Billboard Music Awards, winning the latter award alongside Bow Wow. On June 23, 2022, he did a
Verzuz on season 2 with
Mario. He soon after announced his new book,
Unbothered: The Power Of Choosing Joy, his second book after 2005's
O, which was published by
MTV. He also announced a new 5-part docuseries called,
Omega: The Gift and the Curse, set for
pay-per-view release on July 21, 2022 via the website Omarion Worldwide. In March 2023, the documentary was aired in a five part event on both
We TV and
Allblk after 2020's partnership with
Zeus Network to premiere the film fell through due to the company allegedly withholding unaired footage.
2023–present: Full Circle Sonic Book One & Two and further acting In April 2023, Omarion released the single "Serious" from his album
Full Circle: Sonic Book 1. A video for the song, dedicated to men who had been wrongfully incarcerated, premiered on October 20. “Serious” gained popularity on social media, reaching the number one spot on iTunes’ R&B/Soul Singles and Amazon’s R&B Best Sellers charts. Omarion’s follow-up single, “Taking Off”, featuring singer BJRNCK, from his album
Full Circle: Sonic Book 2, reached No. 28 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart dated March 30, becoming his second song in four months to debut on the chart, following "Serious" which debuted during the week of November 11, 2023, and peaked at No. 18 in January. In February 2024, Omarion announced his Vbz on Vbz Tour, which was set to kick off April 5, but the tour was later canceled. In October 2024, it was announced that Omarion would be starring in a series that he executive-produced for
ALLBLK called
Wild Rose in the main cast as the titled character "Rose", set to debut on March 12, 2026. ==Personal life==