Tyrese Gibson Biography

Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978), also known mononymously as Tyrese, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, author, television producer, former fashion model and MTV VJ. He is best known for his roles as Joseph "Jody" Summers in Baby Boy , Roman Pearce in the Fast and the Furious series and Robert Epps in the Transformers film series. After releasing several albums, he transitioned into films, with lead roles in several major Hollywood releases.

Early life

Gibson was born and raised in Watts, Los Angeles, California. His mother, Priscilla Murray Gibson (ne Durham), raised him and his three older siblings as a single parent after Gibson's father, Tyrone Gibson, left. Gibson attended Florida A&M University.

Music career

Music beginnings

Gibson's career began when he auditioned for a Coca Cola commercial at the suggestion of his high school music teacher. An appearance in a 1994 Coca-Cola advertisement, singing the phrase "Always Coca-Cola", led to bigger fame. It led him to other appearances for Guess and Tommy Hilfiger.

1998-99: Tyrese

In early 1998, Gibson was signed as an artist to early RCA Records. Afterwards, he released his debut single "Nobody Else". It quickly rose on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #36. On September 29, 1998, he released his self-titled album Tyrese at the age of 19. It debuted on the Billboard charts at #17. In late 1998, Gibson became the new host of the weekday music video show MTV Jams on MTV and a host and VJ for the channel. Afterwards, he released the second single from the album "Lately". It made it to #56 on the Billboard charts. Then, the album's third single and highest charting single "Sweet Lady" became the album's biggest hit, reaching #9 on the R&B charts. The single earned Gibson a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance. The album eventually went on to be certified Platinum. Gibson along with singers Ginuwine, RL of Next and Case were featured on the soundtrack of The Best Man on the single "The Best Man I Can Be".

2001: 2000 Watts

On May 22, 2001, Gibson released his second studio album, 2000 Watts. The first single off the album was "I Like Them Girls," which reached #15 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album went on to be certified Gold, selling over 500,000 copies. The third single off the album, "Just a Baby Boy," with Snoop Dogg and Mr. Tan, was featured on the soundtrack to the film Baby Boy, Gibson's first major acting role.

2002-03: I Wanna Go There

After RCA Records was disbanded Gibson went on to sign to J Records. There he released his third studio album I Wanna Go There on December 10, 2002. His first single from the album and arguably his most successful single to date "How You Gonna Act Like That" debuted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #7.

2006-07: Alter Ego

On December 12, 2006, Gibson released his fourth studio album Alter Ego, his first double disc album. It was also his first album in which he debuts his rapping persona. The first single off the album was "One" debuting on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #26. The album itself is considered Gibson's lowest selling album to date. In 2007, Gibson, Ginuwine and Tank founded TGT.

2011-12: Open Invitation

After taking time from music to focus on his family and his highly successful acting career, Gibson decided it was time to return to music. In 2011, he signed himself and his newly founded label Voltron Recordz to EMI and announced he was working on a new album titled Open Invitation. On August 16, 2011, Gibson released the lead single "Stay".the music video for the single featured fellow actor, friend and Baby Boy co-star Taraji P. Henson. It peaked on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #11. The second single "Too Easy" featured fellow actor, friend and rapper Ludacris. It peaked on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #38. The third single "Nothing On You" peaked on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #61. Open Invitation was released on November 1, 2011. It debuted on the US Billboard 200 albums chart at #9, sold 130,000 copies in its first week and has gone on to sell over 400,000 copies. In 2013, the album earned Gibson his third Grammy nomination at the 2013 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album.

2013-present: TGT and Black Rose

In early 2013, it was announced and confirmed after much speculation that Gibson, Ginuwine, and Tank would be releasing their debut collaboration album, to be distributed by Atlantic Records. On April 10, 2013, Gibson announced that he is working on a new album titled Black Rose, expected to be released some time in 2014. It will serve as Gibson's final studio album. It will be a double album set to be released in the summer of 2015. On July 10, 2015, Black Rose was released and had debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 77,000 copies, making it Gibson's first number one album of his career.

Acting career

Gibson rose to prominence as an actor when he starred in John Singleton's Baby Boy in 2001.

Gibson has a recurring role in two of the highest grossing film series: The Fast and the Furious and Transformers.

The Fast and the Furious

Gibson plays Roman Pearce in The Fast and the Furious film series. He first played Pearce in 2 Fast 2 Furious, the 2003 sequel to The Fast and the Furious alongside his best friend Paul Walker and Eva Mendes. Singleton directed the blockbuster hit. He returned as Roman Pearce in Fast Five (2011), Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), and The Fate of the Furious (2017).

Transformers

Gibson portrays Sergeant Robert Epps in the Transformers film series. In 2007, Gibson was a member of the ensemble cast of Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Megan Fox, Anthony Anderson and Jon Voight, with star Shia LaBeouf, in Transformers, directed and co-produced by Michael Bay. Steven Spielberg served as executive producer. The film went on to make nearly $710 million worldwide. Gibson returned, as Sergeant Robert Epps, for the sequels Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). Gibson was supposed to return as Epps in Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), but was unable to appear due to scheduling conflicts with The Fate of the Furious.

Other films

In 2005, Singleton and Gibson collaborated for the third time when Gibson co-starred in the action-crime drama Four Brothers alongside Mark Wahlberg.

Gibson went on to star in the action-drama Waist Deep with Meagan Good.

In 2008, he co-starred opposite Jason Statham in Death Race.

Writing

On May 8, 2012, Gibson released his first book, titled How to Get Out of Your Own Way. It went on to be a New York Times best seller. On February 5, 2013, Gibson co-authored his second book along with close personal friend Rev. Run titled Manology: Secrets of Your Man's Mind Revealed, which also went on to be a New York Times best seller. In 2013, Gibson announced that he was working on a third book, titled Black Rose.

Discography

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Solo albums

• Tyrese (1998)
• 2000 Watts (2001)
• I Wanna Go There (2002)
• Alter Ego (2006)
• Open Invitation (2011)
• Black Rose (2015)

Collaborative albums

• Three Kings (2013)

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
2000	Love Song	Skip/Mad Rage
2001	Baby Boy	Joseph 'Jody' Summers
2003	2 Fast 2 Furious	Roman Pearce
2004	Flight of the Phoenix	AJ
2005	Four Brothers	Angel Mercer
2005	Annapolis	Matt Cole
2006	Waist Deep	Otis/O2
2007	Transformers	Robert Epps
2007	'	Adell Baldwin
2008	Death Race	Joseph "Machine Gun Joe" Mason
2009	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	Robert Epps
2010	Legion	Kyle Williams
2011	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	Robert Epps
2011	Fast Five	Roman Pearce
2013	Fast & Furious 6
2013	Black Nativity	Tyson
2015	Furious 7	Roman Pearce
2015	Hollywood Adventures	Himself
2016	Ride Along 2	Mayfield
2017	The Fate of the Furious	Roman Pearce

Television

Year	Title	Role
1996	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Darrell
1997	Martin	Dante
1998	'	Coop
1999	MTV Beach House	Himself
1999	Blue's Clues	Tyrese
2000	Moesha	Troy
2010	La La's Full Court Wedding	Himself
2011	The Soup	Himself
2016	American Dad!	Himself
2016-	Star	Pastor Bobby Harris

Music videos

Year	Artist	Title
1997	SWV	"Rain"
1998	Usher	"My Way"
1999	Monica	"Angel of Mine"
2003	Roselyn Snchez	"Amor Amor"
2003	R. Kelly featuring Big Tigger and Cam'ron	"Snake (Remix)"
2006	Omarion	"Entourage"
2007	Keyshia Cole	"Love"
2008	Akon featuring Colby O'Donis and Kardinal Offishall	"Beautiful"
2009	Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz	"I Can Transform Ya"
2010	Lady Gaga featuring Beyonc	"Telephone"
2013	Clinton Sparks featuring 2 Chainz and Macklemore	"Gold Rush"
2013	T-Pain featuring B.o.B	"Up Down"
2015	Eric Bellinger featuring 2 Chainz	"Focused On You"

Theme park ride

Year	Title	Role
2015	Fast & Furious: Supercharged	Roman Pearce

Awards and nominations

American Music Awards

|- | 2000 | Tyrese Gibson | Favorite New R&B/Soul Artist | |}

Black Movie Awards

|- | 2006 | Waist Deep | Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | |}

Black Reel Awards

|- | rowspan="2" | 2002 | "Just a Baby Boy" (with Mr. Tan and Snoop Dogg) | Best Song | |- | Baby Boy | Best Actor | |- | 2006 | Four Brothers | Best Ensemble | |}

Grammy Awards

|- | 2000 | "Sweet Lady" | Best R&B Male Vocal Performance | |- | 2004 | "How U Gonna Act Like That" | Best R&B Male Vocal Performance | |- | 2013 | Open Invitation | Best R&B Album | |- | 2014 | Three Kings with Ginuwine and Tank as TGT | Best R&B Album | |- | rowspan="2" | 2016 | rowspan="2" | "Shame" | Best Traditional R&B Performance | |- | Best R&B Song | |}

NAACP Image Awards

|- | 2002 | 2000 Watts | Outstanding Hip-Hop Artist | |- | 2002 | Baby Boy | Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture | |- | 2002 | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | Outstanding Performance in a Variety Show | |- | 2012 | Trumpet Awards | Pinnacle Award | |}

Literary Awards

|- | 2011 | Self-Help, "How To Get Out of Your Own Way" | Best Writer, African-American Literary Award, Category | |}

Locarno International Film Festival

|- | 2001 | Baby Boy for 'its innovative concept and ensemble acting' | Special Mention Award |}

Soul Train Music Awards

|- | 2013 | "TGT" with Ginuwine and Tank | New Artist of the Year | |- | 2012 | "Stay" | Song of the Year | |}