Rogers was born to Korean mother, artist Mi Suk , and African American father Charles. A few months after she was born, the Rogers family moved to her mother’s native Korea, where Amerie lived for three years. Her father Charles was a chief warrant officer, so Amerie traveled to and lived in many different places, including South Korea, Alaska, Texas,and Germany. He now works for the U.S. Intelligence Division United States military, She has a younger sister, Angela, who is now her lawyer. She finally settled in Washington, D.C., which she considers her hometown. Amerie describes her parents as conservative, protective, traditional Christians. In the spring of 2002, Rise/Columbia released Amerie's debut single, "Why Don't We Fall in Love." The single reached number twenty-three on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a top ten hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song created a nice buzz for her album All I Have, which was certified gold by the RIAA. The second and final single to be released was "Talkin' To Me," a moderate hit peaking at number eighteen on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. On April 26, 2005, Amerie released her second album, Touch. As with All I Have, the album was co-written and produced by mentor Rich Harrison, who contributed seven (new) tracks to the record; additional productions came from Lil Jon, Bryce Wilson, Red Spyda, and Dre & Vidal. Unlike on her first album, Amerie co-wrote every track but one, "Come with Me", which Harrison wrote. Touch debuted and peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and it was certifed gold by the RIAA in August that year. It received two Grammy Award nominations in 2006: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for its lead single, "1 Thing", and Best Contemporary R&B Album. Along with Touch, Amerie's biggest hit came with "1 Thing", which was also featured on the soundtrack to Hitch, a romantic comedy film starring Will Smith and Eva Mendes. Producer Rich Harrison sampled the distinctive main drum-and-guitar loops of the song from a 1970 version of Oh! Calcutta!'s theme song—retitled "Oh, Calcutta!"—by funk group The Meters. The song was later certified platinum for selling over 200,000 units in downloads and became Amerie's first top ten hit in the U.S., where it peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. "1 Thing" also earned several awards and nominations: two nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards—Best Female Video and Best Choreography—and four nominations for the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards—Best R&B/Soul Single, Solo, R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year, Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video, and Best R&B/Soul or Rap Dance Cut. At the 2005 VIBE Awards, Amerie took home Club Banger of the Year for her hit. "1 Thing" also spawned into a variety of remixes by rappers such as Eve, Fabolous, and Jay-Z. In 2009, "1 Thing" placed at number 6 on The Root's list of Top 10 Hip-Hop/R&B Songs of the 2000s. Amerie revealed the album title to be changed from ‘Breakups To Makeups’ to ‘In Love & War’. Amerie also announced that her first single off the album will be titled “Why R U?” produced by The Buchanans. The single premiered online in the week of May 11th and received fairly mixed reviews. The track itself is even compared to Mary J. Blige’s “What’s The 411?” and “My Life” album, because of the old school feel.