Ciara was born in Austin, Texas on October 25, 1985. Born of Irish, Creole, and German descent, she is the only child born to Carlton and Jackie Harris. Since her father was in the United States Army, throughout her childhood Ciara grew up on army bases in Germany, New York, Utah, California, Arizona, and Nevada. In speaking of this, Ciara states that while she hated to lose good friends, this helps her in her career in when she has travel all over the world. During her teens, Ciara and her family settled in Atlanta. Ciara said that watching Destiny's Child perform on a television program while staying home from school inspired her to pursue a career in music, and cites Michael Jackson as her biggest inspiration. In her mid-teens Ciara formed an all girl group by the name Hearsay, with two of her friends. The group recorded demos, but as time went on, they began to have differences and eventually parted ways. Despite this setback, Ciara was still determined to reach her goal and signed a publishing deal in which she bcame a song-writer. She achieved her first success at this when she wrote the song, "Got Me Waiting", for R&B singer Fantasia Barrino's debut album, Free Yourself It was when she was writing songs that she met music producer, Jazze Pha, whom she called her "music soulmate". In 2002, the two recorded four demos, "1, 2 Step", "Thug Style", "Pick Up the Phone", and "Lookin' at You", which all appeared on her debut album which was released two years later. The former was the second single released from it and became a hit. In 2003, Ciara graduated from Riverdale High School in Riverdale, Georgia. Following that, she was signed by LaFace Records executive, L.A. Reid, with the help of Jazze Pha. She began production on her debut album later that year. In early 2004, Ciara wrote a demo with record producer, Sean Garrett. The demo was later brought to the attention of Lil Jon and became her debut single "Goodies". Lil Jon stated later that he knew it would be big seeing how it sounded similar to Usher's international hit, "Yeah!" Ciara released her debut album, Goodies, in the United States on September 28, 2004. The album debuted at number three, selling 125,000 copies in its first week. However, propelled by its three hit singles, the album was certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA, selling over three million copies in the United States. With its success in the US, the album was released internationally on January 24, 2005, where it also performed well being certified platinum in Canada, and gold in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. To date, the album sold over five million copies worldwide. The album produced three worldwide hit singles. Ciara's debut single, "Goodies" reached number one in United States, Canada, and United Kingdom, and the top ten in Ireland , New Zealand, and Germany, and top twenty in Australia. The second and third single, "1, 2 Step", featuring Missy Elliott, and "Oh", featuring Ludacris, both peaked at number two in the United States and reached the top ten in many countries internationally. "1, 2 Step" became the best performing single from the album internationally, reaching number two in Australia and New Zealand, top five in Ireland and the Uk, and went on to become her second number one hit in Canada. "And I", was only released to the United States. It underperformed compared to the previous releases peaking at only number ninety-six there. At the 48th Grammy Awards, Ciara received four nominations, including the award for "Best New Artist", "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" for "1, 2 Step", and "Best Rap Song" for "Lose Control". She won "Best Short Form Music Video" with Missy Elliott for "Lose Control".". In 2005, Ciara began dating rapper Bow Wow. They ended their relationship in April 2006. In September 2008, Ciara, along with Mariah Carey, Beyoncé Knowles, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Melissa Etheridge, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Keyshia Cole, Leona Lewis, LeAnn Rimes, and Carrie Underwood, teamed up for the song "Just Stand Up!". The charity tune for cancer was conceived by Antonio "L.A." Reid, who produced it with longtime creative colleague Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds. Fifteen singers shared the stage to perform the song live on September 5, 2008 during the "Stand Up to Cancer" television special, which aired simultaneously on ABC, NBC and CBS. The proceeds from the single were given to the fundraiser. The television special helped raise $100 million dollars for cancer research. The single is now available via digital download.