Kelis

Artist Image: Kelis
Attribution
Image Credit: JJ Hall (originally posted to Flickr as Kelis), CC BY 2.0

Biography

Kelis Rogers (born August 21, 1979), better known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer-songwriter and certified chef. She has won Brit Awards, Q Awards, and NME Awards, and was nominated for two Grammy Awards. Outside her native United States, she has had nine top ten singles in the United Kingdom alone. Kelis appeared on Moby's Area One Tour, supported U2 on the European leg of their Elevation Tour and headlined her own All Hearts Tour with Robyn. Kelis was born and raised in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Her first name is a portmanteau of her father's name, Kenneth (1944–2000), and her mother's name, Eveliss. Her father Kenneth was an African American jazz musician and Pentecostal minister, and was formerly a professor at Wesleyan University. Her mother Eveliss is a Afro-Puerto Rican and Chinese fashion designer who inspired Kelis to pursue her singing career. She has three sisters, Kelis being the third born of the four girls. As a child, Kelis sang in church choirs and played violin, piano, and saxophone while attending Manhattan Country School, a private school. At the age of 13, Kelis shaved off all of her hair. In an interview with Charlotte Roche, Kelis says she was kicked out of her parents house at the age of sixteen for having bad behavior stating that she would sometimes clash with her mother, but continued her education at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she formed the R&B trio BLU (Black Ladies United). Kelis was also a bartender and a sales associate at a clothing store before graduating high school saying that she stole certain items from her job to get by from living out o

Details

Item Name Item Details
Year Formed 1990
Number of Albums 22
Record Label
Website www.iamkelis.com
Wikipedia Kelis on Wikipedia
Social Networks

Trivia

What ethnicity did she belong to?

AfricanAmerican

...he had 3 sisters. She holds American nationality and belongs to the AfricanAmerican ethnicity. Talking about her formal education, she went to Manhatt...
How many sisters did she have?

3

...rn to African American father and Puerto Rican and Chinese mother. She had 3 sisters. She holds American nationality and belongs to the AfricanAmerica...
What school did Kelis go to for formal education?

Manhattan Country School

...can ethnicity. Talking about her formal education, she went to Manhattan Country School . For culinary, practice she also enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu cu...
When did Kaleidoscope release?

December 7, 1999

...e journey toward it, she worked with different music producers, as a backup vocal slot. She released her first album Kaleidoscope on December 7, 1999 ....
What was the name of her first album?

Kaleidoscope

...e journey toward it, she worked with different music producers, as a backup vocal slot. She released her first album Kaleidoscope on December 7, 1999....
Where did Kelis finish her primary school days?

LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts

...shed out her primary school days at the famous LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts . Being surrounded by other talented musicians ...
When did she leave her parents house?

16

...e harder parts of being a working creative. She left her parents house at 16 due to some disagreements, and worked at a bar and a clothing store to ma...
Where did she work?

a bar and a clothing store

... parents house at 16 due to some disagreements, and worked at a bar and a clothing store to make ends meet. To say the least, it wasnt her thing. I di...
What did she say she didnt want to do?

work a 9to5 job

...ke ends meet. To say the least, it wasnt her thing. I didnt want to work a 9to5 job , she said in an Entertainment Weekly interview. Well, I guess I sh...
Who did Millie Jackson have a younger daughter signed to?

Ruff Ryders

...s experiment: What if Millie Jackson had a younger daughter signed to Ruff Ryders ? Instead, the retaliatory breakup anthem with a screamed chorus was ...
How many years later did Rogers sign a deal with Virgin?

four

...neighborhood, Kelis Rogers left home at 16 and landed a deal with Virgin four years later. In December 1999, months after the release of the latter si...
How high did Kaleidoscope rank on the Billboard 200 in the U.S.?

144

...Kaleidoscope. Produced entirely by the Neptunes, the album reached number 144 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S. and was more popular in the U.K., where...
What was the lead single on the U.S. R&Bhiphop chart?

Caught Out There

... climb to the Top Ten of Billboard's R&Bhiphop chart in late 1999, Caught Out There seemed like an audacious experiment: What if Millie Jackson had a ...
At what number did Caught Out There peaked on the US R&bhiphop charts?

nine

...ere was the lead single and peaked on the U.S. R&Bhiphop chart at number nine . Two years later, she and the Neptunes teamed again for Wanderland. Poli...
What was the name of Kelis's pop hit?

Milkshake

...mpelled Kelis to leave for Arista. It yielded the number three pop hit Milkshake , yet another Neptunes production, and went to number 27 on the Billbo...
What number did Milkshake reach on the Billboard 200?

27

...Kelis to leave for Arista. It yielded the number three pop hit Milkshake, yet another Neptunes production, and went to number 27 on the Billboard 200....
What group supported Kelis in getting a recording deal?

The Neptunes

...Art and Performing Arts. 2 years later with the support of producers The Neptunes , she landed herself a recording deal. Kelis captured feminist desire...
When was Kaleidoscope released?

December 1999

...ptured feminist desires on her debut album Kaleidoscope, released in December 1999 . Two years later she released Wanderland. The record served as her ...
How many top 10 singles did Kelis collaborate with in 2011?

tenth

...ce Chart. In 2011 Her collaboration with Calvin Harris Bounce became the tenth top 10 single, on the UK singles chart for Kelis peaking at Number 2. K...
What was the name of Kelis' sixth album?

FOOD

...h to name a few. 2014 saw the release of Kelis sixth album titled simply FOOD . The album garnered Kelis some of the best reviews and chart positions o...
What year was Kelis Rogers born?

1980

...ned to do from the beginning: get people's attention. Born on August 21, 1980 , in Harlem, New York's epicenter for jazz and the arts, Kelis (pronounce...
How did Rogers get her education?

Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts

...ntacostal minister). Education: Attended Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, New York City. So far the...
What is the name of the school for music & art & Performing arts?

Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School

...saxophonist and Pentacostal minister). Education: Attended Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, New Yor...
What jazz saxophonist did Kelis' father play with?

Dizzy Gillespie

...saxophonist father, Kenneth G. Rogers, who played with artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Nancy Wilson. At her mother's urging, Kelis began studying cla...
At what age did Kelis begin studying violin?

two

...son. At her mother's urging, Kelis began studying classical violin at age two (she continued her studies for 14 years) and picked up the saxophone as ...
What instrument did she pick up as a teenager?

saxophone

... at age two (she continued her studies for 14 years) and picked up the saxophone as a teenager. She also followed in her three older sister's footstep...
At what age did Kelis enroll in LaGuardia High School for Music & Art?

14

...signer mother sewed for the Rogers girls to wear to school. At the age of 14 Kelis enrolled in LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Ar...
Where did she attend high school?

LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts

... to wear to school. At the age of 14 Kelis enrolled in LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts , where she studied drama and theater....
What did she study at LaGuardia High School for Music & Art?

drama and theater

... to wear to school. At the age of 14 Kelis enrolled in LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she studied drama and theater ....
What was the name of her second album?

Wanderland

...merous controversies affecting its market. This meant that the album, Wanderland could only be released within Europe. Her career breakthrough came wi...
Wanderland was only released within what continent?

Europe

...et. This meant that the album, Wanderland could only be released within Europe . Her career breakthrough came with the release of the third and the hit...
When was Kelis born?

Harlem, New York

...l other albums followed this. She was born on August 21st, 1979 in Harlem, New York . The name Kelis was coined by her father and mothers names. Her fa...
What was the name of Kelis's third album?

Tasty2003

...eer breakthrough came with the release of the third and the hit album, Tasty2003 . Several other albums followed this. She was born on August 21st, 197...
What was Kelis' father's name?

Kenneth

...Kelis was coined by her father and mothers names. Her father was called Kenneth and her mother, Eveliss. Blending the two names, she was named Kelis a...
How long had Kelis been recording her material?

1999

...ad been recording her materialfeaturing a strong female perspectivesince 1999 . Despite the pop phenomenon of Milkshake, Kelis remained a singular arti...
What was the name of Kelis Rogers' 2006 album?

Kelis Was Here

...crifice her artistic vision to churn out music. Kelis's 2006 album, Kelis Was Here , and its leadoff single, Bossy, suggested that she had more brash a...
When was the album Kelis Was Here released?

2006

...st and did not sacrifice her artistic vision to churn out music. Kelis's 2006 album, Kelis Was Here, and its leadoff single, Bossy, suggested that she...
Which single was the lead single on Kelis was titled?

Bossy

...n out music. Kelis's 2006 album, Kelis Was Here, and its leadoff single, Bossy , suggested that she had more brash and confident music on the way. Born...
Who was Rogers mother?

Eveliss

...ican father, Kenneth G. Rogers, was a veteran jazz musician; her mother Eveliss , who is of Puerto Rican and Chinese background, worked in the fashion ...
What was Rogers' mother's background?

Puerto Rican and Chinese

...rs, was a veteran jazz musician; her mother Eveliss, who is of Puerto Rican and Chinese background, worked in the fashion industry. Kelis's parents we...
What did her mother work in?

fashion industry

...liss, who is of Puerto Rican and Chinese background, worked in the fashion industry . Kelis's parents were supportive of the interest in music she show...
How long did Kelis continue to study the violin for?

14 years

...wed as early as age two. She began studying the violin, continuing for 14 years , and soon she was singing in the choir of the family's Pentecostal chu...
At what New York high school did she win a spot in the Girls Choir of Harlem?

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts

...t age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts , where she learned to play the saxophone...
When did Kelis graduate from high school?

1997

...ot in the Girls Choir of Harlem. After she graduated from high school in 1997 , Kelis took on a variety of jobs before landing a backup vocal slot on a...
What group released Fairytalez?

Gravediggaz

...album track called Fairytalez, released by the American hip hop group Gravediggaz . She then began working with music producers, Pharrell Williams and ...
Milkshake, Trick Me, Millionaire, and In Public feature whom?

Nas

...d her third studio album Tasty. The album produced the singles Milkshake, Trick Me, Millionaire (featuring André 3000), and In Public (featuring Nas )....
What city was Kelis Rogers born?

New York City

...e Iglesias to ODB of the WuTang Clan, the woman born Kelis Rogers in New York City was ahead of her time. While artists, today, float between genres w...
What did she struggle with?

being placed neatly into one box or another

...with little struggle, she struggled tremendously with being placed neatly into one box or another . So, at the height of her career, she seemed to disa...
When did she graduate from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school?

2008

...sappear. She eventually graduated from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in 2008 , according to CNN. The outlet also reports that Though Kelis didnt speci...
With whom did she propose to have a reality show?

VH1

...music, food, and fashion sense, and though her proposed reality show with VH1 didnt quite take off, she still remains relevant to this day. Remember w...
What role did she play on the British version of The Masked Singer?

Daisy

...VH1 didnt quite take off, she still remains relevant to this day. Remember when she appeared as the Daisy on the British version of The Masked Singer?...