Houston Edward Summers IV (born October 26, 1983), known mononymously as Houston, is an American former R&B singer, best known for his hit single " I Like That". Houston made headlines in 2005 when he attempted suicide in a London hotel room, and later gouged his eye out with a fork on the 13th floor of his hotel building. He was subsequently dropped from his contract with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

Early life

Summers attended the Academy of Music at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles. He would regularly be invited to participate in activities taking place in the school's music academy. His management team recorded a videotape of Summers's performances, which they hoped would help the singer land a recording contract. He was signed to

Career

Houston's debut single, " I Like That" featuring

Chingy Howard Earl Bailey Jr. (born March 9, 1980), known professionally as Chingy, is an American rapper. Chingy grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and began rapping in his late teens. He toured as an opening act with Nelly in the summer of 2002 and the ...

and

Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the ...

was released on March 13, 2004, and was a hit, peaking at number three on the US Billboard

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart and number 11 on both the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online stream ...

and the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. His debut and only album, '' It's Already Written'' was released on August 10, 2004, being certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA).

Personal life

Attempted suicide (2005)

On January 27, 2005, while on tour in London, England, Summers suffered an emotional breakdown and reportedly tried to commit suicide by jumping from a hotel window while under the influence of PCP. When people in his entourage stopped him, he was restrained and locked in a first floor room. While in that room, Summers gouged his left eye out with a plastic fork. After the incident, Summers was arrested by London police and was sent to a rehablitation facility. After a two-week stint in rehab, Houston went home to Los Angeles and apologized for the incident. Houston attributed the incident to stress caused by the music industry, saying ''"Everything was clobbering down on me. Everything was going a little bit too hard on me"''.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Houston at MTV.com
* Houston at Allmusic.com* Houston at Billboard.com* {{DEFAULTSORT:Houston 1983 births Living people African-American Christians 20th-century African-American male singers American crooners American hip hop singers American contemporary R&B singers American people of Belizean descent Capitol Records artists Singers from Los Angeles West Coast hip hop musicians 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers