Mark Althavan Andrews (born November 9, 1978), known professionally as Sisqó (stylized as SisQó), is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. He is most prominently known for " Thong Song", his membership in

Dru Hill Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 and is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hi ...

, and has also released solo material. Sisqo's successful debut solo album, '' Unleash the Dragon'' (1999), included the hit singles "Thong Song" and " Incomplete".

Early life

As a teen Andrews worked at The Fudgery in

Harborplace Harborplace is a shopping complex on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. Description The property is composed of 2 two-story pavilions: the Pratt Street Pavilion and the Light Street Pavilion. Each of these buildings contains many stores an ...

at Baltimore's Inner Harbor with Larry "Jazz" Anthony, James "Woody" Green, and

Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 and is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hit ...

. The quartet would be signed as the group

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

in 1996. He lived in the

Reservoir Hill Reservoir Hill, also known as Whitelock, is a neighborhood in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is located south of Druid Hill Park, north of Bolton Hill, east of Penn-North, and west of Jones Falls. It is bounded by Druid Par ...

neighborhood at 908 Newington Avenue near

Druid Hill Park Druid Hill Park is a urban park in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. Its boundaries are marked by Druid Park Drive (north), Swann Drive and Reisterstown Road (west and south), and the Jones Falls Expressway / Interstate 83 (east).Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School in 1994. Sisqó's visual trademarks are his hairstyles and flamboyant stage costumes, which were regularly flashier than those of his groupmates. Over his career as a recording artist, both with and without Dru Hill, Sisqó's hairstyles have included a bleached

blond Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color ca ...

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

, a platinum Caesar (colored with silver spray paint), blond

cornrows Cornrows are a traditional style of braids in which the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to make a continuous, raised row. Cornrows are often done in simple, straight lines, as the term implies, but they ...

, a

neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypt ...

- red dyed Caesar, and a blond Mohawk.

Career

After Woody departed Dru Hill in 1999 to pursue a solo career, it was decided that the other members would follow suit and issue their own solo albums. Sisqó's solo debut, '' Unleash the Dragon'', was released on Def Soul Records in November 1999. ''Unleash the Dragon'' sold moderately at first, until the February 2000 release of its second single, the novelty " Thong Song". A runaway hit, "Thong Song" and its follow-up, " Incomplete", were major hits on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Hot 100 chart, with "Thong Song" making it to number three, and " Incomplete" going to #1. This success resulted in

Play Along Toys Play Along Toys was a Florida-based toy company, and a wholly owned division of Jakks Pacific. In 1999, the founders of Play Along (among them Charlie Emby, Jay Foreman, and Larry Geller) chose the Britney Spears Doll line as the first licensin ...

manufacturing a Sisqó a

Celebrity doll A celebrity doll is a doll modeled after a celebrity. Celebrity dolls have been in production for a very long time. In the 1840s, several famous ballerinas were featured as paper dolls. Also in the 19th century, various military heroes were portra ...

in 2001. Formed by Sisqó in 1999, LovHer was the first female

quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations ...

on the Def Soul label. Their single "How It's Gonna Be" was featured on the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack in 2001. Conflicts within Dru Hill prevented the group from reuniting as planned in 2000. This is usually attributed to time conflicts during the recording of Sisqó's second solo LP. During this period, Sisqó branched out into hosting the dance competition program ''Sisqós Shakedown'' on MTV, and into film, taking on supporting roles in the films '' Get Over It'' (2001) with

Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Caroline Dunst (; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the short ''Oedipus Wrecks'' directed by Woody Allen in the anthology film '' New York Stories'' (1989). She then gained recognition for her r ...

and ''

Snow Dogs ''Snow Dogs'' is a 2002 American adventure comedy film directed by Brian Levant, and produced by Jordan Kerner. The film stars Cuba Gooding Jr., with a supporting cast of James Coburn (in one of his final roles), Joanna Bacalso, Sisqó, Nichel ...

'' (2002) with Cuba Gooding, Jr. He also starred as a vampire in ''

Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...

'' (Season 6 Episode 1). Although his second LP, '' Return of Dragon'', released in June 2001, eventually went platinum, its singles "Can I Live" and "Dance for Me" performed far below expectations (apart from in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where "Dance for Me" became his third top ten hit). By 2002, Sisqó reunited with Dru Hill, which released its third LP in late 2002. The LP underperformed, and the group was subsequently released from their

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

. In January 2008, Sisqó was a contestant on a reality show called "Gone Country." In 2010, Sisqó was a contestant on the British reality television show ''

Celebrity Big Brother 2010 ''Celebrity Big Brother 2010'', also known as ''Celebrity Big Brother 7'', was the seventh series of the British reality television series '' Celebrity Big Brother'' and the final series aired on Channel 4 and E4. It began on Sunday 3 January 2 ...

''. He was the fifth contestant to be evicted, lasting 20 days. Dru Hill released its third album, ''

InDRUpendence Day ''InDRUpendence Day'' is the fourth studio album by American R&B group Dru Hill, released on July 27, 2010 under Kedar Entertainment Group. The album was supposed to be released on June 8, 2010, but it was pushed back. The album is the group's f ...

'', in 2010 as an independent release through Kedar Entertainment. The group also appeared at this time in the

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

''Keith Sweat's Platinum House'' on BET's sister station Centric. Sisqó continued to tour through the 2010s, both as a member of Dru Hill, and as a solo act. His third solo album, ''Last Dragon'', was released on February 10, 2015. The singles, "A-List" and "L.I.P.s" were released ahead of the album, with the latter reaching number 23 on the US Adult R&B charts, becoming Sisqó's first charting US single since 2001's "Can I Live". , Sisqó, along with the other members of Dru Hill, claimed that their record label botched a record deal, costing them millions in the process. In 2016, Sisqó provided a rap counterpoint in a duet with

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

singer

Marie Osmond Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television host, and a member of the show business family the Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a country and pop ...

, in her song "Give me a Good Song", which was featured on '' Music Is Medicine'', released on April 15, 2016. In 2017, Sisqó, sang on a remake of his "Thong Song" produced by JCY. In 2018, Sisqo released a holiday book for children, titled "Sisqo's Perfect Christmas", with creative partner, Tilesha Brown. He represents Maryland in the

American Song Contest ''American Song Contest'' is an American music reality competition television series based on the Eurovision Song Contest. It sees all 50 U.S. states, five territories, and Washington, D.C. compete for the title of Best Original Song. The f ...

, which began on March 21, 2022 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

Personal life

Sisqó has a daughter, Shaione Andrews, born in 1995. He resides in

Maple Grove, Minnesota Maple Grove is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 70,253 at the 2020 census. making it Minnesota's 11th most populous city. Maple Grove serves as a retail, cultural and medical center in the north ...

with his wife Elizabeth Pham, who he has been romantically involved with since 2003.
In July 2013, Sisqó appeared on the reality show '' Celebrity Wife Swap'', where his girlfriend was "swapped" with the wife of 1990s pop singer Gerardo Mejía. He previously dated R&B singer

Samantha Mumba Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba (born 18 January 1983) is an Irish singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, fashion model and TV presenter. In 2000, at the age of 17, she shot to fame with the release of her debut single " Gotta Tell You", which ...

from 2004 to 2005.

Discography

with Dru Hill * ''

'' (1996) * '' Enter the Dru'' (1998) * ''

Dru World Order ''Dru World Order'' is the third studio album by American R&B group Dru Hill, released in late 2002 (see 2002 in music) on Def Jam Recordings' Def Soul imprint. Four years had passed between this release and the group's previous album, ''Enter t ...

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2010) Solo albums * '' Unleash the Dragon'' (1999) * '' Return of Dragon'' (2001) * '' Last Dragon'' (2015) Mixtape albums * ''Dragon Music'' (2008) * ''The Return of the Dragon'' (2010) Compilation albums * ''20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Sisqó'' (2006) Extended plays * ''Thong Song – Best Of – EP'' (2013) * ''Genesis'' (2019) Unreleased albums * ''The Last Dragon'' (2008/2012)

Filmography

Commercials

Tours

;As supporting act *

No Strings Attached Tour The No Strings Attached Tour was the third concert tour by American boy band, NSYNC. Primarily visiting North America, the tour supported the band's second studio album '' No Strings Attached''. Beginning in May 2000, the tour sold out all dates ...

(supporting

NSYNC NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to Europe ...

) * Black & Blue World Tour (supporting

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The ...

) ;Featured act * Roc Tha Block * Hammer's House Party Tour * RNB Fridays Live

Awards and nominations

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produ ...

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2, 2001 , , ''Sisqó'' , Favorite Male R&B/Soul Artist , , - , , ''Unleash the Dragon'' , Favorite R&B/Soul Album , , - *

Billboard Music Awards The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by ''Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of t ...

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=6, 2000 , rowspan=6, ''Sisqó'' , Male Artist of the Year , , - , Male Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year , , - , R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year , , - , New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year , , - , R&B/Hip-Hop Male Artist of the Year , , - , R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist of the Year , , - *

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=4, 2001 , , ''Sisqó'' , Best New Artist , , - , rowspan=2, ''Thong Song'' , Best R&B Male Vocal Performance , , - , Best R&B Song , , - , , ''Unleash the Dragon'' , Best R&B Album , , - *

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...

, - , style="text-align:center;", 2001 , , ''Sisqó'' , Best R&B Act , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2, 2000 , , ''Thong Song'' , Best Video , , - , , ''Sisqó'' , Best R&B Act , , - *

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2, 2000 , rowspan=3, ''Sisqó'' , Best Male , , - , Best R&B , , - *

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=5, 2000 , rowspan=3, ''Thong Song'' , Best Hip-Hop Video , , - , Best New Artist , , - , Best Dance Video , , - , , ''Thong Song (Remix)'' w/ Foxy Brown , Best Video from a Film , , - , , ''Thong Song'' , Viewer's Choice , , - *

Soul Train Music Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pr ...

, - , style="text-align:center;", 2001 , rowspan=3, ''Unleash the Dragon'' , Favorite Male R&B/Soul Album , , - *

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United S ...

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan=4, 2000 , , ''Sisqó'' , Choice Male Artist , , - , , ''Thong Song'' , Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Track , , - , , ''Sisqó'' , Choice Breakout Artist , , - , , ''Incomplete'' , Choice Song of the Summer , , -

Books

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sisqo 1978 births Living people 21st-century American male actors African-American male dancers African-American dancers American male dancers American male film actors 20th-century African-American male singers African-American male actors African-American television personalities American contemporary R&B singers Def Jam Recordings artists Musicians from Baltimore Participants in American reality television series World Music Awards winners Male actors from Baltimore American hip hop singers American male television actors 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers American Song Contest contestants