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Jesse McCartney
Background information
Birth name	Jesse Abraham Arthur McCartney
Born	April 9, 1987 (1987-04-09) (age 21) Ardsley, New York, U.S.A.
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Genre(s)	Pop, Contemporary R&B, teen pop, dance-pop, Hip-Hop
Occupation(s)	Actor, singer-songwriter, Guitarist
Years active	1998 — present
Label(s)	Hollywood
Associated acts	Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis, Dream Street
Website	jessemac.com

Jesse Abraham Arthur McCartney¹ (born April 9, 1987) is an American pop/R&B singer-songwriter and actor. McCartney initially came to fame in the early 2000s as the youngest member of the boy band Dream Street. He subsequently branched out into a solo career, having appeared on the television series Summerland. He is currently dating actress Danielle Panabaker. McCartney also starred with Panabaker's sister actress Kay Panabaker in Summerland.

Early life and acting career

Jesse McCartney was born in Ardsley, New York,² to Scott and Ginger McCartney. McCartney began performing in local community musicals at the age of seven, before joining the national tour of The King and I at age ten along with Phil of the Future star Ricky Ullman. McCartney moved to Los Angeles to become an actor and singer when he was 11. He later appeared with The Who's Roger Daltrey in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. From 1998–2001, McCartney played Adam Chandler, Jr. on the ABC soap opera All My Children, a role for which he earned a Daytime Emmy nomination. He also later starred in the short-lived series Summerland, which aired on the now-defunct WB network for two seasons.

In 2005, McCartney appeared as himself on the Disney Channel show, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. In 2006, McCartney was also featured as the voice of Roxas in the Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts II. In 2007, McCartney appeared as himself on the Disney Channel television show Hannah Montana. In 2008, McCartney was also featured as the voice of Horton Hears A Who!'s Jojo McDodd. McCartney was also featured as Theodore in "Alvin and the Chipmunks" released in 2007 and as Terrence in "Tinker Bell" released in 2008.

In 2008, McCartney co-starred along with Elisabeth Harnois in an independent teenage drama feature film directed by Todd Kessler titled Keith. The film was shot during late-2005/early-2006, featuring McCartney in the title role, and was released on the September 19, 2008.

Music career

Early career

In 1999, McCartney joined the American pop boy band Dream Street, and was a member until 2002. Jesse McCartney has described the experience as a good "stepping stone" for his solo career.³ The group earned a gold record with their debut CD, and broke up while touring with Aaron Carter. At fifteen, he began work on a solo career with a local band, featuring musicians Dillon Kondor (guitar), Peter Chema (bass), Katie Spencer (keyboards), Alex Russeku (drums), Karina LaGravinese (background vocals), Sharisse Francisco (background vocals), and under the management of Ginger McCartney and Sherry Goffin Kondor, who co-produced his first album, Beautiful Soul.

McCartney released his first solo EP in July 2003. The album featured three songs: "Beautiful Soul", "Don't You" and "Why Don't You Kiss Her". In 2004, he performed a duet with Anne Hathaway, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", which is featured on the Ella Enchanted soundtrack.

McCartney at a Bryant Park performance, June 24, 2005

Beautiful Soul (2004–2006)

His first full-length solo album, Beautiful Soul, which was two years in the making, was released on September 28, 2004. The album featured four songs co-written by McCartney: "That Was Then," "Get Your Shine On", "What's Your Name", and "She's No You", as well as songs written by Desmond Child and Chris Braide. The title song reached #2 on AOL Music and the "Beautiful Soul" music video performed well on MTV's Total Request Live, having been voted into the top 10 fifty times, and peaked at #4. The album, having sold over 5 million records, has achieved platinum status.

His first solo tour, also named Beautiful Soul (opened by singer/songwriter and actress Brie Larson), began on May 2, 2005 at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento, California. The United States portion of the tour spanned 56 stops, ending on September 10, 2005 at the Madera District County Fair in Madera, California. Jesse McCartney has also performed at many amusement parks, including Six Flags and Canada's Wonderland, and has performed "Beautiful Soul" while making guest appearances on several late night talk shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

This tour featured a new band, comprising Dory Lobel (guitar), Zane Carney (guitar), Andre De Santanna (bass), Mitchell Yoshida (keyboards), Karen Teperberg (drums), Margeaux "JoJo" Fernandez (background vocals) and Julie Dickens (background vocals). In the fall of 2005, Jesse McCartney toured Australia, and opened for the Backstreet Boys in Europe, the summer of 2005. His July 9 appearance at Paramount's Great America in Santa Clara, California was recorded as a live CD and released in November 2005; this was his first concert DVD.⁴

Right Where You Want Me (2006-2007)

His second album, titled Right Where You Want Me, was released by Hollywood Records on September 19, 2006. The first single and song from the album, is called "Right Where You Want Me", began receiving radio play on July 11, 2006 and was written by Jesse McCartney, Adam Watts and Andy Dodd; McCartney, who co-wrote all of the songs on the new album, has said that he believes the single takes him in a "new direction musically"^{cite this quote}. The second single was "Just So You Know". McCartney's third single off the album was called "Just Go" but was on released in Italy. The song "Invincible" was written by McCartney in memory of one of his high school friends who had died in 2003 due to drinking and driving. Although as stated by his management that he will not be launching a new tour because of lack of support from his record company, McCartney has done various shows in Italy and also in the United States.

Departure (2008–present)

After a year and a half, it was confirmed by his management that McCartney has finished recording for his third album Departure. The first single is called "Leavin'". The second single is called "It's Over". The album was released on May 20, 2008 in the United States and Canada. Unlike his debut and sophomore albums, Departure is an R&B album. McCartney promoted 'Departure' on a co-headlining tour with Jordin Sparks, which began in August 2008 and ended in September. He also did solo shows at theaters and small venues to support the album while on tour with Sparks.

Songwriting

In the fall of 2007, McCartney co-wrote the hit song "Bleeding Love" with Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, produced by McCartney and Tedder for British singer Leona Lewis's debut album, Spirit. McCartney recorded his own version, which was released on some editions of his Departure album, The song's worldwide success in late 2007 and early 2008 gave McCartney added credentials as a songwriter, selling over 11 million copies, and stayed at twenty of the U.S. Billboard charts for seven months.

In an interview with JohnJay & Rich the morning of November 24th, 2008. Jordin Sparks mentioned that Jesse has approached her about working on her new album with her. Jordin Sparks sophomore album is expected to begin production in January. Jesse is speculated to be one of the songwriters on the new album.

Philanthropy

In 2004, Jesse McCartney participated in "Come Together Now",⁵ a charity single to benefit the victims of the 2004 Asian Tsunami and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, McCartney signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock,⁶ a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. He sits on its board of directors as an honorary member. He has donated proceeds of his 2005 tour for disaster relief, recorded radio spots promoting the "Kids For A Drug-Free America" campaign, is a spokesperson for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and is involved in the charity SPACE, which was co-founded by a childhood friend of his mother's. McCartney performed at the Hope Rocks concert in 2005 to benefit City of Hope Cancer Center.

Discography

Main article: Jesse McCartney discography

• 2004: Beautiful Soul
• 2006: Right Where You Want Me
• 2008: Departure

Tours

• 2006: Beautiful Soul Tour
• 2008: Departure Tour In Europe
• 2008: Jesse & Jordin LIVE Tour

Filmography

Awards and nominations

• 1998: Nomination: Grammy Award for Best Children's Album (for How Sweet It Is as part of the Sugar Beats)
• 2001: Won: Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a Daytime TV Series - Young Actor
• 2001: Nomination: Soap Opera Digest Award - Outstanding Child Actor
• 2001: Nomination: Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series
• 2002: Won: Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a Daytime TV Series - Young Actor
• 2002: Nomination: Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series
• 2005: Won: Teen Choice Awards - Choice Male Artist
• 2005: Won: Teen Choice Awards - Choice Breakout Artist - Male
• 2005: Won: Teen Choice Awards - Choice Crossover Artist
• 2005: Nomination: MTV Video Music Awards - Best Pop Video for "Beautiful Soul"
• 2005: Won: Radio Disney Music Awards - Best Song to Put on Repeat
• 2005: Nomination: American Music Awards - Best New Artist
• 2005: Won: Radio Disney Music Awards - Best Karaoke Song
• 2005: Won: Radio Disney Music Awards - Best Male Singer
• 2006: Won: Kids Choice Awards Award - Favorite Male Singer
• 2006: Won: TRL Awards Italy - Best "Tear" Award
• 2007: Nomination: Kids Choice Awards Award Italy - Best International Artist
• 2007: Nomination: TRL Awards Italy - Best Male Singer
• 2007: Nomination: TRL Awards Italy - Best Video for "Just So You Know"
• 2007: Nomination: Kids Choice Awards Award - Favorite Male Singer
• 2007: Won: Radio Disney Music Awards - Best Male Singer
• 2008: Nomination: Teen Choice Awards - Choice Male Artist
• 2008: Nomination: Teen Choice Awards - Choice Most Fanatic Fans
• 2008: Nomination: Teen Choice Awards - Choice Summer Song (Leavin')

References

External links

• Official site
• Jesse McCartney at MySpace
• Jesse McCartney at the Internet Movie Database
• Jesse McCartney at Popstar.com
• Jesse McCartney Interview