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Ciara is an American R&B performer. As her father was in the United States Army, she lived in bases in Germany, New York, California, Arizona, and Nevada. Her family eventually settled in Atlanta, Georgia. She said after seeing a Destiny's Child's performance on television it inspired her to pursue a career in music. In her early teens she formed the goal to become a professional singer. She joined a girl group, worked on her songwriting, left the group, got a publishing deal, and found a music soul mate when she met producer Jazze Pha.

Jazze Pha signed her to his Sho' Nuff label after working with her for five days. Dubbed the First Lady of Crunk & B or the Princess of Crunk & B by the producer Lil Jon, Ciara burst onto the scene with her single Goodies (which she co-wrote with Sean Garrett), the breathy answer song to Petey Pablo's Freek-a-Leek. LaFace Records released the Lil Jon-produced track in the US in the summer of 2004, and it saw a quick climb to the top of the music charts. Lil Jon produced the song in the crunk style, his speciality, with Petey Pablo also featured as a vocalist on the track.

Goodies became a hit, reaching the top of the United States R&B and pop charts, and also charting in the United Kingdom (in January 2005, also reaching number one), Australia, Germany, Sweden, and New Zealand. With help from Pha, Garrett, and Lil Jon, Ciara released her self-titled album in September 2004. It entered the Billboard 200 chart at number three, and sold over two milion copies in the United States alone. The second single, 1, 2 Step, featuring Missy Elliott, reached the top ten in the U.S., peaking at number two in early 2005. 1, 2 Step was released in the U.K. on 11 April the same year, and reached number three, benefiting from the fact that it was the first week that downloads were incorporated into the singles chart. Ciara charted one place higher than she would have done if downloads had not been included in the chart formula; she would have instead swapped places with Elvis Presley's re-issue of The Wonder of You at number four.

Rumors emerged in January 2005 that Ciara was, in fact, born with a male body or intersex, and had had sexual reassignment surgery at the age of eleven. Many variations of this rumor existed. Some people have suggested that the rumors may have started because Ciara shares her name with Ciara of Emerald Isle, a transwoman with a well-known webpage.

In May of 2005, Ciara's third single, Oh featuring Ludacris, reached #2 on the Hot 100.In August of 2005, Ciara's fourth single, And I was released.

In 2005 Ciara released her DVD of music videos with behind the scenes footage of her rehearsals for the Soul Train Awards.