Mario: An American R&B and Pop Singer, Model, Actor, Dancer and Philanthropist

Mario (Mario Dewar Barrett), an American R&B and pop singer, model, actor, dancer and philanthropist was born on 27 August 1986 and since his mid-teens he has developed a compellingly powerful career. Born and brought up in Baltimore and now in New Jersey, Mario was signed by the New York label 3rd Street/J Records and worked with producer Clive Davis. He became popular by his hit singles “Just a Friend 2002” in 2002 and “Let Me Love You” in 2004, which also made him won two Billboard awards. He also appeared in the blockbuster films like “Step Up” and “Freedom Writers.”

He started recording his debut album “Mario” in July 2001 and on 9 July 2002 his lead single “Just a Friend 2002” became an instant success and reached the 4^th position on the charts. His follow-up singles “Braid My Hair” and “C’mon.” took debut album to sell over 700,000 copies. His second album “Turning Point” was released on 7 December 2004 and was even more successful than his first album, primarily because of his hit single “Let Me Love You” that nailed to the 1^st position on the Billboard Hot 100 for consecutive nine weeks.

His third album “Go!” was released on 9 October 2007 in South Africa and in US on 11 December 2007 and was dedicated to his mom Shawntia Hardaway. His third album sold over 331,540 copies in the US. His fourth studio album’s lead single “Break Up” which also featured Sean Garrett and Gucci Mane was released on 28 April 2009 became an instant hit. His fifth studio album “D.N.A. was released on 12 October 2009 in the UK by RCA Records and in the US by J Records become Mario’s most successful single in five years.

He also participated in the 6^th Season of “Dancing with the Stars” with Karina Smirnoff and got eliminated in the 8^th week of the competition. With a massive range of artistic music videos, he also hopes to build an extensive acting career soon. Watch and listen to all the latest Mario music videos at the coolest new urban music website, Urban-Nation.Com.