Jesse McCartney (OT)

**alyssa** Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:32 pm

Jesse Abraham Arthur McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American pop 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 in the television series Summerland.

Early life and acting career

Jesse McCartney was born in Ardsley, New York,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 Raviv 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. in 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 in the Disney Channel show, The Suite Life of Zack & 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 in 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 also voiced Theodore in 2007's Alvin and the Chipmunks and as Terrence in 2008's Tinker Bell.

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

According to Entertainment Weekly, McCartney is currently negotiating to play against type in the role of the Fire Nation's prince Zuko in The Last Airbender.

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.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 2004. 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

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 California's Great America in Santa Clara, California was recorded as a live CD and released in November 2005; this was his first concert DVD.

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". 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 third single is called "How Do You Sleep?" The album was released on May 20, 2008 in the United States and Canada. 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 English 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. He had also written the track, "Don't Leave" for Vanessa Hudgens' second album, Identified.

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

Philanthropy

In 2004, Jesse McCartney participated in "Come Together Now", 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,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