Marques Houston
Born in Los Angeles, California on August 4, 1981, Marques Houston got his start in R&B as a member of the group Immature. Known in the group as Batman, Houston founded the group alongside Jerome "Romeo" Jones and Kelton "LDB" Kessee.
As a member of Immature, Marques Houston recorded and released four albums, Immature: On Our Worst Behavior in 1992, Playtime Is Over in 1994, We Got It in 1995 and The Journey in 1997. In 1997, Marques Houston lost his mother to lymphoma which affected him greatly and inspired a number of songs that he wrote and recorded, including the track "All Alone."
While a member of Immature, Marques Houston also was able to do a number of acting roles. While he mostly did small parts, including an appearance in House Party 3, Marques Houston was able to achieve a big role in the show Sister, Sister. In the show, Houston played the character Roger, a role he reprised for four years from 1994 to 1998.
After four albums, Immature underwent a name and image change in 1999, becoming known as IMx. The change came about as the group members were aging, and under the new name, they released two albums, Introducing IMx in 1999, and IMx in 2001. However, the new image did not last long as the group broke up in 2002.
Following Immature/IMx break-up, Marques Houston began a solo career. His debut release, MH, came out in 2003 and featured the successful single "Clubbin" which reached #39 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the R&B charts. The single featured rappers Joe Budden and Pied Piper. The album had two other singles which performed mediocre, with "That Girl" reaching #24 on the R&B charts and #63 on the Hot 100, and "Pop That Booty" which reached #37 on the R&B charts and #76 on the Hot 100.
Marques Houston's second album, Naked, came out in 2005. The album had two singles, with "All Because Of You" reaching #69 on the Hot 100 and #14 on the R&B charts, and the title track, "Naked," which peaked at #8 on the R&B charts and #47 on the Hot 100. The track "Naked" stood out for its music video which was reminiscent of D'Angelo's "How Does It Feel" as the video featured a naked Marques Houston singing into the camera.
Veteran, Marques Houston's third album, released in 2007. The album was Marques Houston's first number one solo album, debuting on top of the R&B charts. However, the album failed to draw the strong singles of his previous efforts, with the only charting single being "Circle." "Circle" peaked at #78 on the Hot 100 and stalled at #50 on the R&B charts.
In 2009, Marques Houston released a new album, Mr. Houston, on September 29.