55 Facts About Nelly

Nelly grew up in St Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop group St Lunatics.

Nelly signed with Universal Records as a solo act in 1999 to release his debut studio album, Country Grammar.

Nelly has won multiple accolades throughout his career, including three Grammy Awards and nine Billboard Music Awards.

Nelly has been referred to by Peter Shapiro as "one of the biggest stars of the new millennium".

In 2014, Nelly was ranked as the fourth-best-selling hip hop artist in American music history according to the RIAA, with 21 million albums sold in the United States.

Nelly launched the clothing line Vokal in 1997 and the line of womenswear, Apple Bottoms in 2003.

Nelly's father served in the Air Force for much of his childhood and when he was seven, his parents divorced.

The rest of the group agreed to let Nelly go solo after a major record deal failed to appear.

Law told HitQuarters that Nelly was largely disliked by the label when he first signed, with the feedback he received from his colleagues on the rapper's music being "extraordinarily negative".

Nelly was unusual for being a rapper from the Midwest at a time when hip-hop was dominated by the East Coast, West Coast and the South.

In 2003, Nelly released Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention, which featured the hit single "Iz U" from the soundtrack to Walt Disney's The Haunted Mansion.

Nelly later confirmed that "Wadsyaname" was never going to be on Brass Knuckles.

Nelly recorded "Party People", featuring Fergie and produced by Polow da Don, which turned out to be his first official single off the album.

Nelly appeared on Rick Ross's third single, "Here I Am" featuring label mate Avery Storm.

Nelly said that he delayed releasing the album because of the tragedy.

In May 2010, Nelly confirmed that the title of the album was 5.0.

In October 2010, Nelly featured on the second single by singer Mohombi entitled "Miss Me", produced by RedOne.

In November 2010, Nelly appeared on the Pacquiao vs Margarito pay-per-view, at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

In June 2011, Pitbull released a song off the deluxe version of the album Planet Pit featuring Nelly titled "My Kinda Girl".

Nelly released his second mixtape, entitled Scorpio Season, on November 2,2012.

Nelly joined country singers Kane Brown and Brett Kissel for remixes of their songs, "Cool Again" and "She Drives Me Crazy".

In January 2025, it was announced that Nelly would have a residency at Zouk Nightclub in Resorts World Las Vegas, with dates running through the end of August 2025.

Nelly starred in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock.

In June 2008, in an interview with Kiwibox, Nelly revealed that he is reluctant to continue his acting career, noting that he does not want to "take away from the culture of acting".

From 2013 to 2016, Nelly was in the main cast of the mockumentary series Real Husbands of Hollywood.

In September 2020, Nelly was announced as one of the celebrities competing on the 29th season of Dancing with the Stars.

Nelly's rapping style has been described by Peter Shapiro as using "unforgettable hooks based on schoolyard songs, double-dutch chants, and nonsense rhymes" and has a "Missouri twang".

AllMusic suggests Nelly's style is based largely on where he comes from: "Nelly's locale certainly informs his rapping style, which is as much country as urban, and his dialect as well, which is as much Southern drawl as Midwestern twang".

Nelly explains his method of writing in the book How to Rap, describing how he freestyles most of the lyrics before going back over them to "make it a little tighter", he generally writes in the studio rather than at home, he normally comes up with a chorus for a song before writing the verses, and he likes to write to the music he will be rapping over.

Nelly dated singer Ashanti from 2003 to 2013 after meeting at the 2003 Grammy Awards.

Nelly has two children from previous relationships: a son named Cornell Haynes III and a daughter named Chanelle.

Nelly has two adopted children from his stepsister Jaqueline Donahue, who died of leukemia on March 25,2005.

Nelly has been a longtime fan of the St Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball.

Nike and Nelly agreed on a one-year deal in 2003 to release a limited-edition sneaker called the "Air Derrty", which was a retro remake of Charles Barkley's signature sneaker.

Nelly's energy drink Pimp Juice sold one million cans during the first two months after its introduction in August 2003, and was criticized for its name by black consumer activists.

Nelly owns Apple Bottoms, a female clothing line, and Vokal, which caters to men.

Nelly was one of the owners of the Charlotte Bobcats, along with Robert L Johnson and Michael Jordan, until Jordan became the majority owner in March 2010.

Nelly has played the Main Event at the 2007 World Series of Poker.

Nelly has played The PokerStars European Poker Tour and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Nelly was taking the place of regular PM drive personality, Stacy Static, who left on pregnancy leave.

In September 2010, Nelly released a fitness DVD entitled Celebrity Sweat, walking viewers through various exercises and weight training techniques.

In 2011, he and Vatterott College worked together to found the Ex'treme Institute By Nelly, which is a music production school in the heart of St Louis.

In 2015, Nelly teamed up with Mike and Ike candy after a halt in collaborating a year earlier.

Meanwhile, reports persisted that Nelly was increasingly irritated with Chingy's growth in fame, particularly when he signed with Ludacris' DTP label shortly following the tour.

Nelly had a wish for this to happen, she really wanted me and her brother to be cool.

In 2006, Nelly started hosting a "White and Black Ball" in his hometown of St Louis as a fundraiser to collect funds for scholarships.

Nelly has sent two students to college every year for over a decade, and set up a scholarship fund named after Michael Brown was shot and killed.

Nelly was initially booked into the Putnam County Jail and was released on bail.

Nelly was initially charged with felony drug possession, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Nelly entered a diversion program, in which the misdemeanor convictions were cleared from his record after 11 months.

Nelly was booked into a Des Moines, Washington, jail and released from custody without charge.

Nelly denied wrongdoing; his attorney said that the accusation was "clearly false".

Nelly was charged with possessing four Ecstasy pills and lacking insurance.

Nelly's attorney said that Nelly was "targeted by an overzealous, out of line officer", and that his legal representation would ask for an inquiry into the arresting officer's conduct.

The arrest was made after the December 2023 arrest warrant was discovered, following a required background check which occurred after Nelly scored jackpot wins at the Hollywood Casino and Hotel in Maryland Heights.