Keri Lynn Hilson was born in 1982 in Decatur, Georgia. During her adolescence, Hilson studied piano and singing, and she joined the girl group D'Signe when she was 14. She became a songwriter and backing vocalist while in high school, and she attended Emory University.
Hilson began songwriting in 2001 and would go on to write tracks for Britney Spears, Ciara, Usher, and Ludacris. In 2004, she was featured on Xzibit's single, "Hey Now (Mean Muggin)". In 2006, Hilson signed as an artist with Timbaland's label, Mosley Music Group and appeared on a track on Diddy's Press Play. Hilson was also featured on "Help", the second single from Lloyd Banks' Rotten Apple; the single peaked at number 77 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
While Hilson was working with Polow da Don in a studio, he asked her "What producer do you think could take you where you want to go as an artist?" She replied with Timbaland, who was in search of a black female solo R&B artist. After singing for Timbaland over the phone, they began recording at The Hit Factory the following weekend. In 2007, Hilson made several appearances on Timbaland's solo effort Shock Value, including on the singles "The Way I Are" and "Scream". "The Way I Are" reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. Furthermore, she was featured on the track "Lost Girls" on Zone 4-labelmate Rich Boy's debut album and its second single "Good Things" and was credited as a writer and backing vocalist on Britney Spears's album Blackout.
Hilson also played the lead role in Usher's music video for "Love in This Club", (as well as co-writing its "Pt. II" remix) appeared as one of the "independent women" in Ne-Yo's music video for "Miss Independent". Later in the year, Hilson performed on Nas' debut single "Hero" from his controversial untitled album; it reached number 97 on the Hot 100 and number 82 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts.
Superman (It's Not Easy) By Five for Fighting. Single for voice, piano and guitar chords. C Major. 9 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (HL.352391) See more info...
The Riddle By Five for Fighting. Piano Vocal (Arranged for piano and voice with guitar chords). 12 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (353455) See more info...
Five for Fighting is the stage name of American singer-songwriter John Ondrasik. His 2000 album America Town went platinum in the U.S. largely because of the success of the song "Superman (It's Not Easy)". The 2004 album The Battle for Everything has also enjoyed chart success in the United States with the hit single, "100 Years". Ondrasik has also released a DualDisc of his 2004 album which has one side containing The Battle for Everything in its entirety and the other side being a DVD containing bonus footage and Five For Fighting music videos. Five for Fighting's fourth album, Two Lights, was released on August 1, 2006.