- Born
- Birth nameCornell Iral Haynes Jr.
- Nickname
- Nelly
- Height1.73 m
- Nelly went to Spain with his father, Air Force Man Cornall Haynes Sr., until he was 3 years old, then moved to St. Louis. Nelly's folks struggled financially and split up when he was 7. As the youngest child in the neighborhood he grew up getting into trouble with the big kids. As a result he ended up moving around to live with various family members. He dreamed of playing pro baseball. In high school he formed a group called the St. Lunatics. The group consisted of him and some of his friends (Kyjuan, Murphy Lee, Slo Down, City Spud, and Ali) from high school. Nelly began listening to artists like Rakim, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, OutKast, Goodie Mob, and Jay-Z. He became convinced that his gift for rap could be parlayed into a career. He has his own style of rap which he likes to describe as a jazz form of hip-hop. The first song that Nelly and the St. Lunatics made was Gimmie What You Got. The song "Gimmie What You Got" sold 7,000 units regionally and dominated airwaves, rising to the number one spot on St. Louis' number one hip-hop station. After that song the St. Lunatics encouraged Nelly to go solo and he did. He signed a record deal with Universal Records.- IMDb mini biography by: Kristin <rrcmblover@aol.com>
- SpouseAshanti(December 27, 2023 - present) (1 child)
- ChildrenCornell Haynes IIIKareem Kenkaide HayesSydneyChanelleShawn
- ParentsCornell Haynes SrRhonda Mack
- RelativesJackie Donahue(Sibling)City Spud(Sibling)Jamillah Nicole(Niece or Nephew)
- Band Aid
- Wearing sports and other clothing connected to St. Louis, his hometown.
- His hand gesture is an L formed with one or both hands (the L stands for "Lunatics").
- His chants include "E.I., E.I.!" (which means "Yes, bring it on!") and "Uh-oh, uh-oh!"
- His older sister, Jackie Donahue, lost her 3-year battle with leukemia in March 2005, she was 31 years old.
- When his sister Jackie Donahue needed a bone marrow transplant, Nelly helped her begin the Jes Us 4 Jackie campaign to raise awareness of the need for more bone marrow and blood stem cell donors. With this campaign, Nelly and Jackie hope to enroll more donors, especially among black Americans and other minority groups.
- Often wears clothing bearing the logos of St. Louis' sports teams.
- Has started two new trends amongst his fans: wearing sports jerseys backward (such that one's favorite player's name is on one's chest rather than back) and wearing a Band-Aid on either cheek.
- Created the "Apple Bottom" clothing line.
- "I'm not a big crier. I probably only cried five or six times in my life and I think four of those times was from my daddy kicking my butt".
- [About the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri] We gotta do something different. Black boys have been dying since we came to this country, ain't nothin' changed. He [Officer Darren Wilson] will not be the last cop to shoot an unarmed black man.
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