Monica Denise Arnold professionally known as Monica, became the youngest recording R&B act to ever have two consecutive chart-topping hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Following a major success with "The Boy Is Mine," a duet with singer Brandy, in 1998, a series of hit records established her position as one of the most successful of the new breed of urban R&B female vocalists to emerge in the mid-to late 1990s.
Her popularity was in decline between the early 2000s, during which time she dealt with more personal tribulations including the suicide of her boyfriend Jarvis "Knot" Weems, an up-and down relationship with former fiancé Corey "C-Murder" Miller and the delay of her heavily bootlegged third album, All Eyez on Me. In 2003 Monica eventually released After the Storm, and after an unsuccessful period, she returned to the forefront of R&B music with her sixth number-one hit "So Gone."After giving birth to her first child, Rodney Hill III, in May 2005, and another short hiatus, Monica released her fourth studio album, The Makings of Me in October 2006. While maintaining a recording career Arnold has also gained fame for appearing in several film and television productions, including supporting roles in big screen motion pictures Boys and Girls(2000) and ATL (2006) and a starring role in the MTV Films telefilm Love Song (2000).
And to think, much of The Makings of Monica happened right before our eyes: The three million selling debut and the hit singles - "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" and "Before You Walk Out of My Life" - that made her the youngest female artist ever to have two back-to- back No. 1 hits on Billboard's R&B singles chart. (Both of which also topped its Hot 100 pop charts and earned a million in sales.) The million-selling contribution to the 1997 "Space Jam" soundtrack "For You I Will." Then came her 1998 CD "The Boy Is Mine," which not only had three consecutive No. 1 Billboard pop singles (the title track, "Angel of Mine" and "First Night"), but the title track with Brandy spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts, and 8 at No. 1 on the R&B listing. Not to mention the duet earned Monica a Grammy to add to her American Music, Soul Train and Billboard Awards. Then there was her last million-selling CD "After the Storm." All of which she managed while acting in the MTV movie "Love Song," the Miramax movie "Boys and Girls" and most recently, Warner Bros/Overbrook’s "ATL."
Monica Denise Arnold professionally known as Monica, became the youngest recording R&B act to ever have two consecutive chart-topping hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Following a major success with "The Boy Is Mine," a duet with singer Brandy, in 1998, a series of hit records established her position as one of the most successful of the new breed of urban R&B female vocalists to emerge in the mid-to late 1990s.
Her popularity was in decline between the early 2000s, during which time she dealt with more personal tribulations including the suicide of her boyfriend Jarvis "Knot" Weems, an up-and down relationship with former fiancé Corey "C-Murder" Miller and the delay of her heavily bootlegged third album, All Eyez on Me. In 2003 Monica eventually released After the Storm, and after an unsuccessful period, she returned to the forefront of R&B music with her sixth number-one hit "So Gone."After giving birth to her first child, Rodney Hill III, in May 2005, and another short hiatus, Monica released her fourth studio album, The Makings of Me in October 2006. While maintaining a recording career Arnold has also gained fame for appearing in several film and television productions, including supporting roles in big screen motion pictures Boys and Girls(2000) and ATL (2006) and a starring role in the MTV Films telefilm Love Song (2000).