Mario Barrett's Biography

Mario, whose full name is Mario Dewar Barrett, was born on 27 August 1986 in Baltimore.

When he was just 14, Mario signed with J Records and at 16 he released his self-titled first album.

In December 2004, still just 18, Mario released his second album Turning Point.

In 2005, Mario's Let Me Love You won Billboard's Top R&B / Hip-Hop Single of the Year.

Although Mario's records were selling millions there was a dispute about how much he was getting from his deals.

Reuters reported how, in 2006, Mario sued former manager Troy Patterson, who had discovered and later sheltered Mario during his mother's bouts with drugs stating that he received only about $50,000 from the sale of records that generated about $20 million for J Records. Patterson filed a countersuit and the dispute was eventually settled in January 2007.

In October 2007, MTV transmitted I Won't Love You to Death: The Story of Mario and His Mom, which dealt with his mother's addiction to drugs.

A month later, Mario's delayed third album, originally titled Mario Barrett - Effortless, but retitled Go, was released by J Records.

In an interview with Singer Universe, Mario discussed how his music had developed:

"When you're 18 or 19 and you sing how I love you. It's kind of safe, like does he really know what he’s singing about? And when I was 16, I just couldn't sing about certain things because I wasn't experiencing them in my life. But now I have the chance to show people that I’m an expressive adult artist."

Mario has appeared in the films Step Up and Freedom Writers.

In Dancing with the Stars series 6, Mario danced with Karina Smirnoff.

Mario and Karina came fifth in Dancing with the Stars.