Sisqó

Mark Althavan Andrews (born November 9, 1978), known professionally as Sisqó (stylized as SisQó), is an American R&B singer. Following his tenure as lead performer of the R&B group Dru Hill, he quickly reached success as a solo act with the release of his debut studio album Unleash the Dragon, which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. It spawned the singles "Incomplete" and "Thong Song", which peaked at numbers one and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.

Early life As a teen, Andrews worked at The Fudgery in Harborplace at Baltimore's Inner Harbor with Larry "Jazz" Anthony, James "Woody" Green, and Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin. The quartet would be signed as the group Dru Hill to Island Records in 1996. He lived in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood at 908 Newington Avenue near Druid Hill Park, which is where the group got their name.

Career

After Woody departed Dru Hill in 1999 to pursue a solo career, it was decided that the other members would follow suit and issue their own solo albums. Sisqó's solo debut, Unleash the Dragon, was released on Def Soul Records in November 1999. Unleash the Dragon sold moderately at first, until the February 2000 release of its second single, the novelty "Thong Song". A runaway hit, "Thong Song" and its follow-up, "Incomplete", were major hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with "Thong Song" making it to number three, and "Incomplete" going to number one. This success resulted in Play Along Toys manufacturing a Sisqó doll in 2001.

Formed by Sisqó in 1999, LovHer was the first female quartet on the Def Soul label. Their single "How It's Gonna Be" was featured on the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack in 2001.

Conflicts within Dru Hill prevented the group from reuniting as planned in 2000. This is usually attributed to time conflicts during the recording of Sisqó's second solo LP. During this period, Sisqó branched out into hosting the dance competition program Sisqós Shakedown on MTV, and into film, taking on supporting roles in the films Get Over It (2001) with Kirsten Dunst and Snow Dogs (2002) with Cuba Gooding, Jr. He also starred as a vampire in Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Season 6 Episode 1). Although his second LP, Return of Dragon, released in June 2001, eventually went platinum, its singles "Can I Live" and "Dance for Me" performed far below expectations (apart from in the United Kingdom, where "Dance for Me" became his third top ten hit). By 2002, Sisqó reunited with Dru Hill, which released its third LP in late 2002. The LP underperformed, and the group was subsequently released from their recording contract.

In January 2008, Sisqó was a contestant on a reality show called "Gone Country."

In 2010, Sisqó was a contestant on the British reality television show Celebrity Big Brother 7, which he placed 8th. He was the fifth contestant to be evicted, lasting 20 days.

Dru Hill released its third album, InDRUpendence Day, in 2010 as an independent release through Kedar Entertainment. The group also appeared at this time in the reality show Keith Sweat's Platinum House on BET's sister station Centric.

Sisqó continued to tour through the 2010s, both as a member of Dru Hill, and as a solo act. His third solo album, Last Dragon, was released on February 10, 2015. The singles, "A-List" and "L.I.P.s" were released ahead of the album, with the latter reaching number 23 on the US Adult R&B charts, becoming Sisqó's first charting US single since 2001's "Can I Live".

, Sisqó, along with the other members of Dru Hill, claimed that their record label botched a record deal, costing them millions in the process.

In 2016, Sisqó provided a rap counterpoint in a duet with country music singer Marie Osmond, in her song "Give me a Good Song", which was featured on Music Is Medicine, released on April 15, 2016.

In 2017, Sisqó, sang on a remake of his "Thong Song" produced by JCY.

In 2018, Sisqo released a holiday book for children, titled "Sisqo's Perfect Christmas", with creative partner, Tilesha Brown.

He represented Maryland in the American Song Contest, which began on March 21, 2022, on NBC.

In 2024, Sisqó competed on season eleven of The Masked Singer as "Lizard". He was eliminated on "Shower Anthems Night" and did an encore performance of "Thong Song".

Personal life Sisqó has a daughter, Shaione Andrews, born in 1995. He resides in Maple Grove, Minnesota, with his wife Elizabeth Pham, with whom he has been romantically involved since 2003. They have two children: a son named Ryu Andrews born in June 2012, and a daughter named Kimiqo Star, aka QoQo born in September 2014.

In July 2013, Sisqó appeared on the reality show Celebrity Wife Swap, where Elizabeth was "swapped" with the wife of 1990s pop singer Gerardo Mejía.

He previously dated R&B singer Samantha Mumba from 2004 to 2005.

Discography

with Dru Hill Dru Hill (1996) Enter the Dru (1998) Dru World Order (2002) InDRUpendence Day (2010) Christmas in Baltimore (2017)

Solo albums Unleash the Dragon (1999) Return of Dragon (2001) Last Dragon (2015)

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2001 Get Over It! Dennis Wallace 2002 Snow Dogs Dr. Rupert Brooks 2003 Pieces of April Latrell 2006 Surf School Mo

Television Year Title Role Notes 1996–03 Soul Train Himself Recurring Guest 1998–03 Top of the Pops Recurring Guest 2000 Showtime at the Apollo Episode: "Sisqo/Rudy Rush" Making the Video Episode: "Sisqó: The Thong Song" Saturday Night Live Episode: "Tobey Maguire/Sisqo" Sisqó's Shakedown Main Host MTV Cribs Episode: "Episode 1.2" Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards Main Co-Host Linc's Silky-Silk Episode: "East Meets West" 2001 Sabrina the Teenage Witch Vladimir Kortensky Episode: "Really Big Season Opener" 2003 America's Most Talented Kid Himself Episode: "March 22, 2003" (judge) 2007 The Most Annoying Pop Songs.... We Hate to Love Episode: "Episode 1.4" 2008 Gone Country Main Cast: Season 1 I Love the New Millennium Recurring Guest 2010 Celebrity Big Brother UK Main Cast: Season 7 2013 Celebrity Wife Swap Episode: "Gerardo/Sisqó" 2017 Kinda Funny: The Animated Series Episode: "Die Hard" (voice) 2018 Vixen Episode: "Hip Hop's New Star Was Born" 2019 Traveling the Stars Episode: "The Replicants" 2020 Unsung Episode: "Dru Hill" Legends of Tomorrow Episode: "Swan Thong" 2022 American Song Contest Episode: "The Live Qualifiers Part 5" (contestant)2024The Masked Singer Season 11"Lizard"Episodes: "Group C Premiere: Billy Joel Night, "TV Theme Night," "Group C Finals: Shower Anthems Night" (eliminated in episode 5)

Commercials + Product/Brand Year Director Ref Pepsi 2000 Unknown

Tours As supporting act No Strings Attached Tour (supporting NSYNC) Black & Blue World Tour (supporting Backstreet Boys) Featured act Roc Tha Block Hammer's House Party Tour RNB Fridays Live

Awards and nominations American Music Awards

| Sisqó Favorite Male R&B/Soul Artist | Unleash the Dragon Favorite R&B/Soul Album

Billboard Music Awards

Male Artist of the Year Male Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year R&B/Hip-Hop Male Artist of the Year R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist of the Year

Grammy Awards

| Sisqó Best New Artist

Best R&B Male Vocal Performance Best R&B Song | Unleash the Dragon Best R&B Album

MOBO Awards

| Sisqó Best R&B Act

| Thong Song Best Video | Sisqó Best R&B Act

MTV Europe Music Awards

Best Male Best R&B

MTV Video Music Awards

Best Hip-Hop Video Best New Artist Best Dance Video | Thong Song (Remix) w/ Foxy Brown Best Video from a Film | Thong Song Viewer's Choice

Soul Train Music Awards

Favorite Male R&B/Soul Album

Teen Choice Awards

| Sisqó Choice Male Artist | Thong Song Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Track | Sisqó Choice Breakout Artist | Incomplete Choice Song of the Summer

Books

Title Author Year Pages Note(s) SisQó: The Man Behind the Thong Leah Furman 2001 201 Biography SisQó's Perfect Christmas Tilesha Brown 2018 150 Co-written with Sisqó