Amerie Mi Marie Rogers Nicholson (born January 12, 1980)[1] is an American singer, songwriter, actress and writer.

Her father was a chief warrant officer in the U.S. military,[2] so the family lived in many different places, including Alaska, Texas, Virginia and Germany.

The singer enrolled at Georgetown University to study literature, and was in Navy ROTC: "My dad didn't force me into it or anything.

While studying at Georgetown, Amerie befriended a Washington, D.C., club promoter who eventually put her in touch with producer Rich Harrison.

She recorded a song with Detroit rapper Royce da 5'9", titled "Life", the third and final single from his album Rock City (Version 2.0).

[6][7] Amerie's debut album, All I Have (produced and co-written in its entirety by Rich Harrison), was released in 2002 to generally positive reviews.

Amerie gained additional recognition from her first acting role, in the 2004 film First Daughter (directed by Forest Whitaker), in which she starred alongside Katie Holmes.

As with All I Have, the album was co-written and produced by friend Rich Harrison, who contributed seven new tracks to the record; additional production came from Lil Jon, Bryce Wilson, Red Spyda, and Dre & Vidal.

She assumed more creative control over the visual imagery accompanying the album, such as videos and artwork—"I feel like when you do a record, you have a vision in your mind and you want to carry it across and it doesn't end with the studio", she has said.

[10] The song was a top-five hit in the UK, where it became one of the year's best-selling singles, and attained top-ten and top-twenty positions across Continental Europe.

[10][16] The album's title track, "Touch", was released as the second single and peaked at number 95 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the United States, although it was a top-20 entry in the UK.

Later in 2005, Amerie was featured alongside Fat Joe on "I Don't Care", the lead single from Ricky Martin's album Life.

"[18] Because I Love It's first single, "Take Control", (co-produced by Mike Caren and co-written by Cee-Lo Green), became a top-10 hit in the UK in 2007.

Because I Love It was released in 2007 in Europe, Asia, and Australasia and reached the top 20 in the UK, where the album's second single, "Gotta Work", peaked at number 21.

[20] The official release date was delayed several times and the singles "Take Control" and "Gotta Work" were given little promotion (with the former peaking at number 66 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart).

[21] Amerie spoke of her difficulties with Columbia Records in a late 2007 interview, stating that the label was not promoting Because I Love It adequately.

[33] In 2010, Amerie announced that she had changed the spelling of her stage name to Ameriie, explaining: "I operate on vibes and intuition, and I believe everything is energy; the vibration of the double I is right for me.

The production lineup consisted of Riley Urick, The Buchanans, and Andre Harris (of Dre & Vidal), among others; Amerie said that she may reunite with Rich Harrison for the project but that it would be "a matter of when and in what way."

[52] In 2019, she performed alongside Nelly and Craig David at R'n'B Vine Days, a one-day music festival in Australia.

[53] In August 2022, it was announced that Amerie's children's picture book, You Will Do Great Things, was due to be published by Macmillan in March 2023.

[61] While she almost exclusively releases English-language songs, Amerie has recorded with Korean artists such as 4minute on "Heard 'em All", a performance of which aired on KBS and Mnet.

In 2014, Amerie launched a YouTube video blog titled "Books Beauty Ameriie" and said that she was writing two novels, one young adult and one fantasy.

In 2019, Amerie performed on tour with other artists such as Ashanti, Keri Hilson, and Monica for the Femme It Forward movement.

It was officially announced that Amerie and Nicholson were engaged on February 27, 2010, and the couple married on June 25, 2011, in an oceanfront ceremony in Anguilla.

[67][68] In 2024, Amerie became a Muslim and celebrated Eid Al-Fitr, with fans speculating her advocacy for Palestine inspired her to embrace the religion.