Jesse A. McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American pop singer and actor. McCartney initially came to fame in the early 2000s as a member of the boy band Dream Street, and subsequently branched out into a solo career, having appeared on the television series Summerland and released a successful music album, Beautiful Soul. His newest album, Right Where You Want Me, was released on September 19, 2006.

Biography

Early life

McCartney is an American singer who was born in New York City; his maternal grandparents, Dick and Joyce Sarber, are from Ukiah, Mendocino County, California. McCartney is of Scottish, Irish, and English ancestry and is a born Christian. In 1988 the McCartneys relocated to Ardsley, Westchester County, New York, where he grew up and lived until 2004. He has one brother, Timothy (”Timmy”) Glover Mark McCartney (born December 20, 1996) and one sister, Lea McCartney (born July 17, 1991

McCartney began performing in local community musicals at the age of seven, before joining the National Tour of The King and I at the age of ten along with “Phil of the Future” star Ricky Ullman. He later appeared with The Who’s Roger Daltrey in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden, before joining the children’s group Sugar Beats as a vocalist.

Music career

At the age of 12, McCartney joined the American pop boy band Dream Street, and was a member from 2000 to 2002. McCartney has described the experience as a good “stepping stone” for his solo career. The group earned a gold record with their debut CD, and broke up while touring with Aaron Carter. At sixteen, he began work on a solo career with a local band, featuring musicians Dillon Kondor (guitar), Peter Chema (bass), Katie Spencer (keyboards), Alex Russek (drums), Karina LaGravinese (background vocals) and Sharisse Francisco (background vocals), under the management of Ginger McCartney and Sherry Goffin Kondor, who co-produced his first album, “Beautiful Soul”.

McCartney’s Beautiful Soul album, 2004

McCartney released his first solo EP, JMac, in July of 2003. The album featured three songs: “Beautiful Soul”, “Don’t You” and “Why Don’t You Kiss Her”. In 2004, he performed a duet with Anne Hathaway, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, which is featured on the Ella Enchanted soundtrack. McCartney’s first full-length solo album, Beautiful Soul, which was two years in the making, was released later that year, on September 28. The album featured four songs co-written by McCartney. The title song reached #2 on AOL Music and the “Beautiful Soul” music video performed well on MTV’s Total Request Live, having been voted into the top 10 fifty times, and peaked at #4. The album, having sold over 1.5 million records, has achieved platinum status.

McCartney’s first solo tour, also named “Beautiful Soul” (opened by singer/songwriter and actress Brie Larson) began on May 2, 2005 at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento, California. The United States portion of the tour spanned 56 stops, ending on September 10 at the Madera District County Fair in Madera, California. McCartney has also performed at many amusement parks, including Six Flags and Paramount Canada’s Wonderland, and has performed “Beautiful Soul” while making guest appearances on several late night talk shows, including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”.

His personal favorite performance was at Toms River, New Jersey. This concert featured a new band, comprising Dory Lobel (guitar), Zane Carney (guitar), Andre De Santanna (bass), Mitchell Yoshida (keyboards), Karen Teperberg (drums), Margeaux “JoJo” Fernandez (background vocals) and Julie Dickens (background vocals). His July 9 appearance at Paramount’s Great America, Santa Clara, California was recorded as a live CD and released in November 2005; this was his first concert DVD.

In the fall of 2005, McCartney toured Australia, and opened for the Backstreet Boys in Europe. His latest album, entitled Right Where You Want Me, was released by Hollywood Records on September 19, 2006. The first single from the album, also called “Right Where You Want Me”, began receiving radio play on July 11, 2006 and was written by McCartney, Adam Watts and Andy Dodd; McCartney, who co-wrote all of the songs on the new album, has said that he believes the single takes him in a “new direction musically”. McCartney will launch a new tour after the album’s release. The new album has also been made available for purchase at Yahoo Music in MP3 format. On an episode of TRL McCartney stated one of his favorite songs off the new album is “Just So You Know”, and that it might be a future single. On November 2, 2006, he confirmed that the song would be the second single during an appearance on the Austrailian morning show Sunrise.

Acting career

McCartney with Elizabeth Harnois in Keith, 2006

McCartney has also pursued an acting career, playing J.R. Chandler on the television soap opera All My Children from 1998 to 2001. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy as an “Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series” for the role, in both 2001 and 2002. In 2004 and 2005, McCartney played Bradin Westerly on the short-lived WB series Summerland, which was the top summer opener in WB history. That same year, he also modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch.

Keith film poster

McCartney will star in the film Keith, which is currently scheduled for a 2007 release, opposite Margo Harshman and Elisabeth Harnois. He is also the voice actor for Roxas in the US release of the video game Kingdom Hearts II, and the voice of Peter in Disney’s direct to DVD “Tinkerbell”. McCartney appeared as himself on the September 12th episode of All My Children, performing his hit single, Right Where You Want Me. On September 18, 2005, he guest starred in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody episode, “Rock Star in the House” as himself.

Personal life

McCartney enjoys sports, especially baseballand surfing, which he learned while filming Summerland. Jesse’s favorite baseball team is the New York Yankees.He has donated proceeds of his 2005 “Beautiful Soul” tour for disaster relief, recorded radio spots promoting the “Kids For A Drug-Free America” campaign, is a spokesperson for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and is involved in the charity SPACE, which was co-founded by a childhood friend of his mother’s.There are many rumours going around that Jesse has split from long term girlfriend Katie Cassidy but these rumours have been denied by Jesse and Katie’s Reps but the rumours are still going around but Jesse has said a while ago that he and Katie are as strong as ever.

Filmography

McCartney in Summerland

• Celebrity Duets (2006) (TV) as Himself
• Keith as Keith
• Kingdom Hearts II (2006) (Video game) (voice) Roxas
• The Beautiful Soul Tour (2005) (DVD, concert recorded July 9, 2005 at Great America, Santa Clara, CA) (Available in US & Australia)
• Up Close (2005) (Video compilation) #3 Australia (DVD available both in the US and Australia)
• The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (2005) (Guest Star)
• Much On Demand (2005) (Guest Star)
• Top Of The Pops (2005) (Guest Star & Interview - New Zealand) (TV)
• Summerland (2004) (TV) as Bradin Westerly
• Pizza (2004) as Justin
• What I Like About You (2004) (TV) as Himself
• The Strange Legacy of Cameron Cruz (2002) (TV) as Cameron Cruz
• The Biggest Fan (2002) (DVD) as Himself
• The Pirates of Central Park (2001) as Simon Baskin
• All My Children (1998-2001) (TV) as Adam Sunshine/ Junior/ J.R Chandler Junior #4
• All My Children (September 2006) (TV)

Discography Albums

• 2004 Beautiful Soul — #1 Taiwan, #5 Australia, #3 Italy, #15 US, #53 UK, #16 Germany
  • RIAA Certification: Platinum
• 2005 Live: The Beautiful Soul Tour — #153 US
  • RIAA Certification: uncertified
• 2006 Right Where You Want Me — #1 Taiwan, #49 Australia, #15 US #153 UK

Singles

• 2004 “Good Life” - Radio Disney Release
• 2004 “Beautiful Soul” — #1 Australia, #1 Philippines, #1 Taiwan, #2 NZ, #16 UK, #16 US
• 2005 “She’s No You” — #6 Philippines, #10 Australia, #16 NZ, #91 US
• 2005 “Get Your Shine On” — #36 Australia
• 2005 “What’s Your Name?” — Radio Disney Release
• 2005 “Because You Live” — #1 Italy, #16 Philippines
• 2006 “Right Where You Want Me” — #20 Australia, #33 US, #54 UK, #17 SPA, #4 Singapore, #9 Philippines
• 2006 “Just So You Know” - TBD

Non-Album tracks

• “Good Life” (from Stuck in the Suburbs soundtrack)
• “Best Day Of My Life” (from A Cinderella Story soundtrack)
• “Beautiful Soul” (exclusive remix) (from A Cinderella Story soundtrack)
• “Winter Wonderland” (from Radio Disney Jingle Jams)
• “One Way Or Another” (from Radio Disney Jingle Jams)
• “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart” (with Anne Hathaway) (from Ella Enchanted soundtrack)
• “Crushn’” (from Lizzie McGuire: Total Party!)
• “The Second Star to the Right” (from Disneymania Vol. 2)
• “When You Wish Upon a Star” (from Disneymania Vol. 3)
• “Get Your Shine On” (from Summerland soundtrack)
• “She’s No You” (Neptune’s Remix)
• “I’ll Try” Disneymania Volume 4 (2006)

Awards, nominations

• American Music Awards - Nomination as Best New Artist (2005)
• Soap Opera Digest Award - Nomination as Outstanding Child Actor (2001)
• Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series, two-time nominee (2001 and 2002)
• Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a Daytime TV Series - Young Actor, two-time winner (2001 and 2002)
• Grammy Awards - Nominations for albums by the Sugar Beats (1998, 1999, 2000)
• Kids Choice Awards Award - Favorite Male Singer (2006)
• MTV Video Music Awards - Nomination for Best Pop Video (Beautiful Soul) (2005)
• Radio Disney Music Awards - Best Male Singer (2005)
• Radio Disney Music Awards - Best Karaoke Song (2005)
• Radio Disney Music Awards - Best Song to Put on Repeat (2005)
• Teen Choice Awards - Choice Male Artist (2005)
• Teen Choice Awards - Choice Breakout Artist - Male (2005)
• Teen Choice Awards - Choice Crossover Artist (2005)

Music Videos

• “Good Life” (Disney Version) - Available on Jesse’s Up Close DVD
• “Good Life” (Disney Version with Stuck in the Suburbs clips) see it here
• “Beautiful Soul” (Disney Version) see it here
• “Because You Live” (Disney Version) - Available on Jesse’s Up Close DVD
• “Because You Live” (Disney Version with Princess Diaries 2 clips)
• “Beautiful Soul” see it here - Available on Jesse’s Up Close DVD
• “She’s No You” (WB Special Performance) - Available on Jesse’s Up Close DVD
• “She’s No You” see it here - Available on Jesse’s Up Close DVD
• “Get Your Shine On” (Disney Version with Kim Possible movie clips) - Available on Disney Channel Hits: Take 2 CD/DVD
• “Without U” (Live Version) - taken from Jesse’s Stripped Raw and Real concert and available on the Up Close DVD
• “Get Your Shine On” (Live Version) - taken from Jesse’s Live DVD
• “Because You Live” (Live Version) - taken from Jesse’s Live DVD
• “Because You Live” see it here
• “Beautiful Soul” (Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack & Cody Version)
• “What’s Your Name?” (Live Version) - Available on Radio Disney Jams 8 CD/DVD - taken from Jesse’s Live DVD
• “Right Where You Want Me” see it here
• “Right Where You Want Me” (Radio Disney Totally 10 Concert Live Version)(altered lyrics) - shown on Disney Channel
• “Right Where You Want Me” (Disney Version with clips from Return to Halloweentown) (altered lyrics) - shown on Disney Channel

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