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Nicole Elikolani Prescovia Scherzinger (born June 29, 1978), sometimes known as Nicole Kea, is an American singer-songwriter/dancer and actress best known for her work as the lead vocalist for The Pussycat Dolls.
Biography
Scherzinger was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Filipino father and a Hawaiian/Russian mother and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky with stepfather Gary Scherzinger, who is of German descent, mother Rosemary and sister Ke'ala. Nicole took her step-father's last name, as he raised her and she has always considered him to be her dad. She began her life as a performer in Louisville, attending the Youth Performing Arts School at duPont Manual High School and performing with Actors Theatre of Louisville. Scherzinger majored in theater arts at Wright State University, but put her studies on hold in 1999 to sing backing vocals for the rock band Days of the New.
Eden's Crush
In 2001, she competed in the premiere season of The WB's television show Popstars, on which she earned a spot in the all-girl pop group Eden's Crush. The group's 2001 single "Get Over Yourself" peaked at #1 in sales and hit the top five on Billboard Hot 100. "Love This Way" was the second single chosen from the Popstars album; however, their record company folded and the group disbanded. Songwriter Kara DioGuardi contributed one track to the album, and later went on to co-write with Scherzinger for PCD.
The Pussycat Dolls
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The Pussycat Dolls on the cover of their 2005 debut album, PCD.In June 2003, following her stint with Eden's Crush, Scherzinger joined The Pussycat Dolls burlesque troupe, who were being re-cast as recording artists. She had first seen them performing on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2002, where Carmen Electra sang "Big Spender" from the Bob Fosse musical Sweet Charity. In 2006, Scherzinger said "It caught my eye because I’d played Velma Kelly in (the Fosse musical) Chicago in college."
The Pussycat Dolls now have world-wide status as a popular singing group; their Billboard top five hits include "Don't Cha", "Buttons", "Beep" and "Stickwitu". The album PCD went platinum in 2006. Scherzinger is the only group member with a songwriting credit on this album; she co-wrote "I Don't Need a Man" with Kara DioGuardi and producer Rich Harrison (another collaboration with DioGuardi, "Flirt", appeared later as a bonus track). Scherzinger sang nearly all lead and backing vocals on the album, with Melody Thornton and Carmit Bachar also contributing (see Pussycat Dolls article for details).
In 2006, Scherzinger toured with The Pussycat Dolls for their album promotion. It was revealed in 2006 that the Dolls are salaried employees of Interscope Records, giving the label a high level of control over the group's finances and business decisions.
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Solo career
Scherzinger's only solo release so far is her cover version of "Breakfast in Bed" on the soundtrack to 50 First Dates, under the name Nicole Kea. Her various recordings as a backing vocalist, guest artist or leader of a group are listed chronologically in the discography section of this article.
In 2003 (prior to joining the Pussycat Dolls), Scherzinger sang live at the Tokyo International Forum performing "I'll Be Your Love", a song by composer Yoshiki.
In acting roles she has appeared on the television shows My Wife and Kids and Half & Half; and in the films Chasing Papi and Love Don't Cost a Thing.
Scherzinger has been working on a solo album since late 2005, tentatively titled His Aphrodisiac[citation needed] and expected to be released in November 2006. A recently completed track, tentatively titled "Steam", was leaked on the Internet days after it was recorded with Bryan Michael Cox. Another track titled "Groove Tonight," leaked to the Internet, has been mistakenly attributed to Scherzinger; it appears this song is by Nicole Wray ( www.nicolemusic.com ) and Mannie Fresh.