Details of the career and private life of Ludacris (Christopher Brian Bridges), a family man, businessman and philanthropist as well as a rapper and actor, whose stage name derives from the word "ridiculous".
His real name is Christopher Brian Bridges, he was born on September 11, 1977 in Champaign, Illinois. He was born as the only child of his father Wayne Brian Bridges and mother Roberta Shield. His parents are of African-American, English, and Native American ancestry. At the same time, Ludacris is the distant cousin of the late comedian Richard Pryor. Moving to Oak Park as a teenager, Ludacris attended Oak Park River Forest High School in the ninth grade. He then moved to Centreville, Virginia, where he attended Centerville High School for a year.
Ludacris then attended Banneker High School in Atlanta, Georgia, graduating in 1995. From 1998 to 1999, he studied at Georgia State University. He wrote his first rap song at the age of nine while moving to Atlanta, Georgia. Three years later, he decided to join an amateur rap group. He then began interning at Atlanta's Hot 97.5 under the name "Chris Lova Lova". Furthering and improving himself, Ludacris later served as a DJ. Ludacris met Timbaland, who would become a music producer throughout his radio career.
In 1999, Ludacris released his debut album, "Incognegro", through his own independent label "Disturbing tha Peace". Later, Def Jam South repackaged 'Incognegro' with some new songs added to "Back for the First Time", Ludacris' first major label album of 2000. The album reached number four on the charts. His song "What's Your Fantasy" (featuring Shawnna) and "Southern Hospitality" (featuring Pharrell Williams) reached numbers 21 and 23 on the charts, respectively. Speaking to MTV's hip hop show "Direct Effect" in 2000, Ludacris said that his stage name was a play on the word "ridiculous."
In 2001, he backed with the hit single "Area Codes" featuring Nate Dogg on the soundtrack of the comedy "Rush Hour 2". That same year, the song was featured on her next album, "Word of Mouf", which would be released later. The album's lead single, "Rollout (My Business)" earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Rap Solo Performance at the 2003 Grammy Awards. One of the other two songs, "Saturday (Oooh Oooh)" also reached #22 on the music charts along with Sleepy Brown. The other single, "Move Bitch", also peaked at number 10 with Mystikal.
Throughout 2001 and 2002, Ludacris had guest appearances on hit songs such as Jermaine Dupri's "Welcome to Atlanta", which reached #1 on the Hot 100 and #35 on another chart. Ludacris appeared among many featured rappers on Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz's song "Bia 'Bia'", which peaked at #1. It was also ranked number 47 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart in August 2001. In the last week of 2002, Missy Elliott's song "Gossip Folks" featuring Ludacris was released. The song peaked at number 8 on the charts in March 2003.
In April 2003, he released the song "Act a Fool" from the soundtrack of the action movie "2 Fast 2 Furious", in which he played Tej Parker. In the fall of 2003, Ludacris released his next album, "Chicken-N-Beer". The album featured guest appearances by Playaz Circle, Chingy, Snoop Dogg, 8Ball & MJG, Lil'Flip, I-20, Lil Fate and Shawnna. His single "Stand Up" was featured on both Chicken-n-Beer and the soundtrack of the teen hip hop/dance movie "You Got Served". Produced by Kanye West, "Stand Up" has become one of Ludacris' biggest mainstream hits to date. It aired on top of the charts on mainstream pop, rhythmic and urban radio stations.
The next song from the album, "Splash Waterfalls", was released in early 2004. A big pop hit, it later became a success on city radio and BET. Thus, he produced two consecutive top 10 singles from a solo album. Ludacris' most sexual video ever, an R&B remix featuring Raphael Saadiq and sampled by Tony 'Toni! Tone!' he came up with "Whatever You Want". Ludacris won his first Grammy Award with Usher and Lil Jon for their hit song "Yeah!" won with. He later released the single "Blow It Out", which was accompanied by a low-budget music video.
Ludacris took a more mature approach with his fourth album "The Red Light District". Various artists assisted the album including Sohail Khalid, TI, Lil Flip, and Bun B. Ludacris filmed and recorded the song "Get Back," in which he was portrayed as a muscular hulk offended by the media and warned critics to leave him alone. Ludacris first appeared on Saturday Night Live as a special guest performing with musical guest "Sum 41" in the hosted by Paul Giamatti. He then sang "Get Back" with Sum 41 to make a rock crossover song.
The next song came with "Number One Spot" inspired by Austin Powers. The song was produced by DJ Green Lantern, while artists on the album included Nas, DJ Quik, DMX, Trick Daddy, Sleepy Brown and Bobby Valentino. The album managed to enter at number one on the charts.
An issue of XXL magazine ranked Ludacris ninth among the most anticipated albums of 2006 for "Release Therapy." His fifth album, "Release Therapy", was released on September 26, 2006. "Money Maker", the first song featuring Williams, was announced on US radio on July 17, 2006. The song reached number one on the BET program 106 & Park. It became the rapper's second number one song 6 years later.
The album's second track, "Grew Up a Screw Up" featuring Young Jeezy, also dispelled rumors that the two were or once had a disagreement. The third song "Runaway Love" soon peaked at number one and won the Best Collaboration Award at the 2007 BET Awards. The album won the Best Rap Album Award at the 2007 Grammy Awards. His album then went up to number one on the Billboard 200 album charts with sales in its first week. With the release of this album, Ludacris broke away from the cheerful mood of their previous albums and introduced a darker side. This was accompanied by a hair change. Ludacris appeared on Saturday Night Live on November 18, 2006 as both presenter and music guest to promote the album.
In 2007, he appeared in the Christmas comedy film "Fred Claus" directed by David Dobkin. While the film received negative reviews, it did not find success at the box office. The following year, he starred in "Ball Don't Lie", based on the novel of the same name directed by Brin Hill.
A mixtape preview of the album, "The Preview", was released on July 28, 2008, and "Theatre of the Mind" on November 24, 2008. In April 2008, the song "Let's Stay Together" was shared on xxlmag.com. The album featured Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, T.I., Plies, Common, T-Pain, Jay-Z, Nas and The Game. TI also included a track called "I Wish You Did It" in the album. The album was a success, debuting at number five on the Billboard 200 with sales of 213,493 in the first week. His debut song "What Them Girls Like", which he performed with Chris Brown and Sean Garrett, peaked at number 33 on the charts. "One More Drink", the second song he performed with T-Pain, went up to number 24 on the same list. He came with his third official song, "Nasty Girl" featuring Plies. On September 11, 2012, he announced that a sequel called "Ludaversal" would be released.
Ludacris appeared on Justin Bieber's hit song "Baby" which became one of the highest certified songs of all time in the US and achieved international success. His eighth studio album was released on March 9, 2010, with the album's first single "Everybody Drunk" featuring Callum Smith and originally featuring Shawnna. The first official song to be released from the "Battle of the Sexes" album was "How Low", released on December 8, 2009. His next song, "My Chick Bad" released on February 23, 2010, and his third song "Sex Room" peaked at number 69 on the charts. Ludacris' album debuted at number one with 137,000 sales in its first week. The album is currently a gold certified album.
In 2011, he reprized his role in the sequel action movie "Fast Five". The film starred Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang and Dwayne Johnson. The film, which received generally positive reviews, became the seventh highest-grossing film of 2011. It was also the highest-grossing movie in the series.
Ludacris reprized the role of Tej in the action movie Fast & Furious 6, which premiered at Memorial Day Weekend in May 2013. The film, which received generally positive reviews from critics, became the sixth highest-grossing film of 2013. That same year, Ludacris informed VIBE.com that he would be working with Anita Baker.
After a long hiatus, Ludacris returned to music on January 30, 2014 with the single "Party Girls" featuring Jeremih, Wiz Khalifa and Cashmere Cat. On October 9, 2014, Ludacris announced that "Ludaversal" will hit theaters on March 31, 2015. It preceded the album "Burning Bridges", which was to be released on December 16, 2014. In the same month, he premiered the first song of the album, featuring American singer Miguel, "Good Lovin'".
In 2015, he reprized the same role with the same cast in the sequel, "Furious 7". The film, which began shooting in 2013, was suspended indefinitely after Paul Walker died in a car accident in November. It was completed with the start of reshooting in 2014, with Walker's siblings appearing in the remaining scenes. Released on April 3, 2015, the film was a commercial success. It was also the third highest-grossing film of 2015 and the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release.
He also released a new song called "Vitamin D", featuring Ty Dolla $ign. In the same year, he appeared again in the sequel "The Fate of the Furious". The film, which received mixed and positive reviews, was again a box office success. In 2018, he appeared in country singer Carrie Underwood's song "The Champion". The single peaked at number 47 on the charts. It was also the opening theme song for the 2018 Winter Olympics with Super Bowl LII and the album "Cry Pretty. It also earned three nominations and a win at the 2018 CMT Music Awards. That same year, the cop comedy "Show Dogs" directed by Raja Gosnell. Despite the negative reviews, it was successful at the box office.
On October 14, 2020, he appeared in the then-new computer-animated musical children's television series known as "Karma's World" for the first 40 episodes from Netflix, 9 Story Productions, Creative Affairs Group, and production company Karma's World Entertainment. The series became the official soundtrack album produced and released by Def Jam Recordings on global digital music streaming platforms. In 2022, the series was nominated for three NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Children's Program. At the same time, Ludacris earned a nomination for his voice-over performance as Karma's onscreen father. Netflix has renewed "Karma's World", which will premiere on March 10, 2022, for a second season after incentives.
Also in 2020, he co-starred with Terry Crews in the thriller drama movie "John Henry" directed by Will Forbes. In 2021, he reprized his role in the sequel "F9". The film, which was released late due to some issues, received mixed reviews from critics. Again a blockbuster, it became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2021. In August 2021, Ludacris released his song "Butter.ATL".
The following year, he said Ludacris would make the headlines of Janet Jackson's "Tour Together Again." That same year, he appeared in the crime thriller "End of the Road" directed by Millicent Shelton, with Queen Latifah, Mychala Lee, Shaun Dixon and Beau Bridges. In 2023, he appeared in the same role in the sequel "Fast X". It was also said that the sequel of the movie, which is expected to be released on May 19, will come.
Personal life
Ludacris had an affair with a lawyer in Atlanta. From this relationship, they had a daughter named Karma Bridges in August 2001. Furthermore, he had an affair with his friend Tamika Fuller. Ludacris has a daughter, Cai Bella Bridges, born in December 2013 from this relationship. He dated model Eudoxie Mbouguiengue in 2009 and the couple married in 2014. In early June 2015, the couple gave birth to a baby girl. In May 2021, the couple said they were expecting their second child together. In January 2020, Ludacris obtained Gabon citizenship with his family.
Ludacris is the founder of his own record label "Disturbing tha Peace" distributed by Def Jam Recordings and co-owner of the liqueur "Conjure Cognac". In 2011, he launched his own line of headphones called "Soul By Ludacris" manufactured by Soul Electronics. In 2006, Ludacris appeared in a television and print advertising campaign for Puma. In these advertisements, 3 limited edition models of the "Clyde x Luda" Puma Clyde sneaker are for sale, featuring Ludacris' image on the heel of the insole and the "DTP" emblem on the heel window. In November 2016, Ludacris opened a restaurant of its own called "Chicken N Beer" at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. He also took part in aid funds and campaigns in many fields in various categories. He gave them material-moral, time and labor support.