Cited by People Magazine as one of the ‘Top Ten most successful young people in Hollywood’ and featured on the Cover of Black Enterprises’ 40 Under 40, Nick Cannon, 30 years old is a successful, multi-faceted entertainer: film star, comedian, musician, writer and executive producer of his very own hit TV shows.
A San Diego native, Cannon began performing at the age of eight after his grandfather left him several instruments as a gift. Through what Cannon recalls as “a lot of trial and failure” he recorded his first song at home on his boom box. Shortly after, Cannon took the stage to perform his music along with stand up comedy.
Cannon headed for Hollywood at the age of 15 and landed gigs at world renowned comedy venues including TheImprov, The Laugh Factory and the Comedy Store. Cannon went on to share the stage with the likes of Chris Tucker, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock before landing his first television gig as a stand-up audience warm-up for the long running Nickelodeon hit show “All That.” Producers quickly recognized Cannon’s calling was in front of the camera and he became a regular on the show as well as a writer, making him the youngest staff writer in television history at the age of 17. This path culminated in the creation of “The Nick Cannon Show” which he starred, directed and executive produced, earning him his first Kids Choice Award. Cannon’s powerful stage presence captivated more than just pint size audiences.
While he enjoyed tremendous success on Nickelodeon, Cannon’s career catapulted onto the big screen in 2002. He made an appearance alongside Will Smith in “Men in Black II” before landing a leading role in the classic feature film “Drumline.”
That same year he released his own self-titled debut album, and has collaborated with a host of other musicians, such asKanye West, The Neptunes, Diddy, Mary J. Blige, Will Smith, R. Kelly and E-40 on soundtracks and other projects.
Cannon later lent his voice to the character of “Louis” in “Garfield: The Movie,” and starred in feature films such “Underclassman” which he also executive produced, “Shall We Dance” and “Roll Bounce.”
In 2005, MTV debuted “Nick Cannon Presents Wild N Out,” an improve comedy show with musical performances that Cannon created, produced and hosted which eventually became one of MTV’s highest rated shows in the network’s history, airing new episodes for four consecutive seasons.
In the fall of 2006, Cannon was featured in the Emilio Estevez written and directed film “Bobby,” a fictionalized account of the hours leading up to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Cannon shared the screen with stars such as Harry Belafonte, Demi Moore, Laurence Fishburne, Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone among many others. Hisperformance earned him a 2007 SAG nomination for “Outstanding Performance” in addition to becoming the first African American Actor in history to be honored at the world renowned Cannes Film Festival with the “Breakthrough Actor of the Year” award.
In 2008, Nick hosted the Teen Choice Awards for FBC and was the host/DJ for ABC’s highly successful Presidential Inaugural Neighborhood Ball. NBC also tapped Nick to serve as the host for the new season of their hit show, “America’s Got Talent” in 2011 following two successful stints as their host in 2010 and 2009 which helped them draw in record breaking viewership.
Cannon’s other film credits include Sundance Film Festival featured films “Weapons,” “American Son,” and the psychological thriller, “The Killing Room.” In 2009 he launched his own multi-media company called NCredibleEntertainment, which has successfully produced TV and film projects that include TeenNick’s Annual Halo Awards, MTV docu-series Son of A Gun, two Nickelodeon SchoolGyrls movie and most recently Nick Cannon’s own stand-up comedy special “Mr. Showbiz” which took the #1 spot,posting the networks highest numbers in all key demos and total viewers for a Comedy Solo Performance since January 2010.
In addition to overseeing many film and TV projects currently in development through NCredible Entertainment, Cannon also serves as the Chairman of TeenNick, Nickelodeon’s television network aimed at the teen audience, host of the #1 morning radio show “Rolling with Nick Cannon” in New York City tri-state on CBS 92.3 NOW FM as well as his own nationally syndicated Top 40 weekend countdown radio show called “Cannon’s Countdown.”
He can also be seen as a series regular on the new Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock) produced NBC scripted comedy show, “Up All Night” opposite Maya Rudolph, Christina Applegate and Will Arnett which airs weeknights on Wednesday at 8p est.
