• About Amerie
Her birth name is Amerie Marie Mi Rogers. Her stage name is just Amerie. She was born on January, 12 1980 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of a Korean mother and an African-American father who was a career military member. She grew up on bases from Alaska to Germany.
She gained an appreciation of the classical arts from her mother and of R&B music from her father. She studied dance from an early age and performed in talent contests throughout her youth. After her high school graduation, her family finally settled down in Virginia, while she began to attend Georgetown University, from which she later graduated with a degree in English and Fine Arts.
Amerie's first language is Korean. However, after the family left Seoul, where they had lived for several years, Amerie's mother made a conscious effort to limit the use of Korean with her daughters out of fear that it would impede their development of English proficiency. In an interview with KoreAm Journal, Amerie stated that she is now only "conversational" in the Korean language and speaks it at home with her mother, Angela, and extended Korean family members. Amerie also bears a tattoo featuring her given name in Korean script on her lower back. Amerie is noted for signing her name in both English and Korean when giving autographs.
While living in Washington, D.C., she met producer Rich Harrison, who worked with such performers as Mary J. Blige, and began developing demos with him. They led to a deal with Rise Entertainment and, in turn, with Columbia Records.
In the spring of 2002, Rise/Columbia released Amerie's debut single, "Why Don't We Fall in Love." By the time her first album, All I Have, appeared that July, the single had reached the Top 20 of the R&B/hip-hop charts and the Top 40 of the pop charts. Her follow-up album, Touch, was released in 2005.