Cee Lo Green Returns With First Solo Album in Over Six Years

Released last week via Green’s official YouTube channel, “F**k You” has caused a genuine viral commotion, drawing more than 2 million plays in the first five days online. The clip quickly became the #1 Most Viewed Video in the United Kingdom, beating out the latest uploads from the hugely popular singing competition series, The X Factor. What’s more, “F**k You” has been featured on close to 4,500 music blogs around the world, hitting #1 on The Hype Machine MP3 blog aggregator as well as topping an array of global video charts.

“F**k You” — co-written and produced by the multi-platinum certified production trio, The Smeezingtons, featuring Green’s Elektra labelmate, Bruno Mars — is officially for sale on www.ceelogreen.com and can be purchased individually or in a bundle, which includes an exclusive Cee Lo Green “F**k You” t-shirt. The digital single will be available at all digital retailers on Friday, August 27th, and a CD single will be available exclusively at Independent record stores on September 21st. An amended version of the single, entitled “Forget You,” will follow later in the fall, and companion videos for both versions are currently in production, with “F**k You” due to premiere next week. In the meantime, the original “F**k You” clip can be seen and heard at www.youtube.com/user/CeeLoGreen.

Along with its phenomenal popular success, “F**k You” is also proving a favorite with Green’s fellow artists and celebrities. Last week saw tweets directing users to the video from such luminaries as 50 Cent, Ashton Kutcher, Perez Hilton, Simon Pegg, RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser, and music industry icon Bob Lefsetz. In addition, 50 Cent was inspired to put together his own unauthorized remix of the track, which has also drawn a huge online audience.

Furthermore, “F**k You” has received ecstatic critical acclamation from coast to coast. “One of the greatest songs in the history of humankind,” declared The Dallas Observer’s “DC9 At Night” music blog, with Idolator.com hailing it as “a toe-tapping old school soul-filled track that is hands down the happiest ‘FU’ we’ve ever heard.” “As timeless, efficient, and repeatable as any number of golden oldies,” declared Pitchfork, adding, “Like ‘Hey Ya’ before it, ‘F**k You’ gets by on a generation-spanning simplicity, and, coming from Cee Lo’s mouth, the title phrase actually isn’t illicit at all. It’s beyond happy. Cathartic. It could be the new ‘Sesame Street’ theme.”

Cee Lo — whose “What Part Of Forever” is featured on Chop Shop/Atlantic’s blockbuster “THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE – ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK” — first heralded “THE LADY KILLER” with the soulful single, “Georgia.” Green’s emotional to his beloved home state is available now as a free download to all fans joining the Cee Lo Green Mailing List at his official web home, www.ceelogreen.com.

Known far and wide as one half of Grammy Award-winning superstar duo Gnarls Barkley, Cee Lo Green is a true 21st Century renaissance man. Having first made his bones as a member of southern hip-hop pioneers, Goodie Mob, Green soon struck out on his own with 2002’s “CEE LO GREEN AND HIS PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS,” highlighted by the Timbaland-produced hit single, “Closet Freak.” The acclaimed “CEE LO GREEN…IS THE SOUL MACHINE” followed two years later, again featuring a Timbaland-produced hit single in “I’ll Be Around.”

As if that weren’t enough, Cee Lo also became one of R&B/hip-hop’s most in-demand collaborators, penning and producing tracks for such like-minded artists as Jennifer Hudson, Brandy, Amerie, and Solange. His greatest success as songwriter/producer came in 2005 with the RIAA platinum-certified, international #1, “Don’t Cha,” by Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes.

In 2006, Green teamed with producer/DJ Danger Mouse as Gnarls Barkley and quickly made history with the international #1 smash, “Crazy” (later named as “Song of the Decade” by Rolling Stone). The duo’s kaleidoscopic debut, “ST. ELSEWHERE,” proved a critical triumph and chart-topping blockbuster, ultimately earning RIAA platinum certification in the US for sales exceeding 1 million. At 2007’s 49th Annual Grammy Awards, Gnarls received seven nominations and snagged two of the event’s most coveted trophies — “Best Alternative Music Album” and “Best Urban Alternative Performance.” “THE ODD COUPLE” followed in 2008, earning further praise along with an additional trio of Grammy nods.

“THE LADY KILLER” — Green’s first solo work in more than six years — sees the endlessly inventive singer/writer/rapper/producer continuing to push hip-hop and soul’s creative envelope, this time working with a star-studded cast of producers that includes Salaam Remi (Nas, Amy Winehouse), Jack Splash (Alicia Keys, Missy Elliot, Jamie Foxx), and Fraser T. Smith (Nelly Furtado, James Morrison, Ellie Goulding).