Taio Cruz 2011-12: TY.O What was most important about 2011 for Taio? In March 2011, Cruz premiered an all-new song called "Telling the World", Was that song a hit? On 23 May 2011, Cruz received his first Billboard Award in the United States. What band was he with when the song was released? I don't know. What was Rio? Rio soundtrack. Did anything else important happen in 2011? He announced onstage that his third album, entitled Black and Leather, would be released in the fourth quarter of 2011. Was that album successful? I don't know. Did any of the albums singles make the charts? The song was a worldwide smash, topping singles charts across the world. What was the most important thing to happen in 2012? Cruz was scheduled to co-headline Pitbull's Australian leg of Planet Pit World Tour in August 2012.
What happened on this tour?
What happened on Pitbull's Australian leg of Planet Pit World Tour in August 2012?
In March 2011, Cruz premiered an all-new song called "Telling the World", which was written by Cruz and Alan Kasiyre for the Rio soundtrack. The track was not featured on any of Cruz's prior studio albums. On 23 May 2011, Cruz received his first Billboard Award in the United States. He announced onstage that his third album, entitled Black and Leather, would be released in the fourth quarter of 2011. In June 2011, Cruz released a collaborative single, "Little Bad Girl", with French DJ David Guetta and American rapper Ludacris. The song was a worldwide smash, topping singles charts across the world. During July and August 2011, a series of unreleased songs, recorded during the album sessions, were leaked to YouTube. in an interview, Cruz promised a "fun" and "energetic" album, and claimed that due to the leak, none of the tracks posted on YouTube would be included on the album. Cruz claimed, "It's a shame really, because one person has spoilt it for all the fans. They could have had an album packed with 17, 18 tracks, and now, they're only getting eleven because of one stupid act of tomfooolery." During the interview, Cruz also claimed that the title of the album had been changed to Troublemaker, after one of the tracks included on the album. On 4 October 2011, the single "Hangover" was officially released in Germany and the US, and it was rumoured that a solo version of the song, that features on the physical release, would be included as a bonus track on the album. However, these rumours were later quashed. Around October 2011, the album was made available for pre-order, and as such, the album's final title, TY.O, was revealed. Cruz, via his Twitter account, made the decision to name the album TY.O after he expressed his annoyance at people constantly pronouncing his name wrong. The album was first released in Germany on 2 December 2011. It will be released in the UK on 31 December 2012. It was going to release in the United States on 17 May 2012, but it was released on 31 December 2012, coinciding with the UK release, but with new tracks, including the U.S. single "Fast Car". Cruz was scheduled to co-headline Pitbull's Australian leg of Planet Pit World Tour in August 2012. On 12 August, Cruz performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The performance at London's Olympic Stadium saw Cruz sing his own song "Dynamite", and also perform "Written in the Stars" alongside Jessie J and Tinie Tempah. CANNOTANSWER
The performance at London's Olympic Stadium saw Cruz sing his own song "Dynamite", and also perform "Written in the Stars" alongside Jessie J and Tinie Tempah.
Jacob Taio Cruz (; born Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere, 23 April 1980) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer from London, England, currently based in Los Angeles. In 2008, he released his debut album Departure, which he wrote, arranged and produced. The album achieved certified gold status in the United Kingdom and earned him a Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBO) nomination.

In October 2009, Cruz released his follow-up album Rokstarr, which includes the number one singles "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite". Cruz collaborated with Kesha on the single "Dirty Picture", and with Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy on his single "Higher".  Cruz wrote and recorded the song "Telling the World" as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2011 animated film Rio. Cruz's third studio album, TY.O, was first released in Germany in December 2011.

In 2012, Cruz co-wrote David Guetta and Usher's song "Without You". In April 2015, Cruz released the first single, "Do What You Like" from his forthcoming Roses Collection. In late 2015, Taio added vocals to Tujamo's Melbourne track, "Booty Bounce" which was released by Spinnin' Records.

Biography

Early life and career
Cruz was born in London to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother. He attended Christ's Hospital, a private boarding school in Horsham, West Sussex, before relocating to London where he went to Stanmore College.

Cruz's songwriting career began as part of Tricky Stewart's writing collective, RedZone Entertainment and achieved notability in 2005 when he was awarded a Brit Award for co-writing Will Young's 2004 single, "Your Game".

Cruz is the founder and chief executive of Rokstarr Music London, which in 2006 released his debut single "I Just Wanna Know". The single charted at #29 in the UK singles charts. It won him some admirers including Island Records's Darcus Beese and Monte Lipman, who, according to manager Binns, "both believed 'I Just Wanna Know' fitted the format on both sides of the Atlantic". In 2006, Cruz signed a split single deal with Universal Music Group companies, Republic Records and the UK branch of Island Records.

2007–08: Departure

In September 2007, Cruz released his second single "Moving On", which made the top 30 in the UK. In March 2008 his next single, "Come On Girl", featuring Luciana, peaked at No. 5 on the UK charts. The related album Departure appeared on 17 March and peaked at No. 17. This was followed by the single "I Can Be", which reached No. 18 in May. On 18 August, "She's Like a Star" was released, which was a remix of the previous single and featured American rapper Busta Rhymes and girl-group Sugababes. The remix later appeared on the Sugababes studio album Catfights & Spotlights, which peaked at No. 20. It was later revealed that Cruz narrowly missed out on the chance to record the song "Umbrella" which was recorded by Rihanna and ended up topping charts around the world.

2009–2011: Rokstarr, international breakthrough and The Rokstarr Collection

Cruz was featured on Tinchy Stryder's breakout single "Take Me Back" which peaked at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. According to Cruz's official Myspace blog, as of 1 January 2009, Rokstarr Music London changed its name to Rokstarr Entertainment Division, abbreviated to R.E.D Inc. During 2009, he worked on his follow-up album entitled Rokstarr. It was released on 12 October through R.E.D Inc./Island Records and is written and produced by Cruz, with co-writes and co-productions predominantly with UK producer Fraser T Smith. The album's lead single "Break Your Heart" was released on 14 September and reached number one in the UK, where it stayed for three weeks. In the US it went directly from number 53 to number one, breaking the record for the largest leap of a début single. At the 2010 Brit Awards, "Break Your Heart" was nominated for Best British Single. The success of the song attracted the attention of David Massey and Daniel Werner from Mercury/Island Def Jam who were excited and aggressive about releasing "Break Your Heart" in the United States on their label. According to Cruz's manager Jamie Binns, the relationship with Monte Lipman at Universal Republic had "gone a bit quiet" by this point and as Taio wanted to be with the label that was most enthusiastic about his music, a move from Universal Republic to Mercury/Island Def Jam was engineered.

The single reached the top spot in the United States for one week on the Billboard Hot 100. In an interview with The Guardian, it was stated that "Cruz was clever to have hooked up with a US rapper Ludacris on his breakthrough hit". In order to introduce Cruz into the U.S. market, David Massey had suggested that the single feature an American rapper with chart credibility. The album spawned two other UK singles, "No Other One", and the top-ten hit "Dirty Picture" featuring American electropop singer Kesha. The album's fourth single (second in the United States) titled "Dynamite" debuted at 26 and peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. At the 2011 Brit Awards, "Dynamite" was nominated for Best British Single, and at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards the song won three Billboard Awards, including Top Hot 100 Song.

Rokstarr was followed by the compilation album The Rokstarr Collection which includes songs both from Departure and the international version of Rokstarr. Cruz later released four versions of his single "Higher"—one featuring Kylie Minogue, one featuring Travie McCoy, one featuring both, and one with just himself.

Cruz has also been featured on the soundtrack of American reality TV series Jersey Shore.

2011–12: TY.O

In March 2011, Cruz premiered an all-new song called "Telling the World", which was written by Cruz and Alan Kasirye for the Rio soundtrack. The track was not featured on any of Cruz's prior studio albums. On 23 May 2011, Cruz received his first Billboard Award in the United States. He announced onstage that his third album, entitled Black and Leather, would be released in the fourth quarter of 2011. In June 2011, Cruz released a collaborative single, "Little Bad Girl", with French DJ David Guetta and American rapper Ludacris. The song was a worldwide smash, topping singles charts across the world. During July and August 2011, a series of unreleased songs, recorded during the album sessions, were leaked to YouTube. in an interview, Cruz promised a "fun" and "energetic" album, and claimed that due to the leak, none of the tracks posted on YouTube would be included on the album. Cruz claimed, "It's a shame really, because one person has spoilt it for all the fans. They could have had an album packed with 17, 18 tracks, and now, they're only getting eleven because of one stupid act of tomfoolery." During the interview, Cruz also claimed that the title of the album had been changed to Troublemaker, after one of the tracks included on the album. On 4 October 2011, the single "Hangover" was officially released in Germany and the US, and it was rumoured that a solo version of the song, that features on the physical release, would be included as a bonus track on the album. However, these rumours were later quashed.

Around October 2011, the album was made available for pre-order, and as such, the album's final title, TY.O, was revealed. Cruz, via his Twitter account, made the decision to name the album TY.O after he expressed his annoyance at people constantly pronouncing his name wrong. The album was first released in Germany on 2 December 2011. It will be released in the UK on 31 December 2012. It was going to release in the United States on 17 May 2012, but it was released on 31 December 2012, coinciding with the UK release, but with new tracks, including the U.S. single "Fast Car".

Cruz was scheduled to co-headline Pitbull's Australian leg of Planet Pit World Tour in August 2012. On 12 August, Cruz performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The performance at London's Olympic Stadium saw Cruz sing his own song "Dynamite", and also perform "Written in the Stars" alongside Jessie J and Tinie Tempah.

2013–present: #Black, Roses Collection, and business ventures

In early 2013, Cruz recorded vocals over the song "Brazil" by electronic artist Deadmau5 and titled the remake "Touch the Sky".

In August 2013, Taio Cruz announced on his Facebook and Twitter account that he would be releasing a new app. It is called Kewe and is a social media app for Android and iOS, where people can interact and keep up with what Taio Cruz is doing. It was launched on 18 August 2013.

On 24 November 2013, Cruz announced his fourth studio album, #Black via his Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

On 21 June 2014, Cruz released a new track titled "Don't You Dare" produced by Dr. Luke for his upcoming #Black album.

On 27 April 2015, Cruz released his first single in two years. "Do What You Like", produced by Taio and the Grammy Award-winning production team, The Monsters & The Strangerz, was fully released on 24 July 2015 through a joint venture between the multinational Cruz owned venture capital company, Tourean and Kobalt Music Group. The "Do What You Like" full release features remixes by Bel Air, Billy Da Kid, KREAM and Zoo Station. "Do What You Like" is the first single from Cruz's Roses Collection. According to his biography, Cruz will henceforth release collections of singles; rejecting the outdated album format. Cruz called this particular collection Roses, "because every rose is unique". Roses will consist of around ten tracks, each with its own lifecycle.

On 4 December 2015, Tujamo re-released his song "Booty Bounce", featuring vocals from Cruz.

On 10 November 2017, Cruz released his first song in two years, titled "Row the Body", via Warner Bros. Records. The single features rapper French Montana.

On September 6, 2019, Cruz released "Time For You", which features Wonder Stereo.

Writing and production
Cruz has written songs on albums by Cheryl, JLS, The Saturdays, The Wanted and David Guetta. Cruz wrote and featured on Tinchy Stryder's hit single "Take Me Back". Pop rock band McFly recorded "Shine a Light" which not only features, but was also penned and produced by Cruz for their fifth studio album. Cruz also penned Jennifer Lopez's 2011 single "I'm Into You", featuring Lil Wayne. He also contributed significantly to David Guetta's fifth album Nothing but the Beat, penning two of his hit singles "Without You", featuring Usher and "Little Bad Girl", featuring Cruz and Ludacris. He also wrote "Mechanics of the Heart" for Cheryl's album A Million Lights.

Other ventures

RXTR/Rokstarr brand
On 1 September 2009, Cruz launched the short lived, unsuccessful and now dormant brand Rokstarr, a fashion and accessories brand which had a focus on sunglasses. Speaking in October to R&B writer Pete Lewis, Cruz promoted his brand: "There's a load of US celebrities that are all rocking the sunglasses already—Kid Cudi, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West.... Then in the UK we have The Saturdays, JLS, Daniel Merriweather—who've all been twittering and writing on their blogs how much they love them. So yeah, it's definitely my new album 'Rokstarr' and the fashion brand that are my two main focuses at the moment."

Meanwhile, speaking again to Lewis in April 2010, Cruz gave his brand more free publicity: "We're currently looking to expand the brand and possibly go into things like watches. I've also got a new subsidiary of Rokstarr called 'Rok By Rokstarr'. And we've just started doing things like jeans and T-shirts, and stuff that more of the fans of Taio Cruz can buy. Because with Rokstarr in itself being so expensive, a lot of the kids out there who want to buy Rokstarr things can't. So we're bringing in stuff that's a little bit more High Street and more affordable."

In 2012 the brand, in a vain attempt to revive its fortunes was renamed to RXTR, a backronym for Riots and Twelve Rebels. The new name came along with new products, watches, which were immediately stocked at Selfridges on Oxford Street in London.

As of 2015, the RXTR website redirects to Cruz's personal website, and the brand's Facebook account has not been updated for over a year.

Philanthropy
Cruz filmed a public service announcement with Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools.

Discography

 Departure (2008)
 Rokstarr (2009)
 TY.O (2011)

Writer discography
 Nitin Sawhney, "Rainfall"
 Tinchy Stryder, "Never Leave You"
 Tinchy Stryder, "Take Me Back" (with Stryder)
 Tinchy Stryder, "Second Chance" (with Stryder)
 McFly, "Shine a Light"
 Nightcrawlers, "Cryin' Over You" (with Nightcrawlers)
 David Guetta, "Little Bad Girl" (with Guetta & Ludacris)
 David Guetta, "Without You"
 Jennifer Lopez, "I'm Into You" (feat. Lil Wayne)
 Will Young, "Your Game" (Credited as Tayo Onile-Ere)
 The Wanted, "Made"
 Cheryl Cole, "Stand Up"
 Cheryl Cole, "Mechanics of the Heart"
 Cody Simpson, "Wish U Were Here"
 Keshia Chanté, "Set U Free"
 Nick Jonas, "I Want You"
 Olly Murs, "Kiss Me"

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links
 
 Taio Cruz on justRHYMES.com
 Lewis, Pete. Taio Cruz interview at BluesandSoul.com, February 2008
 [ Taio Cruz] at Billboard.com
 Kewe app
 Taio Cruz on MusicBrainz

1980 births
Living people
21st-century Black British male singers
21st-century English singers
Black British male rappers
Brit Award winners
British contemporary R&B singers
Dance-pop musicians
English male rappers
English male singers
English people of Brazilian descent
English people of Nigerian descent
English people of Yoruba descent
English pop singers
English record producers
Island Records artists
Mercury Records artists
People educated at Bilton Grange
People educated at Christ's Hospital
People from Horsham
People from the London Borough of Brent
Rappers from London
Singers from London
Yoruba musicians
"What Happened to Us" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. "What Happened to Us" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.

A remix of "What Happened to Us" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. "What Happened to Us" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.

Production and release

"What Happened to Us" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. "What Happened to Us" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.

Reception
Majhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a "Jordin Sparks-esque duet", and wrote that it "has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love." Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a "mid-tempo duet ballad" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, "What Happened to Us" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. "What Happened to Us" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.

Music video

Background
The music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said "the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour." The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single "Let Me Be Me" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.

Synopsis and reception
The video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is "easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever" and praised the "mansion and wondrous interior décor". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.

Live performances
Mauboy performed "What Happened to Us" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed "What Happened to Us" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed "What Happened to Us" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, "What Happened to Us" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.

Track listing

Digital download
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45

CD single
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39

Digital download – Remix
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38

Digital download
 "What Happened to Us" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20

Personnel
Songwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean
Production – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass
Additional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim
Lead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean
Mixing – Phil Tan
Additional mixing – Damien Lewis
Mastering – Tom Coyne 
Source:

Charts

Weekly chart

Year-end chart

Certification

Radio dates and release history

References

2010 songs
2011 singles
Jessica Mauboy songs
Jay Sean songs
Songs written by Billy Steinberg
Songs written by Jay Sean
Songs written by Josh Alexander
Songs written by Israel Cruz
Vocal duets
Sony Music Australia singles
Songs written by Khaled Rohaim McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour is a 2015 concert tour by English supergroup McBusted, composed of members of pop rock bands McFly and Busted.

Background
The second McBusted tour, to support their debut self-titled album. On 4 November 2014, the band posted on their Twitter and Facebook pages: "It's possibly the worst kept secret in entertainment, but we are so stoked to announce the #McBusted2015Tour!!!" On 26 January 2015, on their website, they announced that the tour would be called McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour. The tour lasted from 12 March to 22 April 2015, consisting of 21 shows. McBusted were also the support act for the Australian and European legs of One Direction's On the Road Again Tour in 2015. During the Australian dates, McBusted announced and performed two of their own gigs, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. A music video was shot for their song "Get Over It" in 2014 with the intention of releasing it as a single the next year. However James Bourne confirmed on Twitter that the release was scrapped. A DVD and Blu-ray release of the 2015 tour, McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour – Live at the O2, was released on 22 June 2015 and reached number one in the music video charts. The name of the tour is likely a reference to the 1989 comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Support acts
Symmetry
New City Kings
Hometown

Tour dates

Setlist
Main stage:
 "Air Guitar"
 "Hate Your Guts"
 "One for the Radio"
 "Thunderbirds Are Go"
 "Get Over It"
 "You Said No"
 "3AM"
 "What Happened to Your Band?" 
B – Stage:
 "Air Hostess" 
 "What I Go to School For" 
 "Obviously" 
 "Beautiful Girls Are the Loneliest"
"Here Comes The Bride" Interlude:
 "Crashed the Wedding"
 "Riding on My Bike"
 "All About You"
 "Star Girl"
Encore:
 "5 Colours in Her Hair"
 "Shine a Light"
 "Year 3000"

Note:
 At Nottingham Capital FM Arena on the 19th of April, Crashed The Wedding followed What Happened To Your Band? but the rest of the set list remained the same thereafter. There was no "B-Stage" at this date, which is the reason for the set list change.
 During "Riding On My Bike", James rides a bicycle on stage throwing T-shirts into the audience.
 During the interlude to the B – Stage, The band descends onto the B – Stage in the same Delorean used for opening sequence of the McBusted Tour.

References

External links
McBusted website
McBusted on Twitter

2015 concert tours
McFly
Busted (band)
Co-headlining concert tours
2015 in British music
Concert tours of the United Kingdom
Concert tours of Ireland