Terius Hagert Youngdell Nash, better known by his stage name The-Dream, is a Grammy Award-nominated American singer-songwriter and producer.
Born in Rockingham, North Carolina The-Dream moved with his mother namely Reva Nash to Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 3. Reva raised him until her death at the age of 35. After his mother's death, Dream was raised by his grandfather in the Bankhead section Atlanta, Georgia. Influenced at a young age by his grandfather's appreciation of music and the soulful sounds of Sam Cooke and Al Green, Dream enrolled in trumpet classes at Grove Park Elementary School. He continued playing the trumpet throughout high school at Charles L. Harper High and later added to his musical repertoire by learning to play the drums and guitar. His musical influences also broadened to include artists such as Prince Rogers Nelson, Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Aaliyah and Tupac Shakur.Before officially becoming a musician, Dream made ends meet doing everything from working at Checkers to becoming a collections agent. Dream married girlfriend Nivea in the year 2004, who later gave birth to their daughter Navy Talia on May 10, 2005. However, Nivea filed for divorce in December 2007. In addition to music, Dream is also an accomplished artist who has created many paintings and sculptures, some of which have been shown at various art galleries throughout Atlanta. Presently Dream is engaged to Christina Millian.
Dream met R&B producer Laney Stewart in 2001; Stewart helped Nash get a publishing deal after writing "Everything," from B2K's album Pandemonium!] Under the pen name "The-Dream", Nash began writing lyrics for many popular artists. He spent two years working on Nivea's second album Complicated, which he executively produced, and continued to write and produce with Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Laney's brother, which led to Rihanna's 2007 smash hit "Umbrella". The success of "Umbrella" propelled Dream's music career to new heights, and in the year 2007, he signed a deal with Def Jam Records and began working on various projects, as well as completing his debut studio album Love Hate with his production partner Tricky Stewart. Dream also started writing for numerous artists, most notably J. Holiday's "Bed", Usher's "Moving Mountains", Yung Joc's "Coffee Shop" and Jesse McCartney's "Leavin'". He also co-wrote Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body", Ciara's "High Price," and took part in co-writing a majority of Mary J. Blige's 2007 Growing Pains album yes, including the smash hit "Just Fine".
On December 2007, The-Dream got the nomination for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "Umbrella", but lost to Amy Winehouse's "Rehab." However, on June 24, 2008, Dream won the award for Best New Artist at the 2008 BET Awards. Throughout 2008, Dream appeared on a number of records including Plies' "Please Excuse My Hands" with Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J's "Baby", Gym Class Heroes' "Cookie Jar" and Kardinal Offishall's "Gimme Some". In addition, Dream signed female hip-hop/R&B group Electrik Red to Radio Killa Records and they released their debut album on the label. Dream and production partner Christopher "Tricky" Stewart recently produced "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" off Beyoncé's album I Am… Sasha Fierce, co-produced two tracks ("Just Like Me" & "Digital Girl") and was featured on Jamie Foxx's album Intuition, and is scheduled to work with Mario and Lionel Richie in the coming months. He will also be featured on a number of upcoming albums from; Phyzikal, Ciara, Sterling Simms, Young Chris, Dear Jayne, and Cassie.
On March 10, 2009 Dream released his sophomore album Love vs. Money, and stated in an interview that he is currently working on his third album titled Love King, which is targeted for a December 2009 release.. According to Dream, he collaborated with T-Pain for at least one track and also expressed that he would like to make a collaboration album with Kanye West in the future.
In early 2009, The-Dream began working with Christina Milian on her fourth studio album Elope, which led to her signing a joint-deal with Radio Killa Records. The-Dream said that when he was building his label, he went looking for Milian because he believed she was a talented singer. The singer confirmed that her second single would be a duet with The-Dream called "Supersonic".
Throughout 2009, Dream has also been working on new material for Mariah Carey, Brandy, and Diddy. Diddy's song "Change" is described by The-Dream as, "probably one of the best male records I've ever written...the best record I've written besides 'Umbrella'."
Apart from music, Dream revealed that he is currently working on a TV reality series for MTV where he will scout aspiring singers and plans to release a clothing line called Millionaire Love Affair.
