Tyrese Gibson

Tyrese Darnell Gibson is an American R&B singer and actor from Los Angeles, California. He first gained public attention as a musician and television host before building a prominent career in major motion pictures. Gibson is widely recognized for his recurring roles as Roman Pearce in the Fast & Furious film series and Sergeant Robert Epps in the Transformers franchise. Throughout his career in music, he has sold millions of records in the United States and received six Grammy Award nominations.

Gibson was born on December 30, 1978, and was raised in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. Following his father's departure, his mother raised him alongside three older siblings as a single parent. Growing up in Watts exposed him to local gang culture, but an older resident encouraged him to pursue a positive path. He completed his high school education at Locke High School in 1996.

His career in entertainment began after a high school music instructor advised him to audition for a Coca-Cola commercial. His appearance singing in a 1994 advertisement led to modeling opportunities for prominent fashion labels and a recording contract with RCA Records in 1998. That year, he released his debut single "Nobody Else" and his platinum-certified self-titled debut album, which featured the Grammy-nominated hit single "Sweet Lady." During this time, he also worked as a video jockey and host for MTV Jams.

Gibson continued his recording success with gold-certified albums including 2000 Watts in 2001 and I Wanna Go There in 2002, which featured his highest-charting single, "How You Gonna Act Like That." He explored hip-hop music using the pseudonym Black Ty on his 2006 double album Alter Ego and helped establish the musical group TGT in 2007. His 2011 album Open Invitation was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, and his 2015 release Black Rose debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. He later released R&B singles in 2023 and appeared as Robopine on the competition series The Masked Singer.

In acting, Gibson made his starring debut in John Singleton's 2001 coming-of-age film Baby Boy. He gained global recognition after debuting as Roman Pearce in 2 Fast 2 Furious in 2003, a role he reprised across seven total entries in the franchise through 2023's Fast X. He also played Sergeant Robert Epps in the first three Transformers films between 2007 and 2011. His additional feature film credits include Four Brothers, Waist Deep, Death Race, Ride Along 2, and Morbius.

In addition to music and film, Gibson has worked as a writer and comic creator. Inspired by a comic convention visit, he co-created the three-issue comic series Tyrese Gibson's MAYHEM! in 2009. He subsequently published the 2012 self-help title How to Get Out of Your Own Way and co-authored the 2013 book Manology: Secrets of Your Man's Mind Revealed alongside Rev. Run, both of which became New York Times bestsellers.