Terrence Howard, born on March 11, 1969, in Chicago, IL, and raised in Cleveland, OH, works as an actor while pursuing music as a self-taught pianist, guitarist, and vocalist; he is the grandson of New York stage performer Minnie Gentry. By age 16 he had gained emancipation, and at 18 he relocated to New York City, where he briefly enrolled in chemical engineering studies at Pratt Institute. A casting director spotted him on the street, leading to television appearances in Living Single, NYPD Blue, and Soul Food, along with the lead role on the UPN series Sparks. His film credits include Mr. Holland's Opus, The Best Man, Dead Presidents, Idlewild, Iron Man, and Crash, plus the 2005 feature Hustle & Flow, on whose soundtrack he performed several tracks, among them the Academy Award-winning “It's Hard Out There for a Pimp,” honored for Best Original Song at the 78th Oscars. Although rap never formed his primary musical focus, Howard drew from a range of influences including Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, James Taylor, Curtis Mayfield, and Nina Simone, fusing them into a style he labeled “urban country” for his 2008 Columbia/Sony debut Shine Through It, which he produced with Miles Mosley.
