Kelis Rogers (born August 21, 1979), better known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer-songwriter and certified chef. She has won Brit Awards, Q Awards, and NME Awards, and was nominated for two Grammy Awards. Outside her native United States, she has had nine top ten singles in the United Kingdom alone. Kelis appeared on Moby's Area One Tour, supported U2 on the European leg of their Elevation Tour and headlined her own All Hearts Tour with Robyn. Kelis was born and raised in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Her first name is a portmanteau of her father's name, Kenneth (1944–2000), and her mother's name, Eveliss. Her father Kenneth was an African American jazz musician and Pentecostal minister, and was formerly a professor at Wesleyan University. Her mother Eveliss is a Afro-Puerto Rican and Chinese fashion designer who inspired Kelis to pursue her singing career. She has three sisters, Kelis being the third born of the four girls.
As a child, Kelis sang in church choirs and played violin, piano, and saxophone while attending Manhattan Country School, a private school. At the age of 13, Kelis shaved off all of her hair. In an interview with Charlotte Roche, Kelis says she was kicked out of her parents house at the age of sixteen for having bad behavior stating that she would sometimes clash with her mother, but continued her education at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she formed the R&B trio BLU (Black Ladies United). Kelis was also a bartender and a sales associate at a clothing store before graduating high school saying that she stole certain items from her job to get by from living out o