With multi-platinum success straight out of the gate, R&B/pop vocalist/songwriter Ciara jumped directly into a chart-topping music career when her first single arrived in 2004, and rode that initial wave for years to come. Early connections with bigger names in the music industry worked in tandem with her burning talent for both songcraft and performance, earning the singer Grammy recognition and multi-platinum record sales from the very beginning. Ciara’s time at the top of charts was brief, lasting around five years, but she parlayed her early fame into a healthy and lasting stardom, branching out into production, modeling, and acting as well as collaborating with many others among the biggest names of her time. Though her personal life saw many massive shifts, music always came first for Ciara as she moved from the rowdy crunk fun of her debut album, Goodies, to more nuanced and sometimes socially conscious singles such as “Like a Boy,” to the vulnerable songwriting of her eponymous 2013 album. Six years later, she celebrated 15 years in music with Beauty Marks.