Tyrese Gibson mini-bio: Tyrese Darnell Gibson, often known simply as Tyrese, is an African American R&B artist, rapper, former male fashion model. After releasing several successful albums, he made the transition into films, with lead roles in several Hollywood films, including Baby Boy, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Flight Of The Phoenix, Four Brothers, Annapolis and his latest, Waist Deep and Transformers.
Gibson was born in the Watts district in Los Angeles, California, where he attended Locke High School. His mother, Priscilla, raised him and his three older siblings as a single parent after Gibson's father left in 1983. Gibson's career began when he won a talent show at the age of fourteen. An appearance in a 1997 Coca-Cola advertisement, singing the phrase "Always Coca-Cola", led to wider fame, and at the age of seventeen he modeled for Tommy Hilfiger.
Gibson prefers his music career to acting, but will focus on both areas. His rap persona was finally revitalized on December 12th, 2006, with the release of his newest album, titled Alter Ego, with one disc featuring R&B (as Tyrese) and one disc featuring hip-hop (as Black-Ty).
He appeared in the 2007 action film Transformers The film's director, Michael Bay, had Gibson in mind for the role before he was cast, and thus Gibson did not have to audition for the part. Gibson may also star in a film version of the superhero Luke Cage; as of 2006, the script was being re-formatted.
In 2009, he will reprise his role as Air Force Technical Sergeant Robert Epps in Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen.